Jeff Pulver’s 140 Conferences are growing. He has held these conferences in all the popular American spots such as New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco but he’s also had them in the Midwest, is working on one in Canada and has gathered people in London, Israel and other interesting pockets of the world.
Where there’s passion, an interest in a conversation about social media and people doing remarkable things, Jeff will find them.
One of the things he is exceptionally good at, is curating an incredible mix of people who have a lot to say and operate from the heart, but may not necessarily have anything else in common.
Where else can you go to a technology or social media event or any event for that matter and hear an ex-convict, a Graffiti artist, Craig Newmark, a cop, a school teacher, a dating coach, a major Fortune 500 brand strategist, AOL’s CEO Tim Armstrong, The Today Show’s Ann Curry and Sesame Street’s chief social media guru all on the same stage within the same day?
Tear Down Those Walls:
On the first day, betaworks CEO John Borthwick (@Borthwick) talked about fragmentation, which he says is not just happening across the web but also at the network level as well. “This is the area that is concerning me most,” he said. “Facebook feels like the old early days of AOL – they’re a citizen of the Internet and yet they own and control too much. They need to integrate more with the web.”
He thinks we need to see companies and creators embrace the Internet much more than what we’re seeing today. “The network is important,” he says and ends his talk with a few words for Mr. Zuckerberg: “Tear down that wall.”
Curation:
Curation continues to be a strong topic of discussion and its relevance and need is only growing more critical as the amount of data coming our way continues to explode.
Curation is so important because we’re trying to combine and recombine things to make sense of things. We need to be able to move and transition data seamlessly across devices. Refer to Steve Rosenbaum's talk on the need for clarity above and beyond more information and data. Human curators are a big part of the upcoming revolution. Video clip here.
Do You Have a Revolution?
“What’s your revolution?” Ja-Nae Duane aka The Sun Queen (on Twitter), asked the audience and added, “why aren’t we highlighting the social good more than we do?”
She shared a handful of amazing stories which have come out of Detroit and Dallas among other places. As the founder of Wild Women Entrepreneurs, she is passionate about accelerating women’s growth and personal revolutions.
Listen to this video on why she started her “movement.” And check out a webdoc created on her raison d'etre during the 140 Conference here.
Jeff Jarvis' talk: Tweeties have attacked the sanctity of the article. See webdoc here.
Below is a smattering of photos I shot during the speaker talks, the networking breaks and the after parties:
Dan Gillmor on life and ethics in "new media…" Refer to a webdoc that includes links, tweets and information about his book.
Foursquare's Dennis Crowley
The Webdoc team rocks it in the demo room. Check out their webdocs of the conference here.
AOL's Tim Armstrong talks about community and the importance of connection, social media input and regional/local content (Hatch.com).
Jeffrey Hayzlett in his normal charismatic self.
Sesame Street's Dan Lewis on how and why Sesame Street "tweets":
NPR's Andy Carvin
Craig Newmark talked about leaving your mark online by contributing and giving.
The Today Show's Ann Curry gets "very inspirational" during her 10 minute turned 20 minute talk. Love htat sixties style flower-child dress: she just makes it work.
Mashable's Adam Ostrow interviews Foursquare's Dennis Crowley
There's a singalong in honor of Jeff Pulver at the end of day two at the funky venue 92nd Y on the upper East Side.
New York Times Jennifer Preston interviews NPR's Carvin
Webdoc's Vincent Borel and Stelio Tzonis with Magnify's Steve Rosenbaum and his new book: Curation Nation
Paintings created on-site, proceeds of which go to breast cancer — announced by Jeffrey Hayzlett on-site. For more information, check out Gaby (aka @Gaby407) and be sure not to miss Toronto cop Scott Mill's story (aka @GraffitiBMXCop). See webdoc for more information which includes links, videos, photos and more. His story includes work with graffiti artists Kedre Browne (@BubzArt) and Jessey Pacho (@ArtOfPhade). Their message will inspire the lives of many young people around the world and provide proof that graffiti can paint a positive message, not a negative one. Nicholas Maharaj aka @Twittnick is also a “student” of Mills.
Ann Curry in a moment of blissful expression as she gets authentic with the audience.
Bombshell coach Gigi Belmonico on the Bombshell factor and not letting Twitter become a "popularity contest." See webdoc on her work here.
Disclosure: I have provided some consulting to Webdoc who was one of the 140Conf sponsors.
