Those on the Seattle Mind Camp mailing list (should be all prior attendees) there’s a somewhat active discussion currently happening about whether having an internet connection at the event is more disruptive than it’s worth. While I’m not going to quote from the list on who is saying what, etc I am finding the discussion ironic.

First of all, any internet-related camp, meeting or event needs internet. It’s not an option or even up for discussion from my point of view. Not having good connectivity at Mind Camp 1.0 hurt the event overall. How can you invite a bunch of people from the internet and talk about sharing of information, exploration and ideas without internet connectivity?

An elitist suggestion was made on the list that more “geniuses” might come if the bar was raised and attendees were somehow checked, filtering out bloggers and less desirable types. Huh? So somebody cannot be a genius and a blogger? If attracting a genius or two means banning bloggers from attending and reporting on the events for the rest of the world that can’t attend, then I’ll most definitely pass on Mind Camp 2.0. Stephen Hawking isn’t going to come to Mind Camp in the near future and if he did, I’m sure even he would want internet connectivity.

Bizarre.

On a more positive note, Hidden Frame Productions put together this video documentary of the event. It captures many things that happened, but missed Jack William Bell and I jamming. How could that not have been a pivotal event in Mind Camp? (joking, of course). Jack was good, I was the joke.

Unrelated
There has also been some discussion about the value of the backchannel (IRC) during conferences. Mena Trott challenging Ben Metcalfe (using the IRC name DotBen) during her presentation at Les Blogs on being civil, it seems Ben called BS on Mena’s speech. This message appeared on the large screen monitor behind Mena as she was speaking, which raised her ire. Mena dropped the f-bomb on stage. Classy use during a discussion in civility. Hey, I don’t mind the F word and use it almost every week … but during a discussion on civility? That’s funny.

There is a somewhat grainy video [menavsben.mov] of the confrontation which apparently ended in a meeting afterwards to patch things up. Ben didn’t have a problem with Six Apart as Mena seemed concerned about, he had a problem with her trying to tell people how they should behave. From what I saw and read about the situation, score one for Ben. Civility and the internet? It’s a nice pipe dream. The melting pot has never more culturally alive than a quick stroll to any busy social place on the web. I do think somebody should mash up Mena saying the F-word though at least six times, apart.

I think an IRC channel where people are saying all the things they can’t say because they don’t have a microphone is a useful, valuable part of the conversation. I’m used to that environment because during our weekly radio show we have an IRC channel and sometimes it can result in some really excellent and useful sideroads to conversations. The listeners in the IRC also call BS on me when I’m wrong about something. I like that immediate and live feedback. It can be awkward to get used to at first and yes perhaps even seem disruptive, but overall it is more valuable than listening to a speech and then going out into the hall and having a conversation about how much the speaker sucked.

It’s also a way to keep the speakers honest. Go ahead and call BS on a bogus spiel, I think that’s healthy and useful dialogue. Listen, we are spending our time to attend these events and that is something that can never be replaced, it’s not just about the speaker taking his/her time to deliver information to us. Sitting at some event listening to a boring or clueless speaker (just talking general now, remember, this isn’t about Ben and Mena) is not a good use of time.

With all this said, Mind Camp 2.0 must provide internet access and if it means they have to charge for it, so be it. The people who require internet access for their presentations and sharing information as well as checking important email, etc, will be glad to pay for a good connection. The botched mesh experiment that was attempted at Mind Camp 1.0 will resonate far more in people’s minds than the value of the community without the internet.

In fact, a good argument could be made that having good internet connectivity is far less disruptive than the converse. I’d put this as the #1 problem for most of these conferences. If someone reading is planning, organizing and/or sponsoring one of these camps, conferences or events make damn sure internet connectivity and power (enough outlets) is a top priority.

Did this post make you go hmm?

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