PDF2007

UPDATE 23 MAY 2007:
Click here to listen to the podcast

Last saturday I facilitated a session at the Personal Democracy Unconference, which took place at Pace University's downtown NYC campus.

To those who don't know what means unconference, the concept is an interesting take on the old formula. People come in with a topic or set of topics they'd like to talk about. All the topics are placed written on a piece of paper and placed on the wall, next to an empty schedule grid. Once the organizers give it a go, facilitators place on their preferred time slot and/or negotiate with other facilitators the timing of their session.

The session I facilitated was titled, Reframing Net Neutrality as a Civil Rights Issues. I honestly wasn't expecting more than a few people but was amazed when about a dozen strong came to the corner where I was set up. Nancy Scola, Aldon Hines, Cheryl Contee, Ruby Sinreich, Ed Cone, Heather Holdridge and so many other amazing people came to discuss this important issue that has been amazingly bogged down by too much geek speak.

What's at the core of Net Neutrality? There's people who can put this better than me, but at the heart of the debate is the issue that internet providers should have the right to distinguish all sorts of bandwidth usage in order to better manage their resources and provide better service. The concern is that companies like YouTube may literally clog the internets and it's tubes.

Have you ever heard of PCFS? Post-Conference Fatigue Syndrome is what happens to many people after going to a mojor technology or political conference.

At a place like PDF2007 I got hit on every front with both networking and information overload. Too much information, too many personal details to remember to track.

The brain is ready to explode.

Don't get me wrong --I loved every minute of it. But being around so many people and so many ideas can be exhausting. Especially when you come back home to 12 loads of stinky laundry.

I have a podcast to put up and a follow up to the panel I was part of and the unconference session I facilitated. Good stuff, but apologies for being a bit sluggish.