The venerable PC Forum just kicked off in the ballroom of the La Costa resort in La Costa, CA. The room is set up in landscape mode, poofy couches in the middle, big screens to either side, diffused red lighting behind. The room is perhaps three quarters full. Co-producer Esther Dyson apologized for the chilly weather outside, announcing that dinner would now be indoors, and then launched into exploring the theme.
"Users in charge means the erosion of power from the people who were in charge," she said. "You may find you're a CEO of a company who believes in having users be in charge, but your company hasn't delivered...It's about building a culture of users actually being in charge...It's the difference between marketing to a segment and marketing to an individual. I don't want to be recognize as a type. I either want to be left alone, or I want to be recognized for my individual unique qualities."
Though Esther (it's hard to call such an iconic industry individual as "Dyson," especially when her father and her brother are also extremely well known) offered some insights as to why particular speakers were chosen to match the theme, I admit I still don't get the connection with many of them, so it will be more illuminating to hear them introduce themselves.
In the halls... bumped into Dan Farber of CNET, replete with digital camera, who welcomed Conferenza to the world of blogging ("What took you so long?"). And Fortune's Dave Kirkpatrick is seated next to me.
gB
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