I would really like to know what happened in the intervening year, but money does talk. It seems every group with any power has some perceptions that seem mean spirited or strange to the people they affect (ex. I got rejected from a summer internship because the high school I graduated from is in the same phone area code as the college I attended - like the rest of the state). Maybe the guy/girl did something wrong, or the patron thought they were acting out of their station by going without the patron's support.
Scoble had an article not too long back on how SXSW was too big and needed to be cut down. I presume to the point that he started showing up. I remember in my early days thinking Gen-Con was cool up until the damn card people started showing up :).
I think the really interesting thing is how to build a conference with better talks than TED, but not keep all the "commoners" out. Remember, Bill Gates wasn't "cool" many years ago. In a cynical moment, I wonder if it is possible to hold a conference that might inspire the next, unknown individuals or is it always going to slip into an "old boys" club patting themselves on the back.
Scoble had an article not too long back on how SXSW was too big and needed to be cut down. I presume to the point that he started showing up. I remember in my early days thinking Gen-Con was cool up until the damn card people started showing up :).
I think the really interesting thing is how to build a conference with better talks than TED, but not keep all the "commoners" out. Remember, Bill Gates wasn't "cool" many years ago. In a cynical moment, I wonder if it is possible to hold a conference that might inspire the next, unknown individuals or is it always going to slip into an "old boys" club patting themselves on the back.