Xark!

Help me help ConvergeSouth 2010!

As January slips away, I'm pressing one of my most important deadlines: Advising Alpha Female Sue Polinsky on the state of the tech political agenda in 2010. This is part of a plan for a ConvergeSouth panel next fall that will include several politicians.

So I've been reading, but reading only fills me in on what I know to look for, and when it comes to the scope of the tech agenda, what I don't know surely exceeds what I do. From bandwidth regulation to net neutrality to tariffs and copyright reform, the political decisions that will shape our technological landscape (and overwrite our ideas about media) are both obvious and oblique. Some of these most relevant questions might not even be tech-oriented at this point. And I don't want to miss those.

So here's my question: To what political and regulatory issues should the tech community be paying the most attention in 2010 and 11? What reforms (or assaults on our freedoms) should we view with the greatest wariness?

Answers, please, in comments. Or on Twitter. Or Facebook. Just communicate your thoughts to me, that's all.

The #helpgeoff thing

Earlier today Janet (@xarkgirl) messaged me that our filmmaking buddy Geoff Marshall was in trouble: His 48-state documentary roadtrip had been interrupted in Greensboro, NC, by a smash-and-grab auto break-in. He lost about $6,000 in video and computer electronics, and apparently some of his material for the film (which he has been videoblogging along the way).

Janet wanted me to contact our Greensboro friends, which I did, getting quick responses from John Robinson, Sue Polinsky and Ed Cone. And as I was doing that, Chrys Rynearson popped up in my Google Talk bar:

exposur3: dude
fundraiser

let's get it going

we can raise 5k

what do you think?

A few hours later, Geoff had bloggers in Greensboro and Charleston working his case and offering help. We had a Help Geoff blog, a Help Geoff Twitter account, a new e-mail address, plus accounts at Tipjoy and PayPal.Someone suggested a #helpgeoff hashtag. We'd worked through numerous technical difficulties, all without anyone "being in charge."

The best place to follow all this? At Charleston's TheDigitel, where Geoff's former boss, Ken Hawkins, is covering this like the community story it is.

Here's what makes it all particularly sweet to me: The most influential moment in my turn toward networked media occurred in 2005 at ConvergeSouth , the Greensboro conference organized by Sue and a host of others. It's where we met John Robinson. It's what inspired Janet and I to launch Lowcountry Blogs in April 2006. At the final free ConvergeSouth in 2008, one of the largest and most enthusiastic groups in attendence were bloggers from coastal South Carolina.We owe a lot to those people in Greensboro.

As his friend, it's my duty to say that Geoff is a dumbass for leaving his stuff in the car, but as Chrys said, "He's our boy." And frankly, I just don't want want his documentary to end in a way that portrays America that way. Online communities are communities nonetheless. Let's see how well they function.

My problem with politics

I filled in as a moderator for the ConvergeSouth session titled "We Do Agree to Disagree," on Friday, and over the past few days that session has become the focal point of the conference's conservative critics. I've been thinking about it quite a bit, critiquing my own performance in my new role, and trying to find something coherent to say about it.

I mean, after all, didn't I spend years as a political editor and reporter? Shouldn't I have some insight into the topic?

And here's what I've figured out:

I can't say a single definitive thing about politics without coming across like a boring lecturer, a finger-pointer, a know-it-all jerk, an apologist or -- even worse -- all of the above.

So instead I'm going to ramble, get it out of my system, and move on. And to all my friends, because I love you, you're all cordially invited NOT to read this crap...

ConvergeSouth Film Festival stuff

A little funky video goodness for you from Greensboro (no nudity or earthy language, but not exactly "worksafe" or "age appropriate")...

Roof Sex by PES

Gi Ho Lo (The Legend of Richard Long)

Why most video stinks but yours doesn't have to

Tom Lassiter is teaching  on video

Why does web video sucks? He showed us a pretty horrible video that some people found interesting. The consensus is that quality depends on what you

Ed Cone: Why do most online videos suck? because they are unedited and the sound is horrible.

Steward Pittman: You can use basic fundamentals and make [web video] a thousand times better.

You really have to practice. Pittman recommends you have a plan. The conversation quickly gets steered by participants to quick tips on better technique.

Aside: reasons why i dig this

I love being in a room with people who are so aggressively interested in playing with new tools... trying new stuff... people who go out and do things and never think to ask permission or wait for the media to tell them that something is OK or fashionable or Certified For Grownups (or teens, or geeks, or entrepreneurs, or Serious Intellectuals... pick your label).

I love seeing what people are doing with Twitter, which I honestly never "got" before yesterday... I like seeing what people do with their gadgets... I love that people are thinking up little connections between the Web and music and video and commerce and what bands need and what filmmakers need and what audiences need, and then experimenting with cooperative solutions.

The Current TV people are on now, so I'm going to listen in...

Social networking & 'amplifying serendipity'

Comment from the floor by Brian Russell:

"These (online) social networks are a way of amplifying serendipity..."

But what about putting your dorm bong photos on Facebook? Soni Pitts talks about how agencies are using this in their application process... Elisa points out that in the future, people will consider it strange if they CAN'T find some record of you online... Ruby's quote: "You need to manage your presence. You need to HAVE a presence." Amber from the audience: She's chosen to relate to the world without all these artificial filters... I didn't get all of it, but it was interesting...

BlogHer 2008

Hey, Heather, the BlogHer Roadshow will be teaming up with ConvergeSouth in 2008. Women bloggers from Charleston (or anyone who's into that vibe), might want to mark this date on their calendars: Oct. 18, 2008.

We just heard Elisa Camahort of BlogHer give her schtick. As I often paraphrase Ed Cone as saying, she's about 30 seconds ahead of the rest of the world -- not a bad thing, just an acknowledgment that once you make certain mental connections -- pop! -- you're doing it yourself. I think we've got women in the Lowcountry who could talk on this topic and be very informed and interesting... different, obviously, but informed.

What's the real value of coming to something like this? Well, you do tend to soak up a bunch of info, but it's also the informal networking. That may be even more important to people whose focus is less professionally oriented and more about personal stories and connections. You get a different sense of people in meatspace.

Opening session: Jason Calacanis

JC: It's a huge lesson: If someone offers you $20 million for your company, you take it.

Ed Cone: Or $30 million.

JC: Or $30 million.

(Note to self.: "Take.. the... money...")

New word: "Crog"

crog (crawg):  v. 1. Cram blogging; 2. The act of reading a bunch of blogs in advance of a blogging conference with the intent of looking like you've been reading regularly all along. pp: crogged. prog: crogging. "I can't talk right now: I'm crogging for ConvergeSouth in the morning."