Ups And Downs At Les Blogs
Back home again after Les Blogs, I find it hard to summarize the conference. Was it good or bad? Both, I would say. I'm actually somewhat disappointed at the strategic level, or depth, of the speakers and panels. I didn't learn something entirely new and I hoped I would. But there were bits and pieces worth to remember. I published some quick, out of context, quotes from for example Joichi Ito and Euan Semple and they were both engaging speakers.
On the other hand it was great to meet people there. Neville who I sat next to, Guillaume and many more.
One idea I'll steal for my next conference is the backchannel -- a chat room where everyone in the audience could participate (if they had a laptop, and most did), and the chat was shown at the big screen in the meeting room. People used it to ask questions, comment on what the speakers said, plea for a Nokia charger or whatever. A great way to interact as an otherwise passive listener. And it made even the more uninteresting parts of the conference fun.
Was this a "defining event" for (corporate) blogs in Europe. Don't think so. But I'm glad I was there.