A bunch of notable stuff hitting the radar in advance of Supernova2007, which is happening here in San Francisco in June. Just learned about two aspects of the conference week that looked especially interesting.
Challenge Tracks – The Supernova team has been putting together a number of interesting conversations around "challenges" to either conventional wisdom or current hype. These include:
Challenge Track: Markets & Relationships—Finding the ‘Individual’ Point of View
Relationships are becoming the new marketing. Now that we have expanded
people’s networks through technology and ready access to information,
they are self-organizing in ways that allow them to leverage their
relationships as never before. They are inventing new products and
media. And they are demanding that business relate to them on their
terms.
Many terms are being used to talk about the newly empowered
“individual”: engagement, attention, community, authenticity, and
trust. Yet buzzwords alone provide little insight. This Challenge
Track will assemble a variety of business disciplines to cut through
the confusion, and examine key market issues from the individual’s
point of view. It will feature five sessions:
- Session I: Introduction to the new Relationship Economy
- Session II: Relate: Markets are Conversations, Part 2
- Session III: Reach: The new role of Advertising
- Session IV: Research & Measure: It’s about more than Metrics
- Session V: Where’s the Innovation?: Examples and Implications of the Relationship Economy
Challenge: Virtual Life or Virtual Hype?
Do most people really want to be immersed in 3D virtual worlds? And
what are the real business benefits of these massively multiplayer
environments? This session will examine which activities will migrate
to virtual environments, and when physical forms will continue to
dominate.Challenge: Web Tools—Collaboration and Disruption in the Enterprise
How can businesses take advantage of the open, networked, user-centric
innovations that power so much of the new activity on the public Web?
What are the tools that promote real efficiency and group
participation, and how will they change the way organizations behave?
Also, the Supernova team has set up an Open Space day that is going to get the kindling going for the rest of the week (it’s limited to 200 folks, and it is only $25 to attend the open space, so get on the list soon if’n you’re going). From the site:
The Supernova Open Space Workshop is an open forum on the social, moral, technical, and strategic questions impacting the increasingly connected world in which we live. Discussions about topics like user control, neutrality, identity and open standards are setting the stage for future policies and economic decisions. Come to this event to learn more, participate in the community and shape the future of the New Network.
The Supernova Open Space Workshop is run on Open Space practices and principles. There are no pre-scheduled presentations, no keynotes, no panels. Instead, topics for discussion, questions are posed and presentations are offered up by participants when the workshop convenes, and scheduled the day it happens. Participants in the workshop need not be attending Supernova, although all Supernova attendees are welcomed and encouraged to participate. We hope to find ways to pull some of the insights from the Open Space Workshop into the more traditionally structured days of Supernova.
Check it out.