http://confabb.com/conferences/index Tue, 26 Jun 2007 16:26:40 GMT Attendee Reviews of Web Content 2007 Chicago http://confabb.com/conferences/17069-web-content-2007-chicago/reviews Seth introduced a new concept for me, to help understand when open source may make sense and when it probably doesn't: consider whether the website is CORE to your business model, or merely CONTEXTUAL. If it's core - then open source is probably not the best way to go. That insight alone made the presentation - which was other than that also packed with interesting information - worth my while. Good, solid, presentation. Tue, 26 Jun 2007 16:26:40 GMT http://confabb.com/conferences/17069-web-content-2007-chicago/reviews#328 Ms Emma Hamer http://confabb.com/conferences/17069-web-content-2007-chicago/reviews There are many ways to establish one's credibility - and as the saying goes: one's deeds speak louder than words. If only Melissa had stuck with letting her deeds speak for her ... while she undoubtedly has great understanding of the social networking phenomenon, it was a bit too much "Look at ME, look at ME" for me. The content was buried under a barrage of name-dropping and award-mentioning, and I find that a pity. A little self-deprecating humour might have gone a long way to soften the ego-trip. Tue, 26 Jun 2007 16:21:28 GMT http://confabb.com/conferences/17069-web-content-2007-chicago/reviews#327 Ms Emma Hamer http://confabb.com/conferences/17069-web-content-2007-chicago/reviews What to say - where to start. I absolutely LOVED Howard's lunchtime keynote. So much - I forgot to eat. But there was so much food for the mind, and food for thought, that I didn't care. This was one session - in fact the only session in my entire career - where I regretted not having learned Stenography. If I could have written down every word, I would have. I now have a treasure trove of "Howard's One-Liners" to keep me and my clients happy for years! Fascinating to hear someone walk the walk, and not just talk about radical change. And for some reason, Howard reminds me of Henry Winckler ... looks a bit like him, too. Tue, 26 Jun 2007 16:15:19 GMT http://confabb.com/conferences/17069-web-content-2007-chicago/reviews#326 Ms Emma Hamer http://confabb.com/conferences/17069-web-content-2007-chicago/reviews When I look at the current ways that people collaborate, I'm always struck by how much effort goes into keeping people focused and interested - well: with wikis as your virtual collaboration environment, the possibilities are seemgliy endless - and Stewart gave us some really enat examples to use wikis "out of the box". He definitely convinced me that they're much more versatile than one would think when one considers Wikipedia ... Good presentation all round. Tue, 26 Jun 2007 16:10:26 GMT http://confabb.com/conferences/17069-web-content-2007-chicago/reviews#325 Ms Emma Hamer http://confabb.com/conferences/17069-web-content-2007-chicago/reviews To say that Ann Rockley "knows her stuff" is like saying "Picasso could draw ..." Ann Rockley has a knack for solidly and calmly constructing the argument that "if we're not building the customer relationship through better management of our content - then why are we moving to content management at all?" It's always a pleasure to hear her speak, and her keynote at WebContent 2007 was no exception. Tue, 26 Jun 2007 16:04:20 GMT http://confabb.com/conferences/17069-web-content-2007-chicago/reviews#324 Ms Emma Hamer http://confabb.com/conferences/17069-web-content-2007-chicago/reviews David is not only an extremely entertaining speaker - he's knowledgeable and outspoken. Some of the gems I picked up from his show (and I use the word intentionally): "SEO is Voodoo - whatever additional revenue you may achieve is cancelled out by the cost of paying someone to "optimize" your site. Update, and update often - and use descriptive language that Google can "read" - that's the key." Not to mention that the video of very serious Japanese gentlemen discussing (in Japanese with fake English subtitles) how to market Mighty-Mighty Company was absolutely hilarious! If David's ever in your area speaking at a conference: go - he's worth the trip. In fact: he is the trip ... Tue, 26 Jun 2007 15:58:28 GMT http://confabb.com/conferences/17069-web-content-2007-chicago/reviews#323 Ms Emma Hamer http://confabb.com/conferences/17069-web-content-2007-chicago/reviews Jason has had phenomenal success, yet, it's obvious it hasn't gone to his head. His approach to attacking problems is refreshing- and the presentation potent. You may not agree- but, you will be hanging on to every word. The ideas of teams of 2, and shrinking projects into small bits using "judo" is one that everyone can learn from. Very clean presentation- and well done. Wed, 20 Jun 2007 19:23:43 GMT http://confabb.com/conferences/17069-web-content-2007-chicago/reviews#314 Mr. David Esrati http://confabb.com/conferences/17069-web-content-2007-chicago/reviews It's obvious that Salim has been there, done that, and is still at the forefront of spotting new technologies, new implementations of those technology and the implications of them. With his new position as head of Yahoo's Brickhouse developmental lab- he's only going to be more interesting as time goes on. I sat through his presentation and a modified version- and although they had much of the same material- both were fascinating. Wed, 20 Jun 2007 19:20:42 GMT http://confabb.com/conferences/17069-web-content-2007-chicago/reviews#313 Mr. David Esrati http://confabb.com/conferences/17069-web-content-2007-chicago/reviews Even with technical difficulties- the show went on- and it was a show. Melissa is an absolute powerhouse of networking- or as she calls her company- networlding. She should work for LinkedIn- great insight into the original social media - real networking as opposed to virtual. If you are looking to understand how to build relationships- she's the one to hear. Wed, 20 Jun 2007 19:17:30 GMT http://confabb.com/conferences/17069-web-content-2007-chicago/reviews#312 Mr. David Esrati http://confabb.com/conferences/17069-web-content-2007-chicago/reviews Can't wait for the book- but, a fascinating look at how to turn an organization around. It's clear that Howard knows how to get the most out of the social capital of any organization- even one that's failed. Well worth hearing. Wed, 20 Jun 2007 19:15:00 GMT http://confabb.com/conferences/17069-web-content-2007-chicago/reviews#311 Mr. David Esrati http://confabb.com/conferences/17069-web-content-2007-chicago/reviews An hour wasn't enough time to get to the meat of the subject- but a great intro on the continuum of Folksonomy to Taxonomy and why you would want to go one way or the other. Wed, 20 Jun 2007 19:12:56 GMT http://confabb.com/conferences/17069-web-content-2007-chicago/reviews#310 Mr. David Esrati http://confabb.com/conferences/17069-web-content-2007-chicago/reviews Coming into the presentation I wasn't sure what to expect, but David did a great job in stressing how important everything we do and all the content we publish is on the web. His presentation had many examples to back up these claims that content needs to have follow through. He gave out many thought provoking ideas on how to take your content and site to the next level. I won't spoil the intro, but it was worth seeing if he is coming to a conference near you. I had the theme song stuck in my head for the whole 2 days. Wed, 20 Jun 2007 08:15:35 GMT http://confabb.com/conferences/17069-web-content-2007-chicago/reviews#304 Calvin Hendryx-Parker http://confabb.com/conferences/17069-web-content-2007-chicago/reviews Seth's presentation about when open source makes sense was a great overview of what is means to choose open source as a platform. He gave a good overview of what the licensing means and some great guides to help in choosing when commercial, software as a service and open source systems make sense for your organization. Wed, 20 Jun 2007 07:36:08 GMT http://confabb.com/conferences/17069-web-content-2007-chicago/reviews#303 Calvin Hendryx-Parker