What about August 9th through the 11th (2007) for Gnomedex 7.0? I’m sure there are going to be scheduling conflicts, but consider this your “warning shot.” I realize this may concide with some family vacations, but you realize that Seattle is an amazing destination for kids of all ages? Okay, so… we’re thinking about setting the date for the next Gnomedex for that weekend (evening kick-off event on Thursday the 9th, and the conference on both Friday and Saturday). We’ll be doing it at Bell Harbor again, so… start making plans, and prepare to snap your passes quickly. Group discounts will be available this year.

Tentative Gnomedex 2007 Dates

I’m not sure who started the rumor, but Gnomedex isn’t dead. At least, not to my knowledge? If it’s dead, nobody bothered to tell me. We’ve had quite a bit of upheaval lately, but throwing Gnomedex out is not one of the things that’s happened. Quite the opposite in fact! We haven’t done any updates on the Gnomedex Web site largely because there hasn’t been much news to share.

We were planning on taking it to Los Angeles in 2007 – but I can assure you that the next Gnomedex conference will happen in Seattle (likely midyear, probably around the same time we held the 2006 event). It’s been our hope to make Gnomedex a bi-annual event, but Ponzi and I can only scale so much! Absolutely no conference management partnerships have materialized, so that keeps us somewhat limited in growth.

It’s our hope that after we get married (and after we move across town, and after we take our honeymoon, etc.) that we can find and hire an assistant to help us with some of our business matters. People are certainly out there, but we need the “right” person – and may wind up taking an intern from UW. I will likely be posting details about that at a date in the not-so-distant future.

Now, since you’re forcing my hand, I want to tell you about something else I’d like to do in Seattle – largely inspired by recent events with the local music community. I’m going to start seeding interest for sponsors and partners for a networking mixer between technologists and musicians. A party, if you will. Not sure where, not sure when, but it’s something I’d like to make happen before the summer.

I’m already communicating with the Gnomedex site designer to get a few of the graphics updated – and I think this year, once we figure out how to set up a WordPress theme to match the Gnomedex site design, we’ll let any registered Gnomedexer contribute to the blog if they’d like to do so.

Gnomedex is not Dead

Before you send me an email with constructive feedback for Gnomedex 6.0, I’d encourage you to post your thoughts in this page’s comment thread instead. I’ve listened to a lot of feedback over the past couple of days, doing my best to adjust on-the-fly. I answered a lot of questions one-on-one, too. Still, I wanted a semi-formal way to collect your impressions in a single thread – so that everybody can see what could have gone better, and what went better than expected. I should list twenty things we could improve upon for next year, but I’m really tired and want to sleep for a week first. Feel free to post anonymously if you want, or send trackbacks from your own site to this post. I know we could have done a few better, so it’s not like I’m only looking to hear about the “good stuff.” Ponzi might be putting together a survey soon, too. Until then, don’t hold back – what are your thoughts on this year’s Gnomedex while it’s still fresh in your mind?

Gnomedex Freedbacking

Okay, you know how most conference t-shirts suck? They’re splashed with sponsor logos and no fun to wear on Casual Fridays. Who really cares that you were at “Fast Food Fest ’99″?! I have a million and one of those types of t-shirts in my closet, and they all get thrown into the “donate to Goodwill” pile at the end of the year. Sorry, but I’m not interested in being a walking NASCAR chassis. Last year, we got a little geeky with the “Feed Me” shirt. This year, we’re totally stylin’ with a shirt that says it all without saying anything:

Cast a casual glance, and you’ll see nothing more than a hot paisley design on a black t-shirt. Look closer, and you’ll actually find a few alphanumeric characters spelling out the word G-N-O-M-E-D-E-X-6. There’s even a couple of unobtrusive Lockergnome logos thrown in there for good measure. That’s it – total black on the back. If you don’t think these are the best conference t-shirts ever, I’d like to see one less annoying (as in, completely devoid of sponsor logos). Our sponsors understand why we do this – and they all love us for it. My guess is that many Gnomedexers will wear the t-shirt well after the event. Oh, and we’ll have some extras for sale (including fitted t-shirts made for the female figure).

Best Conference T-Shirt Ever

From Derek K. Miller:

Rather than ladling more crap for Chris and Ponzi to do at this late date, if you’d like a sample of your voice mail message about Gnomedex to be included and haven’t sent it already, record something TODAY and email it to me at dkmiller [.at.]pobox.com as an MP3 file or via http://www.yousendit.com/ NO LATER THAN THE END OF TOMORROW (Summer Solstice, June 21) – thanks. I’ll be releasing the final song as Creative Commons-Attribution (i.e. commercial use fine, remixing fine, re-recording fine, synch fine, whatever), and if I can find a way to post the original GarageBand and WAV multitracks without killing my bandwidth (maybe at archive.org), I’ll do that too.

The Gnomedex Song

We’ve got a single OPML file containing the links and feeds of every 2006 Gnomedexer, thanks to the code sleuthing of Kosso. This is good for importing “everybody” en masse into your news aggregator. However, it’s not always as efficient as a single feed. So, Shayne whipped out a 400-line script to convert OPML to RSS – and I think we’re going to call it “KissMyOPML” for fun. The PHP script will be open source, available for everybody soon, and is also a sign of things to come in the near future with Gada.be (which will mash feeds faster than the average install). Remember, Gada.be outputs OPML for every search query; think about it. You can subscribe to the Gnomedexer feed immediately – and if your name isn’t listed in the conference attendee OPML, please let us know ASAP so we can get the proper information in there.

OPML to RSS

Just when you thought Gnomedex couldn’t get any better, Senator John Edwards signs on as our Keynote. The senator is a long-standing supporter of technology – including podcasting and blogging. Every year, we wonder how we’re going to top ourselves. When conversations started with Senator John Edwards’ office, they were intrigued and enthralled with our approach to content! Sentator Edwards will quickly turn his time over to the Gnomedex audience, fielding questions and fostering discussion over how technology could and should play a role in our world. This is fantastic! I’m sure you’ll agree, no matter your political persuasion. This is a tremendous opportunity to have your voice heard. Does anybody know any political bloggers out there? I don’t know any…

Gnomedex Keynote: Senator John Edwards

I’m so incredibly honored to have Steve joining us on the stage at Gnomedex this year. For a while there, it was looking as though he’d never leave his house again. Seriously, I started to get worried when he’d call and leave voicemails at three in the morning after mixing NoDoz with Attention.XML. I’m happy to report that he’s put down his NoDoz bottle and has seen the Gnomedex light once again – it’s that bright flashy thing that’s been drawing his “attention” for the past couple of years. Many of you might not remember me saying this, but Steve truly helped catalyze last year’s Gnomedex conference. Rumor has it that Dave and Steve will be having a contest over who has the fuzzier face. Ponzi is still recovering from last year’s rugburn. In all honesty, it’s great to have Steve on the dais. “On the dais, on the dais – oh oh oh, on the dais. C’mon and rock me on the dais!”

Steve Gillmor is Coming out of Retirement

Okay, it’s not enough that we’re giving you breakfast and lunch at Gnomedex, but Ponzi just told me that we’re also giving you dinner on Friday and Saturday night!!! It’s not going to be a three-course layout either night, but should prove to be something substantial (far beyond carrot sticks and dip). She says: “it probably won’t look like dinner, but it’ll be filling.” I’ll have the menus posted soon enough so you can decide for yourself, but we’re basically telling everybody that we treat all Gnomedex attendees like VIPs. This includes all Cove Gnomedexers, too. Now you wonder why we’re still looking for sponsors – this food extravaganza is killing our budget!

Gnomedex Will Feed You Dinner

Yes, the main room (Bay Auditorium) for Gnomedex is SOLD OUT – but the Cove, much like last year, is still available. We can still get you access to everything else! We’ve arranged to have a unidirectional audio/video feed sent to an adjacent room throughout the conference’s duration – so you can enjoy Gnomedex in person, too! This is exactly what we did last year, and everybody had a great time (in fact, Cove Gnomedexers returned this year as early registrants).

These new “Cove” passes are still $499 apiece, as we’re charged the same amount per attendee (and we have to pay more for the extra resources used). Most conferences charge attendees a higher amount for their last-minute registrations, but we value your presence more than anything – opting to keep the price the same as it has been from the time we announced Gnomedex 6.0.

Gnomedex 6.0: Sold Out!!!

Even with fantastic speakers, sponsors, and attendees lining up around the corner, Ponzi and I still face the challenges of conference production and direction head-on. Here’s the thing: the two of us are doing the work of ten people, on top of our other responsibilities for Lockergnome, The Chris Pirillo Show, etc. We both have to handle and/or manage Event Planning, Conference Coordinating, Press Queries, Registration Services, Attendee Administration, Speaker Selection, General Hosting, Web Site Updates, Risk Assessment, Special Equipment Needs, Facility Research, Program Management, Project Management, Print Materials and Quality Assurance, Schedule Arrangements, Budget Calibration and Financial Responsibilities, On-site Services, Food and Beverage Selection, Party Locations and Requirements, Online and Offline PR, Ticket Discrepancies, etc. – between two of us!

We’re not a conference coordination company – we’re just two people who love the tech world. So, why not offload a good chunk of these tasks to another organization (or others)? Because we don’t want to risk damaging the success of Gnomedex – that, and “everybody” in the conference industry is out to screw you. If we seem to be a little punchy in the weeks leading up to the conference, it’s only because we’re striving to make it an awesome event for every single Gnomedexer. We appreciate your ongoing support and faith, as always. Our sixth year is shaping up to be the best one yet! Barring any unscheduled fire alarms… :)

Conference Planning

Don’t ask me why we didn’t do the redesign before announcing Gnomedex, but it’s better late than never! I’m pretty happy with the way it turned out. We may just keep the same layout indefinitely (but swap out the header graphics). If you notice any bugs, just consider this new theme “under construction.” I know people are already asking about next year’s Gnomedex, but let’s get through this one first. We still have a few more sponsors to announce, as well as a few more speakers. Of course, you can expect more surprises at the event itself.

Gnomedex Web Site Overhauled