mesh: The Spaces InBetween

As much as conference organizers strive to put on great keynotes and panels, one of the things that struck me most about this week’s mesh conference is how much people value the open slots of time between the programming. As much by luck as design, mesh had 20, 30, 50 and 90-minute breaks on both days. At first, my impression was the length of the breaks was cutting in the programming but what I discovered is the breaks were exactly what people wanted.

For all the listening they were willing to do, people attending mesh also wanted to mesh (aka network, exchange ideas, do demos, etc.) with other people. It was pretty amazing to see a panel come to a formal end only to have the conversation continue for another 20 or 30 minutes after people came up to the stage to get deeper into particular topics with the panelists. In the atrium, people were hanging out, introducing themselves to new people, blogging, meeting at tables for mini-panels – as well as drinking a sea of coffee! (Thanks, Cary Silver for your amazing catering services!)

In the end, it dawned on me that many people these days spend a lot of time using digital communications (e-mail, instant-messaging, cell phones, Blackberrys) but still crave person-to-person communication. So when the go to a conference, it a rare opportunity to get out of their isolated digital worlds. At mesh, this reality was a live and well.

Note: Another thing that really impressed me during mesh was how many our of keynotes and panelists were so involved. It was great to see people like the effervescent Rachel Sklar (check out her meshfight! post), the charming Christine Herron; Loren Feldman, who captured and embraced the spirit of mesh in such an amazing way; Mary Hodder, whose advice on start-ups I’ve already taken to heart, and PayPerPost’s Ted Murphy (here’s Ted’s mesh post) attending panels and just hanging out with everyone else over the two-day event. For more, check out Loren’s mesh video library.

Update: Here’s a post from Mark Dowds about how he only made it to one presentation during mesh because he kept running into people who wanted to talk. I also like love this paragraph from Donna Papacosta’s blog: “To me, the value of mesh was mostly in the informal conversations during the breaks – meeting new people, renewing friendships, sharing ideas, even commiserating about people who aren’t yet drinking the Web 2.0 Kool-Aid.”

Thanks: My mesh compadre, Rob Hyndman, does a great job thanking everyone involved in mesh but I’d like to offer some personal props to MCC Planners, especially Sheri Moore, for their tremendous work; Alan Gelberg and MaRS for being such hospitable hosts; Encore Catering for some wicked eats; the speakers for their time and energy; everyone who attended mesh for their enthusiasm; my mesh partners for their counsel, wisdom, and friendship; and, finally, my family for encouraging me to pursue a time-consuming, but highly satisfying and super-fun, passion.

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