With this year’s Gnomedex behind us, we’re starting to see the feedback from those of you who were with us. It’s important to remember that while no two people have the exact same experience when attending a conference, you all take something away that enriches your life. Take the time to read what others have to say about the event – you might learn something new.

• The Sense of a Gnomedex
• All About Gnomedex 10 – How Volunteering, Tech & Great Women Inspired Tech Mavens (VIDEO)
• Reflections on a Decade of Gnomedex
• Gnomedex 10 Recap
• My All-Time Favorite Learning Event
• The Cool (and Not so Cool) From Gnomedex
• Gnomedex 10
• A Fond Farewell: Five Reasons Gnomedex Will be Missed
• Scenes From Gnomedex 10
• Gnomedex Update
• In With the New
• Gnomedex
• Gnomedex Day 1 Overview
• Microsoft Surface at Gnomedex
• All About Gnomedex 10
• After a Decade of Human Circuitry, Gnomedex Calls it Quits
• Gnomedex Day 1 – Morning
• Gnomedex Day 1 – Afternoon

If we happened to miss your post, please let us know and we’ll be happy to include a link to your thoughts.

Thank you once again to everyone who helped make this conference possible. From all accounts, this was the best of the series and we couldn’t have done it without you.

Gnomedex Conference Reviews

David Spark attended Gnomedex last weekend on behalf of Dice. He stopped me for a couple of moments to talk about my ideas for this year. While we have no pre-planned agenda, a theme tends to emerge as we book our speakers. This year, the theme ended up being about the power of an individual.

We each have the power to do and to create without anyone asking us to. You have to get out there and do whatever it is you’re passionate about. Technology and social media have become our enablers.

Our presenters this year each had a story to tell. They created something without anyone’s approval and gathered interest as a result of their work. They are individuals with power – the power to create change.

Technology is the Tool That Gives us the Power to Create

I received an email from Nicole, a lady who is considering attending Gnomedex this year for the first time. She recently started a business based in New York, and had some questions about the conference. The questions are very good ones, and I decided that others may benefit from the answers, as well.

• What is the overall theme, message or intended take-away of the conference? The theme this year will be the same one I chose last year – Human Circuitry. Interestingly enough, the attendees from last year defined Human Circuitry in many different ways. The common response, though, meshed with what I was trying to accomplish. Human Circuitry, put simply, is the point at which Tech and Humanity combine. We learned how we could raise money quickly for a worthy cause, using nothing more than Twitter. We had a spontaneous – and very moving/powerful – few moments of dancing wildly on stage with Matt, of “Where the Hell is Matt” fame. Another highlight that showed off Human Circuitry at work was hearing Amanda Koster talk about using her camera and the Internet to raise awareness of the plight of people living in Africa.
• Are the sessions focused on action and strategy – or more theoretical? I’d have to say that they are focused on action and strategy. For instance, one speaker this year will be talking about the top ten ways businesses can and should make use of social media outlets, such as Twitter. We have speakers lined up this year who will talk about everything from social media, business online (and offline!), all the way to using the Internet to raise awareness for a cause.
• Is there a high focus on innovation, and what’s “new” and “needed”? I’d like to think so, yes. The people who attend this conference are some of the best at what they do. The conversations that take place between and after sessions are usually the highlight of the conference for many people. You will be amazed at the contacts you can make, and the things you can learn from these conversations. A LOT of time is spent talking about what’s on the cutting edge, what we’re hoping to find / create / DO, and what just plain doesn’t work.
• Is it very jargon-specific with advanced computer terminology and concepts – or understandable to a non-programmer? Gnomedex is not focused on programming. I can promise you that anyone and everyone will be able to understand what is being presented and discussed. Sure, there may be a few people who use big words, but hey! We are a room full of Geeks, after all! We’ve been fortunate in past years (and again this year) to be able to find presenters who are able to talk about their subject in “people terms”, and not “high-tech terms”. We do love developers, though!
• Since your audience ranges across many field and disciplines, do you have industry-specific break-out sessions or opportunities to learn/discuss/network? Officially, no. Unofficially, yes. Gnomedex is a single-track conference, where everyone attends the same sessions. We work very hard to make sure that our speakers will reach out to every sector of people / business who may attend. Again, I bring up the discussions that take place before / after sessions: this is the time and place where people find others with similar goals and interests. Contact information is exchanged. Ideas are shared. We also have our meet-and-greet party Thursday night, before the conference begins, which is yet another opportunity for you to network.
• The conference seems clearly beneficial. Due to costs of travel and accommodations, I’m wondering if it’s “nice” to attend… or a “need” to attend. What would you say others have gained in the past from attending? First and foremost, people across the board each and every year have stated that they came away with renewed passion for what they’re doing. They are energized. They look at things from different perspectives than they might have prior to being there. They remember why it is they started on their journey, and have a renewed faith in themselves and their ideas. They come away having made new friends and associates. I’ve been told more times than I can honestly count that Gnomedex is inspiring in many ways. It’s not something that is easy to put into words… but it’s very tangible.
• Is it very region-specific to the NW/Silicon Valley, or would the networking be on a broad scope, allowing me to benefit easily from my NY base? Ding! Gnomedexers come from literally all over the World! I know for a fact that we have MANY East-coasters joining us this year. Sure, there are several from my local Seattle area. There will also be people coming from Europe, NY, Florida, Chicago, Texas… I think you get the idea. Gnomedex is full of people from all over the World!

For those of you who have attended Gnomedex in the past, I’d love to have your responses to any and all of the above questions. Your insight and experiences are what drives this conference each year, and what convinces others to join you. Help to broaden your own network by taking a few minutes to share with prospective attendees what it is about the conference that keeps you coming back for more!

Gnomedex Questions and Answers

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I’m not able to grant all the interview requests that I receive. I always appreciate them, but I just honestly don’t have the time. If you do ask for one, please don’t expect me to answer in writing, it’s not happening. Instead, I would do a video with your answers, such as I’m doing with Dan Morrill’s questions.

• At Gnomedex you asked the audience what they thought “human circuitry” meant, have you been able to define it better? If so, what is that definition? I asked the audience, and they came up with some excellent answers. To me, it’s all about life. I exist here, I’m real. But, I’m just as real online. We as human beings not only connect with technology, but we are reconnecting with each other thanks to that same technology. The idea of Human Circuitry is that technology is a part of us, as much as we are a part of technology.
• How do you see social fabrics or human circuitry expanding as the internet generation becomes more embedded in business? I think that people are going to expect more out of software in the workplace. I think Enterprise applications need to suck far less than they do now. We get these great experiences on the Web. That’s what we’re going to expect when we go to the workplace. If we don’t get it there, you’ll hear about it. The bar is being raised in terms of quality. No longer is it “proper” to design something that’s difficult to use. Telecommuting is going to become the norm in the workplace, moreso than it is today.
• What do you think is the next big thing in Human Circuitry, that was mentioned in the entry blog entry written by Forian that there would be one uber social network. Do you think that there would be one social network that the world would go to? Or do you see this as a meta social network that would tie all the other networks together like a collector like techmeme or newsvine? I don’t think there will be one network to rule them all. I think more and more one’s own identity will be your own. I would like to see the trend developing where a person gets to own more of themselves, instead of these websites. The more they lock the user into something, the more they will fail in the long run.
• How do you think that corporate branding and marketing can keep it “real” without losing the audience when companies try to use social networking to sell/brand their stuff? This is tricky. The more you identify with your audience, and the more open you are, the better off you’ll be. That will make a relationship with your base of people. If I know a person at a company, I know that person… not the company. I have that connection. The more interpersonal communication I might have with a person on the inside, the more confident I am going to be in their company and their products.
• Where do you see cloud computing coming into the idea of social networking, will it be platform only, or do you think this will expand as much as the personal computer has expanded, or the mobile device has expanded? Cloud computing is interesting. For the average user, it’s not going to have much impact between what they’re doing today, and what they do tomorrow. Where a website exists doesn’t matter… it only matters that it does exist.
• How could a company approach the two way process of social networking within the definition of human circuitry? I wouldn’t say the two are mutually inclusive. Keep in mind that you’re a person, working for a company. As long as you’re not “the” company, then you’ll get along with my definition of Human Circuitry… you’re a human first, and you work for the company second. To me, that is the pinnacle of what communication can and should be.
• How would you address the adult cynicism that pervades companies to adopt or embrace human circuitry? Get over it. That’s what I have to say to anyone like that. Go back to your rotary-dial phone, and your floppy disks. The world is growing up around you. If you’re not going to grow with it, that’s fine. But we’re not waiting for you.
• Do you think that people, companies, and groups are going to be able to commit the time and resources needed to advance social networking or human circuitry? They have no choice. When you put your humanity first, your interests are paramount. The more someone is a ‘person’, the more open a conversation may be. Even if you feel you don’t have time to spend on the interpersonal side of things, you have to MAKE the time. That’s what it’s all about.
• Do you think that there is going to be a bigger abandonment curve in social networking much as we have seen with blogs, wiki’s and other systems? You know, a blog is just a tool. A Wiki is a tool. A social network is just a tool. Heck, I’m just a tool to some websites. Is it going to fade? Yeah, I think the uniqueness of a social network has been diminished. Anyone can start one, just like I did. It’s certainly going to still be there in the future, but not so much as a buzzword.
• How can we bring more people into the conversation, with only some 4% of people actually fully participating in social networking? How would you go about – or how should we go about – involving the other 96% of the population into the noise? You can’t. As soon as it’s relevant to them, they’ll join. Why aren’t they joining? Their friends aren’t there. It’s difficult. They don’t’ have time. Many things come into play, and you can’t change them. You can’t change the culture.
• In the current DMCA environment, how do you think Laws have to change to accommodate human circuitry or social networking? What can companies do better to fix or correct non-factual information on social networking sites? They need better information. That means talking to people who are out there, doing things online, for real… not just legislators. Before laws can be passed, they need to be put through a committee, who is comprised of people “in the know”.
• How can communities patrol themselves better to keep trolls and other miscreants out of the system while still keeping the conversation going? That’s impossible, point blank. The best you can do is ban and remove them.
• Society will have to change to accommodate social networking, how do you see those changes coming about? Time. It will happen over time.
• How would you use human circuitry to improve the “human condition”? I don’t know that human circuitry can be ‘used’. It’s more a condition itself of the interplay between humanity and technology. You see it happen a lot. Someone posts a link, and it’s spread everywhere. What’s that do, though? Nothing! It doesn’t help the situation at all. Until we can tie these relatively benign actions into real-world actions, it’s just going to be people yakking on and on.

Dan, I hope you got what you needed with this. If anyone cares to leave a follow-up comment to this, it would be appreciated. Let me know your thoughts on any of my answers, and what your definition of Human Circuitry is.

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