Mesh Conference 2006: Day 1 summary

Wow, what a day. I’m here at Mesh conference (sounds like a standard reporter… “I’m here at the launch of the new space elevator and the crowds are going wild!!!”) and it was a fun and interesting day.

Some highlights and thoughts from the past 24 hours.

• web 2.0 is still being defined. Even the mighty Om Malik, whom I have a lot of respect for, said today that “perhaps web 2.0 means being open and transparent.” Personally I just think that’s openness and transparency….
• this is the first conference where the orders of business included: “where are the power outlets, what are the del.icio.us tags, and how do you log into our wifi?”
• there was a wide variety of people attending here today
• the “Wall of Ignorance” (one of the Five Barriers to Web 2.0″ articulated by Dion Hinchcliffe (?) is alive and well. This is a pretty advanced group but Blogging 101… was FULL! And people were asking “what is a blog!!?!?!?!” Holy crap. And yet, 50% of our planet still hasn’t used a telephone to make or receive a call. Wow.
• Michael Geist spoke on copyright and intellectual property protection. Some take-away quotes:
• much of copyright protection has nothing to do with protection of artists and everything to do with market dominance;
• blogs have changed the political landscape forever. He explained how his one blog post cascaded into the removal of an MP for her anti-sane-DRM policy and her visible conflict of interest dealings.
• many of the government ministers are now terrified of blogs because the don’t follow the standard “don’t publish” rules if there is something controversial.
• Overall this was an excellent talk. I would highly recommend that anybody watch Geist’s talks.
• Best sites of the day:
• Rathergood.com’s “We Like The Moon” : OMG, I laughed until I cried.
• Ask a Ninja

UPDATE: Here are my summary thoughts on the day:

• PR is undergoing a major transition; it’s not that it will die; it will just mutate and adapt.
• The traditional printed media will need to adapt very quickly. Their foundations are being shaken by the disappearance of the classifieds and the niche trade papers are disappearing because bloggers are faster and more accurate and more knowledgeable. Again, smart people will adapt, the rest will leave the business…and that’s a good thing.
• Web 2.0, blogs, and public participation are impacting government in a very real way. One blog post kicked off a chain of events that unseated an MP.

OKAY, my Ecto blog editor crapped out and is driving me crazy. Time to stop. More to follow tomorrow when we cover Web 2.0 and marketing, business, innovation, and a few other areas.