Saturday morning at Gnomedex started a bit gloomy. Cali Lewis and her husband Neal, creaters of GeekBrief.tv, meant well but felt a bit flat. Although Neal’s humor, mostly unintentional, made for some high points. My favorite? Pointing out that his wife sweats a lot and the tech people needed to use a lot of tape to secure her microphone. Knowing that it was their first time speaking at an event, I’m willing to bet they’ll get better because they do have a good story.
Michael Linton added more content to the open source discussion, this time on the subject of money. Tris Hussey has saved me from making a fool of myself trying to explain Linton’s presentation with his thoughtful write up. My brief recap: money needs more transparency…I think.
By far, however, the best presentation(s) of the morning goes to Ignite Seattle. In a little under 45 minutes, seven presenters got on stage and blew away the audience. You could feel the energy in the room, something not common in all the presentations at Gnomedex.
Ignite Seattle defines itself as follows: “…a geek event that combines on-site geekery, sharing, and innovation (and drinking).” What I saw were focused, entertaining, and insightful takes on a wide range of topics (I’ve linked where I could to the particular individuals):
- Make Art Not Content by Scotto Moore
- Startup Metrics for Pirates: AARRR! by Dave McClure UPDATE: Link to presentation.
- Stop Yelling, Start Weaving by Deborah Schultz UPDATE: Link to presentation.
- Is 2008 the year the “Third Screen” takes center stage? by Beth Goza
- Venture Capital Term Sheets by Leo Dirac UPDATE: Link to presentation.
- An embarrassment of riches—the story of Noonhat by Brian Dorsey
- LIFE: if you’re bored, you’re doing it wrong by Elan Lee
The frame for the presentations was simple: 20 slides + 15 seconds per slide = 5 minutes. The messages were succinct and powerful because the speakers knew they didn’t have time for the clutter that normally pops up in conferences. I know my posts can run long, so I’m always impressed when I see individuals share their ideas in a concise and informative way. I hope at some point the actual presentations pop up somewhere.
The verdict? Ignite Seattle saved Saturday morning at Gnomedex. Yeah!
Bold Words 
Glad you liked the presos! I will definitely be posting preso tomorrow on slideshare – the longer format is already online there.
hey Britt –
glad you enjoyed the talk. my slides on Startup Metrics for Pirates: AARRR! are here, as well as linked from my blog.
Britt, Thank you for the mention and link! I’m sorry I didn’t put two and two together at dinner on Saturday. I hope our paths cross again!
Tris, your posts saved me several times at Gnomedex. Liveblogging is clearly not my forte. And no worries about dinner…conversations were all over the place and not exactly conducive to introductions. I suspect our paths will cross again.