Do you remember those mini-essays that teachers made you write on the first day of school in which you had to write about what you did for my summer vacation? This blog post is sort of like that but rather than going away to summer camp, I spent a good part of the summer organizing the first meshmarketing conference.

While co-organizing the mesh conference with the mesh gang has given me some valuable insight into what goes on, trying to put together a conference over the summer is a different kind of proposition.

For one, many people take these things called vacations, often for several weeks in which they sometimes let their in-boxes collect dust. As well, people get into summer mode, so the last thing they want to think about is stuff happening after summer is over.

Still, these are the kind of obstacles that any conference organizer faces when you do an event in the autumn. And in the end, everything has really worked out. We’ve got a line-up of terrific speakers, led by keynote Hugh MacLeod, and some great social events.

As important, people are enthusiastic about meshmarketing, which is gratifying because it means that we’re doing something that people want or need – something we picked up on during the last mesh conference.

As we head into tonight’s pre-conference party at the Drake Hotel, I want to thank everyone who bought a ticket at a time when everyone is still watching their pennies pretty closely. I want to thank our sponsors for their support, including Seth Singer who stepped in at the last minute to tweak and update the Web site.

Finally, I want to thank Sheri Moore and the team from MCC Planners. Without their crucial behind-the-scenes help and enthusiasm, we couldn’t pull off meshU, mesh or meshmarketing.

I’m looking forward to seeing everyone over the next couple of days!