Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Quote of Note: Mike Masnick
Mike Masnick writes in Techdirt:
Good idea, Mike!
The only real value I've found myself gaining from any conference was not at the conference itself, but at lunch. Lunch is when people actually get to meet and talk to each other . . . An ideal conference, then, would be more like a day full of these lunches - that forced people to think in different ways. Thus, I'd love to see a conference where people are either randomly (or carefully planned by the organizers) split into small groups, and given a task or a challenge. Let them do some scenario planning that forces them to think creatively. Get people thinking, get them involved with the ideas, get them interacting with others and force them to think outside of their own viewpoint. Maybe challenge them. Have different groups "competing" in some way to get people to really pay attention, and really try to get their minds around very difficult issues.
Put me in a small room with Jeff Bezos from Amazon, Hilary Rosen from the RIAA, Linus Torvalds, and Michael Powell from the FCC, and tell us that we've just invented TiVo, and the broadcast industry is trying to shut us down, and ask us to create a strategic plan for what to do. In another room, I want a similar group of folks (possibly someone from TiVo/Replay or some other such company, an advertising executive, and others) and tell them that they're a broadcaster trying to deal with this new technology, and ask them to come up with a scenario. Give us an hour or two, and then have the groups come together and present their findings. Then, let the rest of the attendees vote on who has the best solution.
I want to go to such a conference, and come out at the end of the day having met 20 to 30 new people, who I have a newfound respect (or distaste) for, while having generated new ideas in my head, and reshaped old, stale beliefs and ideas.
That's a conference I would attend. It would take a lot more effort to organize, but the end result would be a lot more valuable to all participants, if the goal is really to generate and discuss new ideas. It wouldn't be about patting each other on the back or rehashing old arguments. It would be about changing your perspective, making you uncomfortable, getting you involved, and making sure you came out of your shell a little bit.
Good idea, Mike!
Technorati Tags: Conferences, QuoteOfNote
Comments:
I wonder if you know about Open Space technology ..?
It's a form, or method, of convening, structuring and facilitating meetings or conferences which addresses the issues you've raised in this post.
It works very well ... and it started about 20 years ago from the premise you cited .. that the good conversations, where things can happen and connections can get made much more easily, are at the coffeee breaks, lunches and other less formal spaces of a conference where people can actually really talk to each other.
It's a form, or method, of convening, structuring and facilitating meetings or conferences which addresses the issues you've raised in this post.
It works very well ... and it started about 20 years ago from the premise you cited .. that the good conversations, where things can happen and connections can get made much more easily, are at the coffeee breaks, lunches and other less formal spaces of a conference where people can actually really talk to each other.
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Thank you for providing relevant information. I’ll keep visiting it for updated information.
Keep it up
