Media Re:public

Newstools2008 started last night, it’s a real unconference, and already [warning: live blogging, no guarantee of anything] I’m sold. Yesterday evening I came without my laptop and didn’t feel frustrated because they succeeded in getting us to talk to people we didn’t know (our MC: now is the time when if you’re sitting next to someone you already know, you need to move to a different table) about real issues. We didn’t really talk very specifically about the materials and questions they fed us but that didn’t matter, the idea that we were supposed to be talking about something ensured that we talked about related to the overall topic of the conference, and the conversations were good. Now people are posting topics for sessions I want to attend them all.

So I’m becoming convinced that getting the right people together for a sufficient amount of time is the most important thing you can do to have a good conference. The next question is: how to get this group of folks who come to the same conferences to frame projects or questions that lead to action, so that we don’t start all the conversations over again each time?

The butterfly is part of the unconference lingo. Don’t you want to be one?

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