My favorite quote of LIFT came as I was interviewing Sister Judith Zoebelein, who manages the Vatican’s Web site. I asked her “do you think we’ll soon go to church in Second Life?” and she answered:
“You mean after death?”
She just misunderstood me, but it does show the biases we sometimes bring to conversations. Here’s a picture of me talking with Sister Judith, taken by Ellen Wallace.
This is why I love LIFT. I can talk with someone trying to help kids in poor, rural, India get on the Net, the person who runs the Vatican’s Web site, and CERN researchers, all in the same day.
What a week. See ya when we get back to San Francisco.
Oh, and Laurent, the reason I had my laptop closed was one of the speakers told the audience to close it. I was afraid. Heheh. But, seriously, the speakers were really great. It’s going to be hard to beat LIFT. Most American conferences don’t hold a candle to the diversity and depth of speakers here. Europe has a series of great conferences going that make news. Reboot is coming up too, and Thomas promises lots of great stuff (that’s geekier than LIFT) and there are others later in the year that sound really great. One that is getting good reviews is the PICNIC conference in September.
One other thing. Where’s the corporate support for these conferences? Yahoo? Google? Microsoft? Ask? All the conference planners I’ve talked to say they are having a tough time even getting anyone from the big companies to send a single representative. That’s just lame, although, to be honest, it makes the quality of these conferences a lot higher cause there aren’t so many commercial pitches that you usually get along with such corporate sponsorship.
Scobleizer 
Robert,
Two things. First, the Sister gave you the correct response, bias introduced or not.
Secondly, I agree with you on there being no corporate reps. Corporations largely stink of greed, and the only reason they would hit something like LIFT is to pawn their overpriced wares. I’m glad no one represented. I wasn’t there, but I disdain corporate software in a major way.
Glad you’re having a good time.
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Robert,
Two things. First, the Sister gave you the correct response, bias introduced or not.
Secondly, I agree with you on there being no corporate reps. Corporations largely stink of greed, and the only reason they would hit something like LIFT is to pawn their overpriced wares. I’m glad no one represented. I wasn’t there, but I disdain corporate software in a major way.
Glad you’re having a good time.
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Robert … your comments are dead on. From the Wednesday workshops through to the final day, the conference was a brilliant exercise in pushing minds to think about things, and perhaps think differently. It was fantastic to have no vendor booths outside … just crazy art things, that only marketers could dream up.
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Robert … your comments are dead on. From the Wednesday workshops through to the final day, the conference was a brilliant exercise in pushing minds to think about things, and perhaps think differently. It was fantastic to have no vendor booths outside … just crazy art things, that only marketers could dream up.
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I always get a kick seeing a ridiculously huge brand at a conference, having a sign up for sign’s sake. Google or Yahoo sponsoring something, like we don’t know who they are. Duh, it’s money.
Amusingly, Microsoft does this better– I see more product-focused banners at conferences to promote a certain thing, than the token ‘here’s our banner’ crap that Google and Yahoo pull.
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I always get a kick seeing a ridiculously huge brand at a conference, having a sign up for sign’s sake. Google or Yahoo sponsoring something, like we don’t know who they are. Duh, it’s money.
Amusingly, Microsoft does this better– I see more product-focused banners at conferences to promote a certain thing, than the token ‘here’s our banner’ crap that Google and Yahoo pull.
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Corporate sponsorships are certainly a Catch-22. Without them it is hard to generate the revenue to run a great conference; with them, you get too many pitches.
I have yet to attend a conference in Europe — but since I’m a CEO maybe I ought to approve one! Maybe then I can convince my wife that my job is worth the travel, if she can go along…
While I’m typing, just a quick note that I really appreciate your commentary and efforts on behalf of the community. I enjoyed my visit to BlogHaus at CES and wish I had had more time to spend there.
And your candid commentary on most issues is refreshing since it comes across as genuine without being abrasive.
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Corporate sponsorships are certainly a Catch-22. Without them it is hard to generate the revenue to run a great conference; with them, you get too many pitches.
I have yet to attend a conference in Europe — but since I’m a CEO maybe I ought to approve one! Maybe then I can convince my wife that my job is worth the travel, if she can go along…
While I’m typing, just a quick note that I really appreciate your commentary and efforts on behalf of the community. I enjoyed my visit to BlogHaus at CES and wish I had had more time to spend there.
And your candid commentary on most issues is refreshing since it comes across as genuine without being abrasive.
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Robert, will your interview with Sister Judith be on the ScobleShow? I’d love to see it!
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Robert, will your interview with Sister Judith be on the ScobleShow? I’d love to see it!
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Bill: yup! We talk Linux and other stuff too.
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Bill: yup! We talk Linux and other stuff too.
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I love that LIFT is “non-corporate” — I think that’s what helps it be what it is.
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I love that LIFT is “non-corporate” — I think that’s what helps it be what it is.
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Chip, just go and read Maryam’s comments on this how a wife travels happily with her man to such conferences.
Copenhagen is beautiful (so should Amsterdam be) and if you put her up in a nice hotel and give her your credit card, she should have a great time too 😉 😉
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Chip, just go and read Maryam’s comments on this how a wife travels happily with her man to such conferences.
Copenhagen is beautiful (so should Amsterdam be) and if you put her up in a nice hotel and give her your credit card, she should have a great time too 😉 😉
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@9
LOL @ give her your credit card… haha …You say this so cavalierly
This is fine and dandy if you HAVE lots of money AND can pay the debt off EVERY month with NO balance, but most people can’t and don’t.
Carry cash. Once you spend it, it’s gone and you’re not tempted. Credit cards don’t have that same impact on you at the till that cash does. When you spend cash, you are acutely aware of how much is left. Not so with credit cards.
Debt is EVIL. Period. You should never owe anyone anything. With the exception of mortgages, people should be debt-free. I can understand maybe owing on student loans, but that’s about it.
Go and read up on Dave Ramsey and his look at debt. I read his book, “Total Money Makeover”, and all I can is that it works. Even if you are not in debt, it will help you save money and manage what you do have.
Most people throw money away on car payments. Buy your cars with cash.
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@9
LOL @ give her your credit card… haha …You say this so cavalierly
This is fine and dandy if you HAVE lots of money AND can pay the debt off EVERY month with NO balance, but most people can’t and don’t.
Carry cash. Once you spend it, it’s gone and you’re not tempted. Credit cards don’t have that same impact on you at the till that cash does. When you spend cash, you are acutely aware of how much is left. Not so with credit cards.
Debt is EVIL. Period. You should never owe anyone anything. With the exception of mortgages, people should be debt-free. I can understand maybe owing on student loans, but that’s about it.
Go and read up on Dave Ramsey and his look at debt. I read his book, “Total Money Makeover”, and all I can is that it works. Even if you are not in debt, it will help you save money and manage what you do have.
Most people throw money away on car payments. Buy your cars with cash.
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Peter, I am not interested in making this into a credit cards are evil!!! thread. My comment is the usual answer on “how to handle the misses if they do not want to come over with you on a nice trip”.
If or if not that is applicable to your situation in being able to handle money is besides the point. And: Just because some folks cannot handle how credit card works does not mean nobody can. No, you do not need to have a lot of money to work efficiently with credit cards …
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Peter, I am not interested in making this into a credit cards are evil!!! thread. My comment is the usual answer on “how to handle the misses if they do not want to come over with you on a nice trip”.
If or if not that is applicable to your situation in being able to handle money is besides the point. And: Just because some folks cannot handle how credit card works does not mean nobody can. No, you do not need to have a lot of money to work efficiently with credit cards …
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@11,
You stated that one does not need a lot of money to handle credit cards effectively. Well, I’ll agree with that with one caveat…
If one buys what one can afford AND pays off the balance every month, no worries. If one buys more than they can pay off at the end of the month, AND has a revolving balance, that’s evil. Full stop.
Americans are further in debt than any other nation on Earth. Even Europeans who make as much as some Americans manage their money far better. American culture is designed around the “acquire it now and pay later” mantra. College kids come out of college with huge debts in addition to their school loans, which are far too high to begin with. No education is worth what the universities are charging these days.
A $200,000 Harvard education is no better than one at the University of Nebraska or the University of Florida. It’s a matter of prejudice hiring managers who have no clue.
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@11,
You stated that one does not need a lot of money to handle credit cards effectively. Well, I’ll agree with that with one caveat…
If one buys what one can afford AND pays off the balance every month, no worries. If one buys more than they can pay off at the end of the month, AND has a revolving balance, that’s evil. Full stop.
Americans are further in debt than any other nation on Earth. Even Europeans who make as much as some Americans manage their money far better. American culture is designed around the “acquire it now and pay later” mantra. College kids come out of college with huge debts in addition to their school loans, which are far too high to begin with. No education is worth what the universities are charging these days.
A $200,000 Harvard education is no better than one at the University of Nebraska or the University of Florida. It’s a matter of prejudice hiring managers who have no clue.
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“Influences” would be a better choice than “biases”.
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“Influences” would be a better choice than “biases”.
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