all about the experience

When I picked up my conference bag I noticed a couple of things. Pleasingly there was very little in the way of gumf cluttering the bag and deforesting the world. So often when I go to a conference the bag is stuffed with leaflets I’ll never read. I always walk round the vendor displays but if I’m interested in something I’d rather talk to the vendor and if I’m really interested I’ll pick up a leaflet from the vendor.

The second thing I noticed in my bag was a curious little key. What is it for I wondered? The key had a tag attached with a company name and website so I probably had the answer if I’d been near a computer. Day one of the conference I was so busy I didn’t get time to walk round the vendors but I did notice one had an interesting collection of robots. Later that evening my brain finally connected the key with the robots.

Day two I set out to claim my robot. The thing about the vendor’s display and for that matter all the vendors at webstock was that it was about the experience of interacting with them.  The opportunities for interaction were many.  It wasn’t the traditional displays to observe and pushy salespeople exchanging the opportunity to win something for the details on your business card. In fact the robot stand was remarkably clean and uncluttered. They’d also set up a photobooth with a camera taking four photos in quick succession. You could print them out and agree to them being uploaded onto Flickr. You couldn’t help but leave with a good feeling and a desire to round up a few more friends for another silly photo. How subtle, getting you to bring other potential future clients to meet them. I knew what they were doing, tempting me in, giving me something for free, entertaining me while I was there and then persuading me to spread their message and I’ve linked to them in this post. Still this experience was more satisfying than the times I’ve dropped my business card at some stand only to be pestered for months after the conference. In fact this vendor doesn’t have my email so I feel great about that. They did talk to me and we both realised pretty quickly that where I currently work there’d be little opportunity to use their services so there’s little point to putting lots of effort into maintaining contact with me. The experience though was good enough that I will remember them.

more tubes needed in 2010

So, so, so much love to the organisers of this year’s Webstock conference. The second day was even better than the first. I did plan to blog from the conference but the wifi was a little dodgy – too many people all trying to claim their share and for much of the day I couldn’t get connected. More tubes for the next webstock please. Connectivity problems aside the webstock team deserve so much kudos and thanks for bringing so many talented presenters to NZ.  It was as though every session was a keynote.

geek <3

Webstock 2006 inspred me greatly and this year’s conference is heading the same way. So many excellent speakers with excellent presentations. It seems a shallow thing to say but I just love that it is so styley.  Take the conference bag – so many conferences have boring black laptop bags with the conference names and a hundred sponsor logos plastered all over the front. You use it for the conference then never use it again. But the webstock bag – so much love. Modelled on bags made from recycled canvases it features the fabulous webstock artwork.  The fabric’s been printed and cut up like the canvas bags so each bag is a little different from the next. It has a good piece of foam inside to protect your laptop and is an ample size, perfect for a few other items along with the laptop.

The coffee, the wonderful coffee, essential at a geek conference. The queues are long but it is worth the wait and it is free – how good is that?

 The other thing I think is just fantastic is that the presentations are all being signed. Three sign language interpreters have been busy all day. It is funny to watch the interaction between them and the presenters.  One presenter mused on whether the interpreter would be editorialising and telling everyone his presentation was boring.

Powerpoint, I just have to mention it. I hate it with a passion when it is done poorly – filled with crappy clip art and more text than your average novel. Boy do the webstock presenters know how to do powerpoint. I had to laugh though, it seems it is now almost compulsory to include a lolcat slide whether relevant or not.