Supernova 2004

Kevin Werbach's second annual SuperNova was held in San Jose this week. Last year, it apparently dealt more with public policy issues given its Washington DC location. This year, it gathered 200 influential executives, technologists, entrepreneurs, investors, and other thought leaders in Silicon Valley to discuss the implications of pervasive connectivity and decentralization.

On stage and in hallway discussions included: Voice over IP...Social networking...Web services...WiFi and unlicensed wireless...Blogging and syndication...Broadband applications...Next-generation email...Grid computing...Digital identity...Collaboration tools...Digital content distribution...and more.

Blogging and RSS was once again a central integrated theme on the table. Client Greg Reinacker of NewsGator spoke on a panel around content management and the future of email. Other speakers over the two days included a few industry heavyweights such as CEO of Groove Networks' Ray Ozzie, Skype CEO Niklas Zennstrom, Esther Dyson, Tom Malone, Professor, MIT Business School and author, The Future of Work, Rick White, CEO ofTechNet, Mike McCue, Co-Founder of Tellme and Danah Boyd from UC Berkeley.

Session topics included:
The Network is People
Telecom Transformation: Voice as a Data Application
Spam and the Future of Email
Exploding the Enterprise: Web Services, Outsourcing, and more
Syndication Nation: Is This What Comes After the Web?
Disruptive Wireless
Connected Work
Broadband Life: Bringing it All Together

They built a number of content management and communication tools to keep a dialogue going during and after the event, including a conference weblog, a group Metablog, and Moblog, as well as a workspace wiki.

We had a diverse group one night for dinner.........an interesting mix of the old and the new. Bob Frankston, Deb Shultz, Chris Herot, Greg Reinacker, Dick Hardt, Dick Costello, Renee Blodgett, Bob Garza, among others.

And the gang (well half the gang).....

SnapStream Partners with NewsGator

SnapStream Media Partners with client NewsGator to Feature NewsGator Media Center Edition in SnapStream Spotlight

SnapStream Spotlight enables users to read selected NewsGator content and watch on-demand videos in full-screen interface mode with Firefly PC Remotes

The Firefly PC Remote with SnapStream Spotlight brings the latest online movies, radio, news and music into the living room by leveraging the power of the PC and the Internet. SnapStream Spotlight serves as a portal to various online media providers, such as NewsGator, for Firefly PC Remote users.

On Commitment & Being Committed

Leaving Boston was always something I talked about….unlike so many other places I left. I never talked about leaving London, or leaving South Africa or Israel, or Greece, or Australia. In some ways, I was probably “more committed” to these places than I was to Boston and yet Boston strangled me, held me down, closed me in……she said “stay close to me and you’ll be safe and secure.” And I did feel safe and secure. Safe, secure and forever in a comfort zone.

Action based on faith that “things “will” fall into place, the “universe will” provide is when you truly start living your life.

Like I always did as a child and through my twenties - Just trust yourself, then you will know how to live. -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832). And I am again.

Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, Always ineffectiveness.
Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), There is one elementary truth, The ignorance of which kills countless ideas And splendid plans:

That the moment one definitely commits oneself, Then Providence moves too.
All sorts of things occur to help one
That would never otherwise have occurred.
A whole stream of events issues from the decision Raising in one's favor all manner Of unforeseen incidents and meetings And material assistance, Which no man could have dreamt Would have come his way.

I have learned a deep respect for one of Goethe's couplets:

Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.

Lunch with Halley, Metcalfe & Doc

Halley Suitt decided that we should have lunch with Bob Metcalfe before I left the Boston area. Great idea since I love Halley and Bob so the combination couldn't be anything other than interesting and fun. Doc Searls ended up in town at the last minute, so we dragged him along with us to the "party." Halley sang along with Edith Piaf the entire way to lunch while Doc blogged offline.

D's First Year

Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher launched a new conference this year - D: All Things Digital. With Agenda gone and PC Forum no longer worth the bang for the buck according to many, D has filled a hole at just the right time.

In addition to an overview of the digital revolution, the topics covered entertainment, politics, business and sports.

They tout it as a livel version of the world’s best business newspaper. What amazed me was who they were able to attract in such a "down economy." At one cocktail reception and dinner alone, we had industry pundits like Microsoft’s Bill Gates, Apple’s Steve Jobs, America Online’s Steve Case, and Google's Sergay Brin and Larry Page all in the same room.

Walt interviewed Steve Case about the failed AOL Time Warner merger.

There was also a controversial debate over copyright issues, including a testy exchange between the Motion Picture Association’s Jack Valenti and RealNetworks Rob Glaser.

One of the more amusing parts of the conference was seeing execs like Mitch Kapor, Heidi Rozen, Rob Glaser, Stewart Alsop and others on a Jeopardy-like quiz show line-up answering geeky technology questions. Some of these guys actually studied.

The one-on-ones were incredibly engaging, starting with Bill Gates and Steve Jobs:

Then there was the entertaining Mark Cuban:

Gates doesn't look so hot close-up

Walt stumps Jobs.......a not so handsome side of Steve towards the end:

But then we all know when Jobs is dynamic, he makes up for it

The cocktail receptions, breaks and dinners were full of rich networking opportunities and chances to catch up with old friends

Barry plays the piano

Even Wurman showed up

Like DEMO has every year, D had a jam session the second night. Michelle sang blues which always inspires me and I danced.

While they offered the traditional golf rounds on Sunday, it got a little more casual as the conference went on. We even played pool. (well some of us did :-)

Love fest dinner with old industry and media friends on the last night. Yup, we had sushi. It felt like old times.

MIT Parties Rock

Here I have been living in Boston for nearly ten years and for the most part, the social ambience in my twenties, married or not, was much more colorful than my thirties. I've been to and thrown a number of fabulous parties with energy and song in the greater Boston area but in general, the "party memories" in NYC, LA, Miami and San Fran have always weighted heavier on my mind for some reason. Less inhibitions amidst a world where freer spirits reign.

I received an invite for a party in a funky part of Cambridge near Central Square less than two months before my grand departure from Boston, where a lot of current and former MITers floated in and out throughout the night. It was a party worth remembering and writing about - not only was it extremely diverse and colorful (rare in my experiences in this town), but comlete with international music and dance. What could be finer?

Some of the instruments came over from the Carribbean, others from West and northern Africa. I even recognized something I had heard in Botswana back in the eighties.

What was also beautiful was the energy and passion of the players and an eagerness to teach the rest of us how to play.

Rock on Boston. One more memorable imprint in my portfolio of experiences.