ALT.NET Seattle Day One

Day one of the ALT.NET Seattle conference is over and I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s sessions.

As an Open Spaces event, the first order of business was for us, the attendees, to set the session agenda for the rest of the conference. In the above photo, you can see Scott Hanselman proposing a topic in one of my favorite conference photos taken by Brad Wilson. This process took about two hours after which many of us headed out to Red Robin for a nerd dinner.

This is my second ALT.NET Open Spaces event and I really like the principles set forth:

• Whoever comes is the right people
• Whatever happens is the only thing that could have happened
• Whenever it starts is the right time
• When it’s over, it’s over

In some ways, it reminds me of the 10 Principles of BurningMan, specifically these two:

Radical Inclusion

Anyone may be a part of Burning Man. We welcome and respect the stranger. No prerequisites exist for participation in our community.

Participation
Our community is committed to a radically participatory ethic. We believe that transformative change, whether in the individual or in society, can occur only through the medium of deeply personal participation. We achieve being through doing. Everyone is invited to work. Everyone is invited to play. We make the world real through actions that open the heart.

There’s no hard line drawn between attendees and speakers. Everyone is welcome to be both attendee and speaker as everyone generally has something interesting to share, teach, and learn.

The other part I love about this conference is seeing familiar faces as well as meeting collaborators from around the world I’ve never met in person until now. For example, Steve Harman and I finally meet Simone Chiaretta in person, the third Musketeer of Subtext, who apparently can’t keep his eyes open for a photo after being up for over 30 hours due to flying in from Italy.

I look forward to seeing what tomorrow brings.