Magnify.net Blog
What I learned at "The Lobby"
October 27, 2007 - Steve Rosenbaum
So, I've been to maybe 250 conferences. The come in all shapes and sizes. Some are pretty mundane, with panels debating the various tech issues or monetization strategies. For those, the really connections come on the panels or - yes - in the Lobby. There are others - more high minded - where the discourse is certainly more thoughtful. But all of them have an agenda, a purpose, and they are clearly work.
The Lobby is unlike anything i've ever attended before. Part summer camp. Part family reunion. Part salon.
Because David Hornik curated the attendees - there was not a person who wasn't interesting to talk to. Perhaps most fascinating, then number of people who've had 'good exits' (that means that they made a bunch of money on selling their last company) who were deep in start up mode on some new dream or scheme. It seems this entrepreneurial bug isn't cure by a healthy bank balance.
Without revealing anything - since The Lobby is in fact off the record - let me see if I can share some high level observations. As a group - the folks at the Lobby are thinking hard about a few areas. First - community, what is it, how can you create it, what are the barriers or rules or walls around entry. From Wikipedia to Digg to Wordpress, the folks who are building and experimenting with collaboration and publishing tools are keenly aware of how early it is - and how they've tapped into the nascent shift toward something truly new. It's essay to mistake these businesses as software business (which of course they are) but really - I think folks will look back at the speed of innovation and the evolution of social conventions as quite remarkable. Perhaps it's oversimplying it but its very much a process of sharing new tools for content creation, collaboration, commenting, and such to formally un-empowered content consumers and then watch and learn as new behaviors emerge. These are very early days in the new world of editorial engagement - and from what I saw and heard, there's some really powerful iterative evolutions around the corner.
The other debate/conversation - is about revenue. The question of the relationship between advertising and content contribution/creation is very much in play. Some folks feel that monetization is key to content creators. But lots of other folks seem to buy that there is a whole new set of reasons why folks engage in things like product reviews, voting, and community content. Call it Karma, or fame, or acknowledgment or participation, there is in the air an understanding that community content may in fact mean that there is a de-professionalizing of a whole category of editorial. This is both exciting and earthshaking for media companies. Thinking about Napster with one of the founders at lunch, i found myself wondering if record companies real fears of Napster were less about piracy and more about the phenomenon that YouTube has released. Folks formerly happy as content consumers - become content creators - and use tools peer to peer platforms to both make and share content made by each other. In doing so - a chunk of the audience opts out of commercial content (no more Brittany Spears) and opts into a smaller community of makers / sharers who simply make music for the pure joy of making and sharing it. Maybe for tips, or maybe for free. Certainly YouTube has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that a significant piece of audience is delighted to watch video made by peers - and opt out of old media content. This may have been my biggest take away.
Overall - the three days we're empowering, eye opening, and delightfully social. Seeing this group together, watching them play as a group, and listening to the questions and vision, I came away stunned by the passion for change that exemplifies the group that gathered on the Big Island. Maybe it was being so far away from home. Maybe is the the weather. Or maybe it was David's willingness to create a gathering that was - at it's core - about collaboration, but I really did feel that I was part of something new that will be important to both the participants and the evolution of community made media.
The Lobby is unlike anything i've ever attended before. Part summer camp. Part family reunion. Part salon.
Because David Hornik curated the attendees - there was not a person who wasn't interesting to talk to. Perhaps most fascinating, then number of people who've had 'good exits' (that means that they made a bunch of money on selling their last company) who were deep in start up mode on some new dream or scheme. It seems this entrepreneurial bug isn't cure by a healthy bank balance.
Without revealing anything - since The Lobby is in fact off the record - let me see if I can share some high level observations. As a group - the folks at the Lobby are thinking hard about a few areas. First - community, what is it, how can you create it, what are the barriers or rules or walls around entry. From Wikipedia to Digg to Wordpress, the folks who are building and experimenting with collaboration and publishing tools are keenly aware of how early it is - and how they've tapped into the nascent shift toward something truly new. It's essay to mistake these businesses as software business (which of course they are) but really - I think folks will look back at the speed of innovation and the evolution of social conventions as quite remarkable. Perhaps it's oversimplying it but its very much a process of sharing new tools for content creation, collaboration, commenting, and such to formally un-empowered content consumers and then watch and learn as new behaviors emerge. These are very early days in the new world of editorial engagement - and from what I saw and heard, there's some really powerful iterative evolutions around the corner.
The other debate/conversation - is about revenue. The question of the relationship between advertising and content contribution/creation is very much in play. Some folks feel that monetization is key to content creators. But lots of other folks seem to buy that there is a whole new set of reasons why folks engage in things like product reviews, voting, and community content. Call it Karma, or fame, or acknowledgment or participation, there is in the air an understanding that community content may in fact mean that there is a de-professionalizing of a whole category of editorial. This is both exciting and earthshaking for media companies. Thinking about Napster with one of the founders at lunch, i found myself wondering if record companies real fears of Napster were less about piracy and more about the phenomenon that YouTube has released. Folks formerly happy as content consumers - become content creators - and use tools peer to peer platforms to both make and share content made by each other. In doing so - a chunk of the audience opts out of commercial content (no more Brittany Spears) and opts into a smaller community of makers / sharers who simply make music for the pure joy of making and sharing it. Maybe for tips, or maybe for free. Certainly YouTube has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that a significant piece of audience is delighted to watch video made by peers - and opt out of old media content. This may have been my biggest take away.
Overall - the three days we're empowering, eye opening, and delightfully social. Seeing this group together, watching them play as a group, and listening to the questions and vision, I came away stunned by the passion for change that exemplifies the group that gathered on the Big Island. Maybe it was being so far away from home. Maybe is the the weather. Or maybe it was David's willingness to create a gathering that was - at it's core - about collaboration, but I really did feel that I was part of something new that will be important to both the participants and the evolution of community made media.
