welcome to mesh – updated
For those of you playing along at home, this post means that I am now officially blogging. Yep, it’s Post Number One, ever, for Yours Truly. Be gentle…
In talking with the guys, I thought that the best way to kick things off would be to let you in on the background to this little shin-dig. Some of you more intrepid business types might recognize this as the Consumer Insight, which, if we’ve nailed it and stay true to it, should mean we get the job done and those who come will be happy. Said another way? “Why Are We Doing This?†Here’s a tweaked version of what I wrote following the brewskie session that has become mesh:
There is all this buzz around Web 2.0. But what’s really happening, especially around here? Does anybody know? Can anybody help me understand it, and what it means for me? My business? My future? My family? My world?
mesh’s mandate will be to answer this question in as compelling, credible and authentic a way possible. Everything to do with the event will be around furthering that objective, and the content itself will serve to help mesh participants (not attendees 
) to really start to get it, this year and in years to come. We will create the Canadian forum for next generation Web ideas and leaders.
So that’s what mesh is. Well, no one will ever say we didn’t aim high 
But for that concept to become real, we need you. We need your enthusiasm, your sense of discovery, your talent and your support. Oh, and we need you to *come* and to *participate*. To meet each other, to move things forward, to get closer to the answer to What’s Going On?
We still want – no, need – your input. Much of what you’ve told us already is being baked into what we are doing. But we want to hear more. Bring it.
C’mon, why should all the cool stuff be happening Out There, or Down There? There’s no good reason. At all. Let’s lead this dang thing.
Let’s connect, share, inspire. Let’s mesh.
Update: As is mentioned below, the final program for the two days is still a work in progress. As you can see from these people, we are being blessed with great talent. We are working on even more. Once we have the final schedule nailed – in about 10 days or so – I will blog it and it will be made available on the site.
- stuart [at] meshconference.com
Posted in mesh news
23 Comments
Kewl, It now is breathing and living itself on the web.
con'grat to the Mesh team here in Toronto !! -
Come on guys, let's see the agenda!
Congrats on a great lineup of speakers. Looking forward to it. I'll be spreading the word!
About the tagging. Are you asking that those of us with del.icio.us accounts tag the conference site and blog posts with mesh06links?
hey guys, I just compelted my regestration process..pretty darn sure that I will make it.. but just asking.. is there a refund if I cancel ?? and if so How Can I cancel ??
Nice work guys! The ball is rollin'. It's great to see a realized vision. Let's hope this builds momentum for years to come.
Thanks for the comments, folks! We are all really fired up.
Here are a few answers:
Interested and b: the agenda is still being nailed down. As you may now, we have been flying on this, and it is still not 100% locked. But you can see some of who we have lined up. When it is, locked, we will do a bigger thing on the site. I will do a separate post about this.
David: Yes, Mesh06links is the tag for the event – let's get the word out on del.icio.us.
/pd: Thanks for the business and we will put more detail on the cancellation policy on the site, but you will have until April 30 to cancel, after which we are in no-refund land. I will blog the process when we, uh, have it
Talk it up and blog it up, people. The five of us are working so hard to make this a great event – thanks for your support.
- stuart [at] meshconference.com
I will be offering as much promotion as I can from my blog walleyeman.blogster.com Any thing that Blogster can do to help, just let me know.
Thanks Tony. Spread the word
- stuart [at] meshconference.com
Hey Stuart – need volunteers ? let me know…maybe I can help out..
We also need scehdule and agendas so that we can sign up for them. I am assuming that there will be concurrent sessions happening during those 2 days..
has anyone thought of asking Joi Ito to keynote or something ? Afterall, he boot strapped himself as a Canuck in his early days.. He also did a great job at 22C3 in Germany.. !!
Any idea if wifi is available ?? IRC chat rooms during the sessions . webcast for those who can't attend etc etc ??
I'm really contemplating attending the conference though I'm a nobody. What's peaked my interest is Mark Evans remark of an "unconference" I've attended conventions and conferences before. Would be interested to hear more and experience an unconference.
/pd: Great points on all fronts, and thanks for the offer. The locale, MaRS, has great webtone, so wifi should not be a problem, and a backchannel IRC thing should be pretty straightforward – according to Mathew, that is . I will blog about MaRS more, next week.
Joi…interesting. Thanks for that.
Again, on the schedules and whatnot: it's work in progress. Stay tuned.
- stuart [at] meshconference.com
fair enough Stuart. ' nuff for 2day -
Vince: We would love to have you join us.
- stuart [at] meshconference.com
Hi,
I would suggest that people with a Mac download that application: SubEthaEdit (free for non-commercial use):
http://www.codingmonkeys.de/subethaedit/old.html
Basically, SubEthaEdit let people collectively write a document. So, one person in a conference room start taking notes using SubEthaEdit, he share that document, and other people can add/change notes.
It is really great and works fine. I saw that application in action in a conference (startupschool) in Boston a couple of months ago: it was awesome. People were connected, virtually and physically, a sort of symbiosis, and the resulting notes were surprising in details and personal thoughts.
So, I suggest giving it a try
Salutations,
Fred
Vince Chan re your desire for an unconference, from what I can see of this event it will be anything but an unconference, it looks and feels like a regular Web 1.0 pre bubble conference, lots of brand name digerati attending, they are charging an entry fee, lots of hype about the conference, lots of brand name sponsors – so just so you know Vince this is not an unconference by any means
Vince,
I could suggest you to attend the Toronto BarCamp the weekend before the conference?
http://barcamp.org/BarCampTdot
Take care,
Salutations,
Fred
Stuart are there any hotel deals associated with this conference? What is the closest hotel for out of towners?
Heya.
Interested: Thanks for the comment. Truth is, this event can be what we make it. None of us have done this before, and we want to find that middle-way if we can. You are welcome to help us.
Fred: Great call out. Folks should totally tag into what the barcamp crew have in store.
Tony: Hotels are in process. MaRS has a deal with the Sutton Place which is uber swanky if that's your thing. I am working on some other options. As former Expedia.ca-Boy, you'd think I'd have nailed that already, but we are so busy working on content and getting the site up that it has slipped. I will blog it separately. Stay tuned.
Hey Stuart,
theres also the sidebar effort that you may want to check out – canicrash.org – maybe rally the bloggers in Toronot/GTA to offer up some space for out towners..kinda thing..
yeah, while on the subject has anyone thought of a attendance wiki ?? – Where participants can review registar and start meshing together offline to make plans for after event stuff
oh btw.. heres a goog group that I created
Here are the essentials:
* Group name: MESH06
* Group home page: http://groups.google.com/group/MESH06
* Group email address MESH06@googlegroups.com
Just plunked down the credit card and got hooked up. Looking forward to listening and learning from other as well as sharing some of the stuff we have been up too. See you in TO.
cheers
Scott
/pd: Thanks. And Yep, we are hashing the wiki thing out currently.
Scott: See you in May.
very nice!
http://site.neogen.ro/dsfs3szdv3/images/img_928127.htm
http://site.neogen.ro/dsfs3szdv3/images/img_928130.htm
Would it be possible to see an agenda, list of events, for this mesh happening
Thank you