Mini conferences are where it's at. I love the big, flashy conferences too, but it's hard to meet people beyond a "hello" and a business card exchange. Come to think of it, I didn't hand out one business card during the Yahoo! Mother Board Summit last week. Almost everyone was a face or name I recognized, which could be the reason cards weren't exchanged, but instead, people would immediately start to follow each other on Twitter. Somehow through the closeness of the event, we all knew enough about each other to want to read the daily (hourly) 140 character observations we each put out. It felt more like sleep-away camp than a conference.
The schedule was packed, but not in an overwhelming way. It was the type of day where I never looked at the time, which is a good sign that the presentations were engaging.
As was pointed out by Elisa Steel, Yahoo! Chief Marketing Officer, connections and technology are key components of a mom's life. At least in my world, moms juggle everything and I know using a smart phone helps, or there are the Yahoo! groups we form to facilitate playgroup or classroom communications. Also, moms need to monitor what our kids are doing online, not just at a computer, but on their phone or on their Touch or PSP - anything that has internet access needs to be watched. It was a reminder that my daughter's school needs to address cyber citizenship and that ignoring the massive influence of technology doesn't help anyone. Bullying may appear to be down at schools, but that's because it's been taken online where it's more anonymous and can be far more vicious. Schools need to embrace the upside of technology too by not stopping online classroom groups that allow parents to be connected. Most importantly, schools need to update their websites so they don't look like they've remained untouched since 1992 (okay, no one brought that up at Yahoo!, but it's a personal issue I have with one child's school. Still a valid point!) Technology is marching on, and while that doesn’t mean that everything is better, it is still a fact. Ignoring progress doesn’t stop it. Adjusting and adapting are far wiser options.
I'll skip over the myriad technical blogging things I learned, although I will admit to never knowing that Flickr uses Picnik for photo editing. I've had a Pro account for awhile, but never even looked into editing on Flickr. I wish Flickr hosted video longer than 90 seconds. I've been struggling with where to put up personal videos to share with family, but the options don't have the integration, ease of use, and privacy controls that Flickr has. Again, personal issue.
While everything I learned had great value, my greatest takeaway wasn't what about SEO or the social functionality of Yahoo! products, or that mid-day cupcakes are amazing, but it was the number of times I fell into giant fits of laughter where I couldn't breathe. Beyond the content, Yahoo! brought us together and created this perfect environment for getting to know one another while discussing a subject we all love. It felt a little bit like a blogger’s Sun Valley. It was perfect.
Disclaimer: Yahoo! paid for all food and beverages during the Summit. As a local blogger, I didn't get any travel compensated, but I crashed in Robyn's room for free.
A bloggers' Sun Valley...I love it! Thank you so much for joining us for the Summit. It's so wonderful that everyone made such great connections and learned a few things along the way!
Posted by: Amy | July 22, 2010 at 11:27 AM