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Two Weeks, Two Conferences

: Image via Wikipedia

So last week was Adobe MAX and this week I headed off to Las Vegas for BlogWorld Expo. Talk about a study in contrasts and two very different conference experiences.

One week, I’m working the show and surrounded by so many people I know that I spent the entire conference talking and still managed to miss connecting with some folks. As much as it’s a ton of work and exhausting, it’s also inspiring and just plain fun to spend the week surrounded by a few thousand of your company’s most passionate customers. However, if you’re not mindful and self-aware, all that attention can go to your head.

Then the next week, I’m just an attendee. I knew some of the people at the show and even a couple of the speakers, but by and large I was on my own when it came to finding people to connect with and things to do. If I wanted to enjoy myself and get the most out of this conference, I couldn’t coast; I’d have to work for it.

In a way the relative anonymity was refreshing – for one thing, I actually had the time to have in-depth conversations with people without the pressure of having to constantly run off to say “Hi” to three other people. I could attend sessions other than just the keynotes. I could enjoy relaxed meals with some really cool people like Kyle Flaherty, Aaron Straut, Jennifer Leggio, Stephanie Schwab, and Lindsay Lebresco. As an added bonus, I could do it all without having to spend all day killing my feet on the show floor.

Most important, I got outside of my day-to-day life and got to hear about how other people are addressing some of the same issues we’re grappling with, like: how to connect to always-on, global, engaged and intense communities of customers. Or how to stay on top of the torrent of voices that increasingly defines the Internet today and still have time to get some work done.

The longer I work for Adobe, the more strongly I feel that it’s critical for me to keep a sense of perspective and stay connected to life outside the Adobe bubble for me to be at my most effective. Spending time at events like BlogWorld is one way to do that.

If I’m totally honest with myself, though, I’d have to say I preferred my MAX experience.

PS: I’m testing out a new tool called Zemanta with this post – I got a demo of their stuff at BlogWorld and thought it was worth a try.

Adobe MAX – The Aftermath

The tidal wave that is Adobe MAX has come and gone for 2009 and I’m back home recovering.

I have attended a lot of industry conferences over the years and even helped organize a few. To me, what separates the good from the bad conferences is not the facilities, the speakers, or even the wifi availability, it’s the people. Obviously MAX is about an intense amount of information transfer — with hundreds of hours of sessions, keynotes, BOFs and unconferences — but it’s also about building connections within the Adobe community. The advent of MAX Online means that if all you want is information, you can get that without having to leave your home. The true value of attending MAX is everything else that is layered around those sessions.

Although I’m biased, I think the fact that one of the first things you saw when coming onto the show floor at MAX was a very large and comfortably furnished community lounge speaks volumes about the importance of building connections at MAX. And that lounge was never empty, not even early in the morning. Any time you came by, there were community members and Adobe staff filling the chairs and gathered around the tables; talking, working, Twittering, demo-ing, and much more.

A lot of other people have written extensively about the news Adobe released at MAX this year, so I’m not going to talk about that here. And if I tried to list all the people or all the cool stuff I saw this year at MAX I would fail miserably. Instead, I am going to call out two things that were particularly meaningful to me.

First, there’s this:

I knew going in what the theme of the Day 2 keynote was, of course, but had no clue at all that the keynote would open with a display of Adobe User Group logos from around the world onscreen, so when I saw the screen it was a big warm fuzzy moment. The Adobe User Groups work very hard to build community in their local communities and it was great to see them included onstage. Many of those user group managers were not able to be present at MAX due to the cost of travel, but as one manager put it “At least my logo could be there!”.

And next there’s this:

It’s been a very long time since I first sat down with a copy of ColdFusion and tried to figure out how to connect a database to a web page, and CF has had a special place in my heart ever since. That the CF team included me in the launch gift for CF9 means a lot to me. Thanks guys!

This post is getting a little long, so I’ll just wrap it up by saying that MAX rocked, and if you;re on the fence about going next time, just go. It’s worth it.

Aspects of Forgiveness

People who know me in real life know that as Jewish observance goes I am on the low end of the spectrum, but I do take Yom Kippur seriously. I believe we reap what we sow in life, and thus this is the time of year to stop and consider what it is that you’re putting out.

There are three aspects to teshuvah, as I see it:

1) Asking forgiveness from Adonai
2) Asking forgiveness from other people
3) Forgiving yourself

I struggle a lot with number three.

For those who observe, I wish you an easy fast, and may we all be sealed for a blessing this coming year.

Seeking Balance

I was sitting out on the terrace this morning, enjoying some coffee and thinking about photography and lessons learned.

While walking through downtown Chicago this past spring, I was struck by the contrast of a green staircase against the red brick of the building it was attached to, so I shot it. Later, to my great dismay, I looked at the shot and for the first time noticed the large shadows on the building spoiling the effect I was going for. How I managed to not see those shadows, I don’t know — but I was so intent on the color contrast that I completely missed them.

A series of digital manipulations later, I have a shot that’s more or less what I was going for (although still not perfect). I also got a valuable reminder of the fact that you don’t get the best results if you focus on the parts, and not the whole.