I spent a couple of days in Toronto last week at the 2009 mesh conference last week. Here are five thoughts still dancing in my head from the trip:

1) Toronto’s mayor is a Twitter fiend

The fact that David Miller (@MayorMiller on Twitter) knew how to snap and post a Twitpic — with proper hashtag and all! — from the stage was interesting in its own right, but it wasn’t nearly as important as hearing the mayor articulate how social media, the web, and open data standards were impacting the lives of Torontonians and the city’s own policy-making. Impressive.

2) We need informal meshing time

You’ve likely heard and read before that the “real magic of conferences happens in the hallways.” I almost agree with that — except that I enjoy taking in at least some of the regularly scheduled presentations and panels, too.

Mesh struck just the right balance, featuring several 30-minute breaks between keynotes and panels. That left attendees with ample time to linger and chat with old friends and new colleagues, without having to dash right off to the next session.

3) Online media from conferences lives on in the long tail of the web

Exhibit A: meshTV 2009 (note: this is a link to the Apple iTunes store, where HD videos of several mesh keynotes and panel discussions have been published).

Exhibit B: Rannie Tuningan’s mesh 2009 portraits (I’m one of a hundred-plus attendees featured in this year’s collection) – a great way to look back on the faces from the conference.

4) We’re wired to share and connect

Over a pub meal on the first night of the conference, FaveQuest CEO Allan Isfan (@Isfan on Twitter) threw out this question to his dining mates: “So, really, why do we do this?” And by “this,” he meant the the Twittering, Facebooking, Flickring, blogging, online social networking that was second nature to most of the mesh crowd.

My take? Human beings crave connections with each other, and the tools of social media enable those relationships to happen. We’d all have been making our own media and sharing our lives online 20 or 30 years ago, too, if the technology had supported it.

5) Corporate blogs are boring …

… or at least most people think so. In this 2009 mesh audio wrap-up from mesh (click below to play or download), I speak with attendees about the state of corporate blogs, as well as best practices for brands looking to build and/or join online communities.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

[Right-click to download

Running time: 13:46

Share This