Conferences, information, wireless and what attendees want
While I was attending Technologic Partners' excellent Wireless Ventures conference in Burlingame, Calif. last week, I spoke several times about wireless and Weblogs to Richard Shaffer, the founder of the company. Dick is a smart guy and he's been analyzing computers and wireless for a long time.
The conference, which I wrote up here on April 30, May 1 and May 2, included free WiFi access and loaner PC Cards. Dick also provided power strips in three rows for laptop computer users. As more conferences offer 802.11 access, I suspect that more attendees will be requesting power strips for their laptops and PDAs. Power strips -- another way WiFi will affect conferences!
When it comes to technology, Dick "gets it." He certainly understands the value of WiFi and he's now pondering how to effectively integrate WiFi into his conferences. Weblogs could be a part of that.
When we talked during the conference, Dick said something like, referring to Weblogs, "people don't want transcriptions, they want analysis." I've been pondering that, and today I sent Dick an e-mail about what I think people at conferences want.
Information from conferences
1. Traditional reporting. The operative word is "reporting" -- no analysis, just the facts with as little bias as humanly possible. You typically read traditional reporting the day after (at best) a conference. With the Web, you can read a journalist's reports the day of a conference, and it's often published in the print edition the next day or next week.
Detailed, solid reporting isn't going to go away. Weblogs enhance and supplement reporting; they don't replace it.
2. Analysis. What does this all mean? Analysis from columnists who are experts (one hopes) in the subject area or from non-journalists who also are experts. I specifically switched from being a "reporter" to an "analyst" (and then "consultant") many years ago.
3. Transcriptions? Maybe. What if you could get a transcription -- done by a professional -- after each conference panel? It might not be edited, but it would be fresh. No analysis, no reporting -- just the exact (more or less) quotes. Perhaps it could be "cleaned up" (check for typos, grammar, etc.) and available the next morning.
What if the transcription was posted as a Weblog? Would it be useful? After all, lots of people purchase tapes of conferences; I wonder how many people listen to all or even some of the tapes they purchase. Would attendees be more inclined to at least skim a transcript? I think so -- especially if they have WiFi access and could read the transcript while listening to other (boring!) speakers. It's certainly easier to skim through a written report than to skip through a tape recording.
Would you pay for a transcription that was viewable on the Web? What would be a reasonable price?
There are business and security issues, of course. Conference organizers wouldn't want non-attendees to see the transcript, unless they paid for it. This involves password protection. But even with passwords, there's a good chance bootleg copies would be available. Would this be a deal-killer for conference organizers?
Weblogs, WiFi and changing dynamics
Weblogs are a great tool for transcriptions of conferences. Posting is fast, date and time is automatic and headlines and subheads are no-brainers to enter. With Weblogs, it would be possible for attendees to read the transcript in almost real-time as the speaker was presenting; as soon as the transcriber clicked on "publish" you'd be able to read the quotes.
How many times have you missed an important point by a speaker? Wouldn't it be nice to have a back up?
As any Weblogger who has used WiFi to post reports knows, interesting dynamics can occur when you post a report (good, bad or incorrect!) when the speaker reads your Weblog. During Wireless Ventures, the chairman and CEO of SkyPilot read my posting about his presentation and sent me a clarification. I got the e-mail -- a copy forwarded to my pager (I really like wireless!) -- and posted a correction within minutes of receiving it. With WiFi access and Weblog software, I can do that.
Perhaps Dave Winer can help
I like the idea of transcriptions. I'd pay for this service and I think a fair number of corporate attendees would, too. Perhaps Dave Winer of Userland Software and Weblogger extraordinaire might be able to offer Dick some interesting suggestions about the mechanics and logistics of conference-based blogging.
I, too, am interested in this. Not only would I want such a service but I also am involved in conferences. I help conduct a day-long tutorial, Wireless Data University, before the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association's Wireless and Wireless I.T. and Internet conferences. I'm also starting to develop a presentation and a mini-conference about how WiFi will dramatically change the dynamics of conferences.
1:46:26 PM 
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