Dave Winer is rounding up various parties’ reflections on BloggerCon, and I had such a great time that I wanted to join the chorus of appreciation for the Berkman Center staff (especially the wonderful Wendy Koslow, and we-all-wish-we’d-had-a-chance-to-meet-and-thank John Palfrey) and Dave Winer for bringing us together. It was Dave’s weekend, and that lent the whole affair a strong sense of continuity. I had suspected (“feared”?) that a meeting on Spirituality at Bloggercon would draw the attention of neither church-y people (who might be expected to be worshipping at that hour) nor tech-oriented people (who would have had to choose Spiritulaity over such alternatives as “Weblogs in Presidential Politics,” led by Jeff Jarvis, Ed Cone, and Dan Gillmor (on one hand), and “Aggregators,” led by Jon Udell (on the other) ). Heavens, I probably wouldn’t have gone to hear myself! To my relieved surprise, not only was the session well-attended, but Dave himself spent a half hour with us, posing some deeply probing questions and putting me on the spot to think hard and responsibly. Although it doesn’t always feel good at the time, I have to remind myself that I owe it to the world to be able to give an account of the whys and wherefores of my reasoning.
I went to Ms. Suitt’s place for the first session Sunday morning, and she was entirely on. It’s a treat to watch her; she doesn’t necessarily know more than other people in the room, but when she’s working, she’s a seminar-surfer, letting the conversation move, turning it around, pulling something off the wall, bringing it back, and keeping the discussion alive at all costs.
Joi’s session exemplified just what he was talking about: community. His IRC channel was running behind him for much of the session, a channel where people make friends, banter, hang around, tease Joi, and feel at ease. He walked the crowd through his wiki (I think he might have lost some people there), and generally lived out ways that the community around him involves not only those in physical proximity to him, but also his neighborhood online.
Dave wrapped up Day Two with a discussion of the Con and what would be desirable if it were to come back next time. A number of people wished for separate tracks for geeks and straights, but I’m not so sure that would work; although no one got everything they wanted, the mingling among tech-oriented discourse and user-oriented discourse benefited everyone (if it could be pulled off again; I think part of the reason that came together depended on Dave’s unique persona and will). Dave called on me specifically a couple of times, catching me right off guard; why me, with so many notables and long-standing friends of his in the room? I tried to say something sensible, but at this point I don't even remember.
What more could be asked? Well, time. Of course, that's always in shortest supply, but mercy sakes, it rocketed past. Dave noticed it especially at lunchtime Sunday, but that may be because the Spirituality session ran over (I’m very sorry we didn’t get to you, Elaine, and thanks so much from both Si and me for your kind observations). But I missed Elizabeth Spiers’s voice. And it was great to meet Oliver Willis — we were at the same lunch table Saturday — though I’m not jumping aboard the “we need more dystopianism” train; the Web enthusiasts I saw around Cambridge this past weekend were mostly quite feet-on-the-ground people who can parse the similarities and differences between the dot-tulip bubble and blogomania. Excitement about what weblogs can do doesn’t equal blind mania (and I think he’s on that point, too). And we need both to extend Web access and to keep extending the boundaries of what we can do with the Web.
Posted by AKMA at October 7, 2003 05:03 PM | TrackBackAKMA: If I hadn't been recruited to do a session at that hour, yours was the one I wanted to attend (and there were no competing church services, which is rather shocking in and of itself). I announced at my session that this was the First Church of Blog and that I was delighted to see that so many had forgone the spiritual pursuits of your session in favor of the heathen pursuit of politics. I am delighted that your session went so well. But I still think it was unfair competition for you to have worn your clerical collar. If I'd known that, I would have worn a big-media suit.
Posted by: Jeff Jarvis at October 7, 2003 07:08 PM