As Samuel mentioned in the previous post, we had the opportunity to attend WPP’s second annual “unconference” in Athens, Greece called Stream. As I was fortunate to receive a return invitation following last year’s inaugural program, I was really looking forward to connecting with some of the Internet industry’s smartest minds and sitting in on some fascinating discussions. Now, there was only one problem I: trying to attend every interesting session was physically impossible as my laptop, notepad, pen, BlackBerry and digital camera could only go so far. The “Big Boards,” as they were called at the unconference, dictated which presentations were available during Friday, October 3 and Saturday, October 4. I wanted to attend every discussion but needed a figure out a way to do so.
What was I to do?
Like Erin, as I’m essentially connected all the time, I feared the digital jitters. Yet, I put down my laptop, Blackberry, camera and realized: “Now’s the time to go analog and social network with real and not virtual Tweeple.” In order to maximize my time at Stream while meeting participants during the two days, I followed two rules: (1) Meet as many people as possible and (2) write your thoughts in your Moleskine. I met attendees from some of the largest Internet companies in the world to those venture capitalists who were bullish on the current economy. I even had the chance to ask Jason Calacanis why he and Michael Arrington chose Footnote, a social network for the deceased, as a TechCrunch50 Finalist (something I’ve been dying to know since I saw Footnote present a few months ago). His answer: “We wanted to see the crowd’s reaction,” and what a reaction the crowd gave!
As I met more Stream participants, the pages in my Moleskine started to get filled with scribblings of their respective interests: monetizing social media, cultivating innovation, helping European entrepreneurs, the future in 2010, or reducing our carbon footprint with the help of technology. By the end of Stream, I had a sizable amount of notes to review on my plane ride back to New York City. After looking over my notes, I achieved my goal: hyper-multi-tasking and networking with just a pen/paper. “Wow,” I thought, “I don’t have to be connected all the time.”
I was right. In hindsight, I learned and absorbed much more information than I could have while working on my laptop or BlackBerry, always pinging with new emails to distract my thought process. I’d suggest stepping away from email for a few hours and just use a pen and paper to capture your work. You’d be surprised how much you can get done!
For more information about this year’s awesome Stream unconference, browse the Twitter time line.
