Spending two days in Palo Alto has really been an experience. The entire atmosphere makes you a smarter person. The level of discourse and interaction is unmatched, especially compared to Florida. I can see why Buzz Bruggeman moved to Seattle from Orlando.
For example, Thursday night was dinner with Toby Bloomberg, Debbie Weil, Nicole Simon, Stephan Spencer, Evelyn Rodriguez, Jeremy Wright, Jory Des Jardins, Shel Israel and Robert Scoble with a brief appearance from Dave Winer & Dan Farber and a drop-in by Albert Lai of Bubbleshare.
Friday night featured a small dinner party hosted by Keith Teare of edgeio. The guests included Mike Arrington from TechCrunch, Gabe Rivera from memeorandum, Brian Oberkirch, David Parmet, Jeremy Pepper, Erin Caldwell, Eva (a Ph.D. student from Stanford) and two women from eSnips who just flew in from Israel. Great conversations and great homemade chocolate sauce from Keith's wife.
I'm in the process of writing a complete wrap-up post from my New Communications Forum visit. Many great people met,
Visitor Comments
I am delighted you got to meet a bunch of my pals. They really are a lot of fun. Wait till Gnomdex and you will meet even more!
Posted by: Buzz Bruggeman | March 5, 2006 2:58 PM
Josh
Having moved from Palo Alto to North Florida I can attest that the energy level is invigorating and every breakfast, lunch, or dinner seems to buzz with wonderful discussion. I am beginning to see that energy even in Florida although no where near the level Silicon Valley.
Posted by: Doug Perkins | March 5, 2006 8:52 PM
It was great meeting you at the conference and hanging out Friday night! Definitely give me a heads-up when you're coming to Auburn, so I can try to catch up with you while you're in town.
Posted by: Erin Caldwell | March 6, 2006 1:39 AM
Straight from the dictionary...
name-drop (v): To mention casually the names of illustrious or famous people in order to imply that one is on familiar terms with them, intended as a means of self-promotion.
Posted by: Melanie | March 6, 2006 10:22 AM
Melanie:
Good to have you back, it's been a while. Sorry I didn't mention your name :-)
Posted by: Josh Hallett | March 6, 2006 10:28 AM
It didn't come across as name-dropping to me (although I have seen that in blogs). By linking to the folks he met, he engages in the social aspect of this "media" and essentially drops a note saying "Hi, it was nice to meet you". (BTW, likewise.)
Posted by: Evelyn Rodriguez | March 6, 2006 4:17 PM
Spoken like a true name-dropper, Evelyn (if that is your real name).
Posted by: Melanie | March 9, 2006 3:38 PM
Melanie
That certainly did not come across as name dropping either. I met these same folks at the New Comm forum in Palo Alto and blogged about them too, it's certainly appropriate.
Josh
I'm not sure if being in palo alto makes you 'smarter' as many of these people are not from Palo Alto.
I think being in a room where smart people are makes ya have the opportuntiy to be smarter.
With that said, many of the web industry innovation happens in this area...
Come back soon to visit us, and make us smarter!
Yer bud, Jeremiah
Posted by: Jeremiah Owyang | March 12, 2006 8:53 AM