Bootstrapping the benefits of mixing face-to-face and online

PR blogger Simon Collister writes to ask if I might mention the NKM Forum 07 running in June, where I will be able to find "what lies beyond the revolution in social media and what it means for business". Five per cent off if put a forum badge on my blog.

I'm dithering whether to spring the £245 fee, available to freelancers, and his note nudges me back to the site. Simon is moving to London to join Edelman, and is helping to promote the forum with great enthusiasm. As Simon says, the three keynote speakers are impressive:

• Jason Calacanis - "Entrepreneur In Action” at Sequoia Capital, Silicon Valley’s leading venture capital firm;
• Dan "We, the media" Gillmor - director of the Center for Citizen Media at the University of California, Berkeley and also at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University Law School;
• Jyri Engestrom - co-founder of jaiku.com, a mobile docial software startup. He is also Founder and Vice-Chairman of Aula Network, a non-profit organisation to advance the vision of a creative society.

I respond with some doubts on the rather conventional format. Yet another event (like that at the RSA) about the conversational benefits of new media delivered mainly from the platform.

I'm torn about whether to attend, and write to say:

Yes, interesting speakers, but yet another event about new ways of communicating that is keynote - panel - Q and A? Sigh:-)

However, Simon has an answer:

Ah yes.... but this event has a live back-channel running through the day which will allow delegates to interact with panelists and join the event 'conversation' - so will be thoroughly interactive.... has that helped sway you ;)

At the same time I notice Lloyd Davis writing about bootstrapping:

What I’m particularly frisky about is the bootstrap effect - we’ve built a bit of a relationship online, then we enrich that relationship offline and face to face, then when we go back online it’s all been taken forward and we do more new and interesting things together… and so on… and so on… and so on….

... with a list of the events (including NKMForum) that he'll at over the coming weeks, courtesy of a press pass or fee to blog about them. I did that with the e-democracy '06 conference but have been slipping recently.  Looks as if I'll just have to find fee for NKMForum 07 or feel out of it.
Anyway, Lloyd's post makes me wonder whether there is an "I'll be there if you will" web tool by which people could signify on their blogs or elsewhere their bootstrapping intentions. Sort of Meetup meets Pledgebank. That way we could get a bit of buzz going beforehand, make sure we meet at the event, carry on afterwards. Then we could say something like, bad format, but we bootstrapped our way out of it. That must be worth 10 per cent off.

Technorati Tags: NKMForum07

Comments

[Simon Collister]

Thanks for the post, David. Plus you've made some really interesting points into the bargain. I had planned to meet Ross Ferguson from the Hansard Society at that last RSA event but, alas, no name tags so I'm left with a roomful of people from which to take a lucky dip! Result? Didn't hook up :(

[Mike Butcher]

Surely the answer to all this 'will you be there?' stuff is Upcoming where people can sy they are going or watching? http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/164737/ (see also http://www.vecosys.com/2007/04/13/10-reasons-to-come-to-nmk-forum/ )

[David Wilcox]

Thanks Mike - yes of course upcoming does the 'will you be there'. I will be!

[Bootstrap business]

There is indeed risk in everything. For this particular situation, the main concern is will the people involved actually present themselves or just stay in the shadows? There should be that guarantee of presence.

[Andy Parkhouse]

Hi David,

Nice post.

"I'll be there if you will" - great idea (although as pointed out above, Upcoming does it approximately) - sounds like an idea I had for an email-driven app called "lunch?" :)

cheers,

Andy