Gnomedex 5 demos future of conferences

June 28, 2005 —

Seattle recently played home to Gnomedex 5, a gathering of bloggers, publishers and developers interested in the intersection of technology and publishing.

There was a lot to report on from Gnomedex. Developer and influential blogger Dave Winer discussed his latest work, and his vision for the future of the web. Microsoft gave the first public demo of Internet Explorer 7, and introduced their plans for embracing RSS within Longhorn, the next version of Windows. Adam Curry discussed podcasting, and how podcasters and bloggers want to "take back our media".

While there was a lot to talk about on-stage, the most interesting aspect of the conference was the new paradigm for conferencing, public relations and publishing that was being demo'd at the conference.

Gnomedex 5 was the most blogged event in history. Held at Seattle's Bell Harbor Convention Center, Gnomedex had dedicated power available for each attendee, and a second T-1 was added to allow for attendees to access the Internet.

Most of the hundreds of attendees had wireless laptops setup in front of them throughout the conference. In the halls and public areas of the facility, attendees were recording or filming their thoughts on the show, and capturing impromptu interviews. The result is that there are as many views on the news and announcements at the show as there were attendees.

Because the audience was so connected and empowered, it created a tough audience for the speakers. The audience balanced focusing on the speakers with checking email, web-surfing and blogging. The speakers knew that at any moment, they were being fact-checked by audience members, and that real-time commentary was being posted on what they said.

There was no control over what was being photographed, filmed or recorded, so the show generated a constant stream of content hitting the Internet.

In a discussion after the show, show organizer Chris Pirillo explained why he wanted the coverage to be so open. He explained that, given the audience, anything else would not have seemed right. Pirillo also said that there were people all around the world that would have liked to attend, but could not for one reason or another. The stream of content from the show extends Gnomedex to people that would not have otherwise been able to experience it.

Pirillo's approach effectively embraced the 400 attendees as members of the press. This is a powerful concept, because what conference organizer wouldn't want to have coverage from 400 members of the press?

Gnomedex 5.0 Updates

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