Some random thoughts and observations from the first morning of mesh:

1. Mike Masnick is one of the smartest and most insightful people when it comes to what’s happening with the digital economy. He also shows more slides – 487 – than any other presenter I’ve seen.

2. Jessica Jackley, who founded Kiva.org, is an inspiring individual. If people at mesh hadn’t done micro-loans through Kiva before, I’m sure most of them – including me – will do so now. Her quote: “I’m not wealthy but I could retire on happiness” is a show-stopper. You can participate in Kiva through the mesh group that started during Jackley’s keynote.

3. Twitter could kill the people asking questions at conferences. After announcing we would take questions via Twitter, using the hashtag #askmesh, there were few question from the audience during Masnick’s keynote. That said, there were lots of questions during Jackley’s keynotes. In fact, we could have taken an hour more of questions.

4. From looking over the shoulders of mesh attendees, TweetDeck is the tool for the digerati. There were some people using Splitweet – an indication that some people have multiple accounts; and a few people using Twitter.com

5. There’s no lack of energy and excitement within Canada’s high-tech landscape. What’s really needed is more venture capital to harness, engage and jump-start all those smart people with great ideas.

6. If you’re planning an event, call Sheri Moore at MCC Planners. mesh and meshU could not happen without her and her team (Thanks, Danielle, Susan and Amy!)

7. I was digging my iPhone before mesh but the ability to have a mobile pocket desktop that does voice, e-mail, Twitter and the Web while running a conference is amazing.

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