Scoble baby shower
Originally uploaded by hardaway
Gnomedex isn’t like any other industry conference I’ve ever attended. It’s about 2-300 people who all know each other online, and feel close even if they haven’t met. Many of them share common interests, and they are not necessarily rich barons of industry or pure nerds. They are people, and they are a community–although they are VERY accepting of outsiders.
The presentations are more what I’d imagine TED to be like than what most industry conferences are like. People don’t showcase their companies; in fact, when they do, they get laughed and booed off the stage, as Jason Calcanis did last night when he tried to announce a new feature in Mahalo by thinly disguising it as a presentation on Internet spam. Not that the audience dislikes Jason — they just didn’t cotton to a product pitch. To his credit, Jason changed his tone right in the middle of the presentation, did not run out of the room or commit suicide in front of the crowd, and later thanked his comrades for their excellent questions.
This leads me to why I chose the accompanying photo. This is a shot of Robert Scoble’s “man shower,” a male baby shower put on by the Pirillos, the couple who produce Gnomedex, because Robert and Maryam are having a baby next month.
While photos of Maryam’s shower played on the big screen, Robert was made to put on a cute hat and open gifts like diapers and bottle warmers. He was mortified, but he’s such a warm, comfy person that he didn’t run out of the room either.
I’ve never seen anything like this before, and I found it totally impressive. If this is the impact of social media, bring it on.
