Thank you so much for the compliments and taking the time to write such thoughtful responses! I enjoyed reading each of your comments first thing this morning. I tried to respond to each of you individually – but I realized that I was just re-hashing comments and doing it poorly. [which is why I am responding at night]

So – let me just say this: I agree with each of you. It IS really amazing what our small group of self-organized and committed people accomplished this year. I am really excited to see how we evolve and grow in 2010. 2010 is going to be a fun year!

I am looking forward to seeing each of you again at the next Event Camp. Thanks again for your comments!

The only thing I would add is that the social media/events connection is powerful. Barcamps were a natural outgrowth of a situation in which bloggers who met online felt compelled to take their relationships further and meet face to face.

Their impatience with traditional conferences will also be reflected more and more by the average attendee who gets precisely the kind of information he wants, when he wants it at the click of a button. These trends will continue and event professionals who fail to take heed, do so at their own peril.

Great post. What would I add?

1) Don’t underestimate the power of a few people to build a flourishing community which grows into a vibrant, welcoming and inclusive tribe.

2) Attendees receive the most from a presentation or session when they are allowed to be engaged. Using openspace discussions where the attendees drive the content is the best of the best for face-to-face sessions. Then attendees customize the content to meet their needs.

3) A growing online community brings trust, energy and excitement to their face-to-face meetings. This helps everyone involved and is the catalyst to success.

4) Speakers enjoy talking to a well-formed community and it helps further their thought leadership.

5) Traditional conferences and events should blend elements of unconferences to create more attendee engagement.

Lastly, we all left wanting more time with each other, more time with the speakers, more time with the content, more time together! That’s what happens when you create an infectous, radically relational conference!

One thing that hit me while reading your post is that this community was developed and this conference was produced in under 1 year. And the growth of both was achieved through social media. How amazing is it that a group could achieve so much, so fast…that is the power of (good) social media!!

(And thanks for the pingback and the mention!)

great post (and nicely organized :-)). I’d say you captured the essence.

What is really compelling (as you point out) is how this community started from scratch one year ago today, has grown and thrived and shared knowledge. That created the impetus for a face to face meeting (the reverse of the usual approach), and will now become an even stronger online community as a result.

This is what creates change and impact in an industry that is often slow to adapt to the real needs of their audiences.

I’m looking forward to the rest of 2010 and meeting everyone face to face again in 2011 at Event Camp 2011, wherever it may be.