We asked some of the attendess to write up a short description of the event for the mailing list. Here’s what they said.

Tom Weir wrote ...

When I think of Mind Camp, two things stood out for me:

1) The random wow factor. Lots of interesting people doing interesting things: it didn’t matter where I wandered; there was always some group of people doing and/or talking about interesting things. I learned a tremendous amount over the weekend. The lack of structure really worked well.

2) Sipping Internet through a straw. The mesh network was a great idea with a lot of potential; unfortunately the execution could have been better. It was hard to get to the outside world, and it was hard for the outside world to get in. I read comments on a couple of blogs that Mind Camp was a bit of a black hole for information. For Mind Camp 2.0, I would definitely suggest finding some company that can sponsor a really big pipe to the outside world. If you’re feeling really adventurous, maybe try to stream some of the sessions.

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Rob Stevens wrote…

Strange as it may sound, I think the lack of an internet connection
actually made the event better.  People were forced to interact with
each other, and I know I came out of it with much more than I had
expected as a result.  I’m sure I’ll be in the minority on this one,
though.  :)

I loved the randomness of people hosting their own discussions, and the
free-reign given to blaze our own path.  Perhaps just a little
additional structure would make it easier for people to organize around
each other, but overall, keep it freewheeling!

Other than that, I think everything went well, and I’m looking forward
to the next one.

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Michael Laine wrote…

i had a really good time.  i didnt know what to expect, and, frankly, was prepared to bail out of there - if it turned out to be ‘stupid’.  i didnt leave for a minute, because it was fun, engaging, silly, hopeful, visionary, educational - and this was important and why i stayed - i got some good business contacts out of it.  my job never really stops.  its a big project that some people think is unrealistic.  so that means i am working non-stop to meet my self-imposed deadlines.  it is a rare and wonderful thing where i get to play werewolf until 2am, and still get some useful work out of the weekend.  thanks for providing a place to play and enjoy myself with so many clever, interesting and creative people.  i think you will see some interesting things evolve from developing this program.

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Justin Martenstein wrote…

For me, Mind Camp was about expanding my own horizons. I went into it without really knowing a whole lot of people in the Seattle, and I came away with a ton of new contacts. Not only that, but I also got to have some really amazing conversations that got my brain moving in directions I’d never considered before.

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Lion Kimbro wrote…

Mind Camp means to me that we’re organizing our culture. That we, as geeks of many stripes, are getting together, in person, and figuring out how our interests and values connect with one another. That we’re concentrating our attention, figuring out what matters to us, how to make things work. How to connect, get work done, and get our stuff together.

Mind camp is a base for coordination, a network of social networks.

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Joe Goldberg

1. Forget the internet.  We can check email and RSS feeds when we get home.  The time when the mesh was down was the best part of SMC, when people were interacting the most.  SeattleWireless did a kick-ass job handling the traffic and dealing with the hardware side of things.  But for next time, let’s have a little 8-port hub off to the side, and Mind Campers can spend the majority of the weekend interfacing with each other.

2. Session sign-up.  We should have a proposal deadline (say 24 hours before SMC2) and then vote on all the topics.  That way it’s the most popular topics that get session time, not those from the people who happened to run to the big piece of paper fastest.

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Chris Murphy wrote…

Click on my name to see a short synopsis.