As I already said in the blurps I was at @media 2006 this week. It was absolutely amazing. I had that ‘5-year-old-kid-rush’ seeing all these people I read about and respect. Then I managed to take it all in and actually talk to some. I met a bunch of people who were really nice. Even though there was 800 attendees it was quite cosy on the parties. All in all it was a great experience.
The conference itself was great too. Amazing speakers with great topics. Mostly what I got was a confirmation that I am on the right path and I also got some new information. I’m sorry I missed Nate Koechley’s Yahoo! vs. Yahoo! – I hear it was amazing. Hopefully the presentation will be online soon.
I guess I should start off at the first day. Not the first day of the conference but instead with the pre-party. It was held in The Feathers on wednesday evening. Parties are where it all happens.
At first it was a bit weird – I knew nobody and most of them were grouped up in what seemed to be company based groups. After some wandering around and a pint of Stella I met Christoph from Germany and another guy from the Netherlands (sorry, I forgot your name, didn’t get your card). We chatted for a bit and as I was about to leave I met more interesting people outside. One of them, Ken Himschoot, actually took a picture of me and posted it on Flickr.
Ken introduced me to Glenda and they were both trying to convince me to come to Texas for the next SXSW conference. We’ll see, but it’s still in US. Maybe after I get fingerprinted by my own country. At the party I also saw Eric Meyer, Richard Rutter, Peter Paul Koch and a bunch of other great people.
To be continued…
Hi Marko…glad you are at least thinking about SXSW…it is the ultimate web geek event. But conferences like @Media are a sweet spot as well. For me…it is all about meeting new people and sharing web dreams…I come away from these events exhausted and inspired…and after a few days rest I can’t wait to turn those dreams into reality!
Yo Marko!
hope you enjoyed the conference! And really, come and see us again in Texas next spring! It’s an even bigger conference (as is everything else in Texas).
Ciao!