Graeme Thickins on Tech

Reflections & analysis about innovation, technology, startups, investing, healthcare, and more .... with a focus on Minnesota, Land of 10,000 Lakes. Blogging continuously since 2005.

Tag: Doc Searls

Cluetrain Green-Room Convo, Defrag09: The Bootleg MP3

November 15, 2009 / / 1 Comment

So, it's the second and final day of the Defrag Conference (see Twitter search: #defragcon), and I jump out into the hallway during the afternoon break, rarin' to mingle through the crowd and find some unsuspecting CEO to interview next by shoving my whiz-bang Olympus LS-10 handheld digital recorder in his face… and then I hear it.  Hey, that's Chris Locke's laugh! 

I knew the "Cluetrain at 10" panel was coming up in an hour or so — and I was greatly anticipating that. Chris+Steve-attable I quickly look to my left and see Chris, aka "Rageboy" (blog, Wikipedia page) and some of his Cluetrain Manifesto compadres already gathered around a table off to the side — the green room, as it were — and deep in conversation.  Oh my god, I'm thinking — I can't miss this!  (Background: I've been lucky enough to know these guys long before they were famous, going back to '97 or '98, mainly through my buddy and former client, Steve Larsen — who just happened to be right there in the middle of this green-room gabfest. He goes back even further with Chris, which is definitely worth reading about here.) Steve+Chris-smiling

So I switch on my recorder, and think — could I? dare I? — record this session?  "Hell yes!" I immediately say to myself.  I walk over, shake hands with Chris (hadn't seen him in two years), and set the recorder down in the middle of the table.  Instantly, I catch both Steve and Chris' eyes as they notice the recorder is flashing "Record," and we all kinda get it at the same time, without saying a word.  Yeah, we're gonna capture this fun little moment in time!   After all, how often do we get a chance to all be gathered around the same table together?  And I just happened to have the technology in my hot little hand to do so….

Some guy from The Motley Fool (whose name I didn't catch) had just pulled away, and Rick Levine, another Cluetrain coauthor, was about to jump back in, followed closely by JP Rangaswami of BT, all the way from the UK, who met the Cluetrain guys starting in 2000, and helped them spread their message worldwide. Chris+Doc Then, soon after, Doc Searls (web site, Wikipedia page) joined us.  The only one of the four Cluetrain coauthors missing this day was David Weinberger (blog, Wikipedia page), who couldn't make Defrag because he had another commitment.

So, here's that conversation, all 43 minutes worth — the complete, uncut, uncensored  MP3 of this totally unplanned and unrehearsed session, F-bombs and all. Warning: there's a major amount of laughing here… we were having waaay too much fun!  It's a completely free-form, free-association conversation, largely reminiscing about the "old days" (hell, it was only the '90s, but seems so long ago) — with more than a few inside jokes mixed in.  Sure, it loses something without the visual, like at the end when Doc starts showing us the slides he plans to use in the panel to follow, and you just hear all of this laughing as each one comes up on his Macbook screen.  And many of you may not know who's talking at any given time.  But, hey, that's what makes it fun — you get to guess who's talking!  It's fresh and it's real… just like you were there.  I'm so glad I could be, so I could capture it all for you.

• Download or listen to the "Cluetrain Defrag '09 Green Room MP3".

Cluetrain-panel (The photos in this post I shot before and after the recording. For more, here's my Defrag '09 Flickr set, which includes some of Doc's funny slides, which are towards the end.  And here's my complete liveblog archive of Defrag '09, right up to the final session, the "Cluetrain at 10" panel.")

To connect with this great cast of characters, to whom I really feel we owe a ton as early Internet community and social-media thinkers, here are some more links:

The Cluetrain authors:
– Chris Locke: Twitter and Facebook
– Doc Searls: Twitter
– Rick Levine: Twitter
– David Weinberger: Twitter
And two of the biggest Cluetrain supporters out there:
– Steve Larsen: Facebook and a great video interview
– JP Rangaswami: Twitter

DEMO ’08 Announces Presenting Companies

January 25, 2008 / / 1 Comment

Well, have I ever got a linkfest for you. Following up on my post of January 7, the big event next week is now taking shape: I just got the early word that no less than 77 new products (!) will be launched at the DEMO ’08 conference. Check out the list — did I mention it’s with links? — that I inserted for your clicking pleasure below. David Weinberger would love this one. And my other Cluetrain friend, Doc Searls, too. He once described a post I did as "linkier than a vest of chainmail."  Well, this one’s got more, Doc — about eighty, if you can stand it.  I’m getting so adept at inserting links in my Typepad WYSIWYG interface, it’s scary. Remember, it’s not so much how many people read your posts, it’s how long you engage them. Well, this one’s got a lot to keep you engaged if you’re hooked, like me, on just having to know what’s coming next in tech.

The rules for DEMO presenters state their products must not be previously available or promoted publicly, so many of the links below are brand-new sites, and some may not have much info online till Monday morning, the day registration opens.  So keep watching their sites…that’s right, via those links below.

Most of you probably don’t need me to tell you this, but DEMO is a twice yearly "emerging technology showcase" that’s known for launching some of the tech industry’s biggest innovations.  Now in its 18th year, the events have hosted a "who’s who" of company and product debuts, including those from VMWare, Google, IronPort, Apple, salesforce.com, Palm, Intel, HP, Yahoo!, Logitech, TiVo, and GrandCentral. The show’s producers, led by Chris Shipley, select presenters from hundreds of applications. Each firm launches its new product in a six-minute live stage demonstration attended by journalists, investors, and business professionals from around the globe. The press corps, of which your humble blogger is a part, will number close to 100. As I like to say, everyone from Walt Mossberg on down. (Okay, I’m at the bottom.) DEMO ’08 is being held January 28-30 in Palm Desert, CA. [You can still register — click on the graphic at right.]

DEMO kicks off 2008 with a variety of technologies for consumers and businesses alike. Here are some hints about what’s coming next week:

• a personalized telephony service converging data and voice
• broadcast-quality video delivery service for the Internet
• a Web-based platform for scalable storage delivery
• a portable learn-to-read system
• a service that enables image and video collaboration
• a solution that teaches you to play your favorite popular tunes
• a collaboration solution for business and personal use
• TiVo for your mobile phone
• HD video conferencing over IP networks
• multiple technologies for students, parents, and children
• and products from all over the world, including Australia, Canada, Finland, Israel, New Zealand,  Taiwan, and the United Kingdom.

Here are the DEMO ’08 demonstrators:

2Win Solutions, Ltd.; Raanana, Israel; www.2win-solutions.com
800 PBX, Inc.; Fremont, CA; www.800genie.800pbx.com
Acesis, Inc.; Mountain View, CA; www.acesis.com
Asankya, Inc.; Atlanta, GA; www.asankya.com
Aternity, Inc.; Westborough, MA; www.aternity.com
atlaspost.com; Taipei City, Taiwan; www.atlaspost.com
Avistar Communications Corp.; San Mateo, CA; www.avistar.com
BitGravity, Inc.; Burlingame, CA; www.bitgravity.com
blist, Inc.; Seattle, WA; www.blist.com
Buzka, Pty Ltd.; Subiaco, Australia; www.buzka.com
Capzles, Inc.; Culver City, CA; www.capzles.com
Catalyst Web Services, LLC; Alexandria, VA; www.catalystweb.com
CellSpinSoft, Inc.; San Jose, CA; www.cellspin.net
Celsias, Ltd.; Wellington, New Zealand; www.celsias.com
CHALEX Corp.; Grasonville, MD; www.chalexcorp.com
Circos.com, Inc.; San Mateo, CA; www.circos.com
Citiport, Inc.; Taipei City, Taiwan; www.citiport.net
Citrix Systems, Inc.; Ft. Lauderdale, FL; www.citrix.com
Cozimo.com, Inc.; Berkeley, CA; www.cozimo.com
Delver, Inc.; Herzliya Pituach, Israel; www.delver.com
Ecrio, Inc.; Cupertino, CA; www.ecrio.com
Education.com; Redwood City, CA; www.education.com
Eyealike, Inc.; Bellevue, WA; www.eyealike.com
Fabrik, Inc.; San Mateo, CA; www.fabrik.com
Flypaper, Inc.; Phoenix, CA; www.freshbrew.com
GoldMail, Inc.; San Francisco, CA; www.goldmail.com
good2gether, Inc.; Melrose, MA; www.good2gether.com
Green Plug, Inc.; San Ramon, CA; www.greenplug.us
HealthPricer Interactive, Ltd.; Vancouver, BC; www.healthpricer.com
Hubdub, Ltd.; Edinburgh, Scotland; www.hubdub.com
Huddle.net; London, England; www.Huddle.net
Iterasi, Inc.; Vancouver, WA; www.iterasi.com
iVideosongs; Alpharetta, GA; www.ivideosongs.com
Jodange, LLP; Yonkers, NY; www.jodange.com
Kaazing Corp.; Mountain View, CA; www.kaazing.com
LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc.; Emeryville, CA; www.leapfrog.com
LegiTime Technologies, Inc.; Westport, CT; www.legitext.com
LiquidPlanner, Inc.; Bellevue, WA; www.liquidplanner.com
LiquidTalk, Inc.; Chicago, IL; www.liquidtalk.com
Liquidus Corp.; Chicago, IL; www.liquidusmedia.com
Livescribe, Inc.; Oakland, CA; www.livescribe.com
MANDIANT; Alexandria, VA; www.mandiant.com
MOLI, LLC; West Palm Beach, FL; www.moli.com
Movial; Helsinki, Finland; www.movial.com
Nirvanix; San Diego, CA; www.nirvanix.com
NotchUp, Inc.; Los Altos Hills, CA; www.notchup.com
Notebookz.com, Inc.; Berkeley, CA; www.ileonardo.com
Pathworks Software Corp.; Mountain View, CA; www.pathworkssoftware.com
Redux, Inc.; Berkeley, CA; www.redux.com
Review2Buy, Inc.; San Francisco, CA; www.review2buy.com
Ribbit Corp.; Stanford, CA; www.goribbit.com
Rove Mobile, Inc.; Ottawa, Ontario; www.rovemobile.com
Santrum Networks, Inc.; Taipei, Taiwan; www.santrum.com
SceneCaster; Richmond Hill, Ontario; www.scenecaster.com
Seesmic; San Francisco, CA; www.seesmic.com
Silobreaker, Ltd.; London; England; www.silobreaker.com
Skyfire; San Jose, CA; www.dvclabs.com
SpeakLike, LLC; New York, NY; www.speaklike.com
Sprout, Inc.; Honolulu; HI; www.sproutfusion.com
Squidcast; San Francisco, CA; www.squidcast.com
StackSafe, Inc.; Vienna, VA; www.stacksafe.com
Standout Jobs, Inc.; Montreal, Quebec; www.standoutjobs.com
STEP Labs; San Jose, CA; www.steplabs.com
Sterna Technologies, Inc.; San Mateo, CA; www.friend-ltd.com
support.com; Redwood City, CA; www.support.com
SupportSpace, Inc.; Redwood Shores, CA; www.supportspace.com
Symantec Corp.; Cupertino, CA; www.symantec.com
TimeTrade Systems, Inc.; Bedford, MA; www.timetrade.com
Toktumi, Inc.; San Francisco, CA; www.toktumi.com
TubeMogul, Inc.; Berkeley; CA; www.tubemogul.com
Vidyo™, Inc.; Hackensack; NJ; www.vidyo.com
Visible Measures Corp.; Boston, MA; www.visiblemeasures.com
Voyant, Inc.; Austin, TX; www.planwithvoyant.com
xtranormal, Inc.; Montreal, Quebec; www.xtranormal.com
Yoics, Inc.; Palo Alto, CA; www.yoics.com
YouChoose, LLC; Thornton, PA; www.youchoose.net
Zodiac Interactive; Valley Stream NY; www.zodiac.tv

The DEMO conferences, which are now held in China and Europe as well as the U.S., focus on
emerging technologies and new products that are hand-selected from
across the spectrum of the technology marketplace. DEMO has earned a reputation for consistently identifying tomorrow’s
cutting-edge technologies, serving as a launchpad for
companies such as Palm, E*Trade, Handspring, and U.S. Robotics, helping
them to secure venture funding, establish critical business
relationships, and influence early adopters. More information about the conferences is at Demo.com.

Oh, one more thing: my buddy Mike Garity at Network World Conferences, which runs these great events, would especially want me to tell you this:  videos of the live stage demonstrations launching each of the 77 products will be available on Demo.com beginning Tuesday afternoon, January 29.  That’s a new wrinkle, and I hear a whole new Demo.com site is launching, complete with community and social networking features. That will be cool.

Let me know what you like from the above list, or want to know more about.  I’ll be live-blogging from the event, as always.  Hell, I might even Twitter, too…from my iPhone…while simultaneously uploading the pix I’m shooting to Flickr…or maybe Tittr.

UPDATE (3:30 pm Central):  To fix three links…  🙂

‘Defrag’ Conference: Brainstorming the Next Big Thing

October 28, 2007 / / 0 Comments

Next Sunday, I’m off to Denver for a really cool conference called Defrag. (Here’s the blog, which will tell you what’s really goin’ on.) I’m looking forward to it, because it’s different — a smaller, more intimate kind of event. The kind of event "where you send your brains for a workout," say the producers. Defregconf
There’ll be a couple hundred really smart people participating, many whose names you would know. Folks like Esther Dyson, Jerry Michalski, Clay Shirky, David Weinberger, Doc Searls, Paul Kedrosky, Brad Feld, Jeff Clavier, Chris Shipley, Steve Larsen, and a couple of new players I’ve met in the semantic web movement, Nova Spivack and Alex Iskold. Denverhyatt
And that’s just a few I can remember — there are many more smart Internet minds who’ll be there.  We need this kind of event after Esther Dyson retired her great "PC Forum" conference after the 2006 edition. (I’m so glad I got to cover that one. It was soo timely, and everybody-who-was-anybody was there.)

Defrag is being held at the very cool, new Denver Hyatt. Here’s an invitation to all my friends here in the Minnesota technology community:  please join me at Defrag!  (At least two already are, and we’re flying out together.)  Denver’s not that far — and, hey, you guys need to get out of town once in a while! 🙂  I even have a special discount code that will get you $500 off.  But you have to act fast, since that expires soon: the code is "DefragMN"…and you can use it when you register right here.  I guarantee you, you won’t be sorry you attended this conference!  Check the agenda.

One of the three producers of Defrag is a guy I know named Eric Norlin, and I’m looking forward to meeting the other two. I met Eric back in ’99 through my work with Net Perceptions, and he’s become an even more plugged-in guy since then. He’s been in the digital identity business and has run other conferences, such as Digital ID World.  He lives in Florida now, but was in Colorado for many years, so has lots of contacts there. (He also was based in the Twin Cities for a couple of years, quite some time ago.)  Early on, Eric even worked with the NSA, so he’s just an interesting cat to say the least. It’ll be fun to see him again. Here’s how Eric and friends describe their newest creation:

Defrag is the first conference focused solely on the internet-based tools that transform loads of information into layers of knowledge, and accelerate the “aha” moment. Defrag is about the space that lives in between knowledge management, social networking, collaboration and business intelligence …. it’s a gathering place for the growing community of implementers, users, builders and thinkers that are working on the next wave of software innovation.

The sponsors of Defrag are BEA, Yahoo, Me.dium, Newsgator, ThinkFree, Adaptive Blue, AOL, Dapper, HiveLive, Lijit, Near-Time, Siderean, Microsoft, ZDnet, ProQuo, and Collective Intellect.  For more on the sponsors, see this post on the Defrag blog: All the Cool Kids Are Doing It.

And here’s more insight into what this inaugural Defrag is all about, from another of Eric’s blog posts,  Inter-Twining at Defrag:

One of the earliest phrases that I hit upon to help describe Defrag was ‘networked knowledge’ … That idea — that knowledge is not simply a passive, managed asset, but an active agent in a system that is working for me — is the core of what we’re exploring.

I’m pumped!  Watch for my live blogging next week — Monday and Tuesday, November 5 and 6. Take a look at the agenda and tell me what you like. I especially like "Social Networking in the Enterprise." Cheers.

CES Post 2: BlogHaus Views

January 8, 2007 / / 0 Comments

This BlogHaus suite is awesome, as is the whole Bellagio. Podtech and Seagate did it right. Here are a few grab shots, badly taken with my little HP camera, without flash mostly (so some are blurry). But hopefully you’ll get the idea.

Bloghaus1

Bloghaus2

Bloghaus3

Trust me, we bloggers aren’t wanting for much here. The aforementioned mega bandwidth, they gave us $25 in taxi fare each, plus we get a full bar, food galore, and lots of great conversation in between blog posts. The Gates keynote just ended….so we’re now getting ready for the onslaught of additional bloggers about to arrive. There are maybe 100 people here now, soon to be double or triple that, I’m sure.

The last two pix are of PodTech’s John Furrier interviewing Tim Street of French Maid TV (which was quite funny), and then Dave Winer and Doc Searls, old blog buddies in deep conversation.

Bloghaus4_4

Bloghaus5_5

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