by alec on March 22, 2008
It's Easter, and I won't make any attempt to hide the fact that I was brought up and am a practicing (albeit infrequently) Christian.
Easter is the celebration in the Christian mythos where Jesus dies and is resurrected in order to absolve us all from the Sins we have committed in our lives. It's an opportunity to repent for the evils we've done, and to invite our neighbours and friends to share in our lives.
Whether you believe the Christian biblical narration or not, Easter is a holiday which reminds us to treat our neighbors well — as we would wish to be treated ourselves. It's a holiday which encourages us to reach out to others and help them to live the lives which they have wanted to lead, or are capable of leading. It's a holiday which reminds us all that we can make mistakes and still live as fulfilled human beings.
Happy "find yourself and be what you're capable of" day. Happy "recognize, understand and address the wrongs you have committed". Christian or not, it's only through the recognition that we are human that we are able to transcend the petty behaviors that we are all susceptible to.
Happy Easter.
by alec on March 14, 2008
We had a very lively discussion today on the SquawkBox.
Is twittering during a conference session considered rude? Will it put panel attendees and moderators more on their toes? We got a very lively discussion about the value of Twitter during live events and whether it's rude. But now conferences are putting their Twitter feeds up on the big screen for everyone to see. Maybe that will make them less rude, but still keep the panelists accountable for their actions on stage. Like a information ticker on CNN, it adds another dimension of content for the show.
The discussion of Twitter dovetailed us nicely into a discussion about conferences in general. We've all been to them and we've all spoken at them and there was lots of advice on what makes a good session. Effective use or no use of PowerPoint (see DEMO) and truly being a passionate speaker (see TED).
I think we got completely exhausted by the third topic, Hulu. Will it be a force in the online video viewing space? Patrick Kearney of Participant Productions who has experience launching video enabled sites had the greatest in the trenches experience to speak about Hulu and the competition.
Listen to the lively discussion.
