I was lucky enough to attend a wonderful event called Foo Camp, which is hosted by my employer, O'Reilly Media. I'm convinced I would have called it wonderful even if I wasn't working for the host. Anyway, here is my roundup that I believe fits within the off-the-record nature of the event.I helped organize and speak at two sessions: "The Future of News" and "Beyond Content: Managing Expectations with a new CMS" and both were very lively. The news one was very heated (and more "star" studded with the likes of Esther Dyson, Tim O'Reilly, Steven Levy among others). After the fact, a fellow attendee said to me "It seemed as if people were violently agreeing with each other. I, on the other hand, felt as if people were attempting to address four issues surrounding the death of newspapers:
:: The business of news
:: The demise / evaporation of investigative reporters and the impact on journalism
:: The tools needed to move newspapers forward (THANK YOU Nick Bilton) for an amazing tour of what The New York Times is up to)
:: Whether or not it's the reader's fault for the decline.
I regret not recognizing these classifications earlier and attempting to steer the discussion along one of these themes. Especially considering I've been hearing versions of this discussion for nearly 10 years now.
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The session on CMS systems was not as strongly attended, but I was grateful to hear from those who came.
Two thoughts popped into my head after the session that I wish I would have said in it:
:: My favorite John Wooden quote: "Never let what you can't do interfere with what you can do."
:: In a follow-up conversation about CMS, I posited that even if you were able to build the perfect CMS for an organization (The "impossible" task I listed on my short bio form), there is not another organization on the planet that your CMS would be perfect for without some tweaking.
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I found a title for a living person that I actually like better than the "Senior Editor, Obits and Fun" I once had: "Former Cult Leader." I didn't know such a title was possible while living.
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While I might like to experience the feeling of having a magnet in my finger to detect magnetic fields on surfaces, I would probably be as likely to embed that into me as I would be to swim on top of a pool of water that had a small nuclear reactor at the bottom of it.
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While it might be an expense, one way to bridge multiple geographic locations is to have couches and big-screen TVs with webcams pointing to the couch and showing what's in the other office. It can provide a "wormhole window" to the other office, and can make bride many divides and office cultures.
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Having former drama club members at your event can only raise the "interestingness" level of the environment, especially after the sun goes down over drinks.
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Printing names on both sides of a name tag is a simple, brilliant move that helps people connect. I regret not adding my twitter @chadrem to mine.
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According to the job descriptions bandied about in a session on the need for designers and engineers, I might actually be a designer. This worries me.
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When playing Werewolf, the healer can heal himself. Would have been really handy to know this ahead of time, but I'm not bitter.
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Hearing people who have become targeted Internet celebrities is a chilling, gripping experience. I thank them for their candor.
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To avoid public speaking disasters, it's a good idea to know your audience, including the country that audience is in/from. It's also very helpful to use a service like Slideshare BEFORE your talk so you can access your slides on any connected computer ... just in case.
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Camping is much more comfortable when you bring your favorite bed pillow. Perhaps it's a way to trick your head into thinking you might actually be on your mattress.
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Tony Stubblebine is a great guy and I wish him much success. Coming to Foo Camp after just one year at O'Reilly is a rather head-spinning experience, and hearing what he had to say about his experience was very, very re-assuring.
