iConverged

For those who attended VON spring, it is likely that they thought it was particularly low key in terms of attendance. I was there, both at the main event and the unconference (which was interesting, especially with Ken’s ‘online’ proposal to his partner Sheryl which was covered using Qik, a company started by Ramu Sunkara – ex head of RTC @ Oracle & a really inspirational guy. Congrats Ken & Sheryl, glad we finally met after reading each other’s blog for a long time – you make a great couple).

But I digress. Back to VON San Jose. The Boston and San Jose VONs have always been very well attended. So I was surprised seeing the attendance. But then again, I thought, maybe I shouldn’t be surprised. And maybe it is also a testament to how well VON has actually worked.

The ‘Hype’ of many technologies like IMS, WiMAX etc. have passed. If you look at the typical exhibitor space of VON, they are OEMs. OEMs build products before they get deployed. They need to publicize. They need to excite people. And that is exactly where VON helps them. When technology is ‘new’, you need forums like VON to spread the word. When technology gets into deployment, people are too busy deploying to actually attend shows and talk about them. This is when the ‘money gets real’. The hooplah is over. And this is exactly in line with what I am seeing in the market. I had posted earlier that we have started seeing a significant rise in people deploying applications over IMS, or, deploying IMS and they are paying money for it (not the build and we will see story).

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In one of my conversations with Carl Ford, I was told that VON is now actively trying to create an “unconference” in their next shows. For those who know unconference, it is a pretty old concept, often used in hard-core geek gettogethers. The concept here is to set up an “ad-hoc” speaking environment, where a ‘leader’ stands up, talks about a topic and attendees interact. The interesting part about unconferencing is that there is no ‘one-leader’, like traditional speaking slots. You don’t get to talk 1-way while your viewers listen, snore or just ignore. You are all peers. If you can defend your idea, so be it, or you may just be hissed (sort of like how the IETF meetings work).

The problem with un-conferences, however, is that without some moderation, it can go nuts with personal agendas, general confusion and so-forth. Furthermore, generally, for companies to fund you to travel, they want to gain some marketing mileage from it. Which is why most main-stream conferences avoid un-conferencing.

This is where is looks like VON is likely bridging best of both worlds. They have set up a wiki called “VONCamp” where you can suggest your own topics. But to keep some sanity, it is moderated, and limited to 12 or so slots. Futher, they also ensured that unconferencing does not conflict with any other panel, so people are encouraged to attend. In addition, they are also looking at being able to advertise the unconference topic leaders, just as they would be advertising conference speakers (I hope they carry this thought through to execution!)

So naturally, with all things “2.0 and social networking” I am in. I am likely going to talk about connecting Social Networks and IMS (a topic which I’ve done a lot of work on). I will also be speaking at a regular panel in VON amsterdam, so between the two I’ll get a good idea of which works and is better!

So anyway, head on to VONCamp and support these folks!