Just arrived back in sunny Los Angeles after navigating the ice storm in Dallas that created some complications at the Innovation3 gathering.  Transportation became a substantial issue since most roads were frozen over.  Thanks to these people specifically for getting us around Sherry Surratt, Rhett Smith, Rick Smith, Lance Bauslaugh & DJ Chuang. I like how you roll (slide).

And it brings up a great point.  As you well know by now, conferences, in general, are becoming increasingly unpopular.   Although the reasons are numerous, a few arguments I’ve heard (and used) are:

• too expensive
• too much travel
• inconveniently located or dated
• competition with other events
• presentations easily accessed online
• boring lecture-style presentations
• redundant speakers presenting rehashed material
• lack of interactivity
• failure to present practical tools
• live streaming of keynote speakers

But, we can’t do away with conferences and gatherings and here’s why.  Face to face is invaluable.  Throughout the two days at our host location (Bent Tree Bible Fellowship) we had meet up after meet up, literally hundreds and hundreds of people reconfiguring themselves over and over again in a dynamic, organic (almost molecular) swirl that gave us the irreplaceable. (Thank you Twitter!)

As online technologies bridge the time / space barriers that have prevented us from certain kinds of connections, irl (in real life) opportunities take on different value.  Drinking coffee with someone you have never met, yet been sharing life online for months or years is as rewarding as you can imagine.   And when you can do this with dozens of people, the obstacles that go with conferences seem smaller.

Point being, conferences used to be important for hearing keynote speakers, hundreds of people – seeing one person live.  Now, they’re important so hundreds of people can see each other offline – galvanizing the relationships we have online.  And conferences must be reconfigured for them to have this value.  Innovation3 was billed as a gathering and that represents a step in the evolution of conventions, conferences, gatherings, camps, etc. – they’re still necessary.

Leadership Network’s Innovation3 will likely be one of the highlights of ‘09 for me and you’re going to hear a lot more about it….. Did I mention that I interviewed a couple of people?   Bobby Gruenwald, Terry Storch, Anne Jackson, Kent Shaffer, Nancy Ortberg, Tim Keller….  You heard me right; more posts to come….