As someone who has mounted several events, and helped others to mount events, I’m impressed by a conference coming up next week in Toronto, mesh. Technically it’s mesh 2.0, because this is the second annual mesh event.
It all started when five guys got together for a drink and, “after a couple of pints,” decided to hold a conference. Nine weeks later mesh happened and 400 people attended.
This year the event is sold out — “As in the-place-has-no-more-chairs-and-we’d-have-to-rent full. As in the-fire-marshall-is-this-close-to-calling-me-at-home full,” one of the organizers, Mark Evans notes on the mesh blog. And the list of sponsors is an enviable one.
What’s even more enviable is that this event is a sideline for the five guys who founded it. Mark Evans, who is VP of operations at B5Media, Inc., also writes three blogs (his eponymous blog is here.) Mathew Ingram is a journalist for The Globe and Mail and writes two snappy and informative blogs, one of which gets mysteriously and seriously syndicated all over the web. Mike McDerment is an entrepeneur who currently runs an online invoicing application company, FreshBooks. Rob Hyndman is a practicing attorney and, of course, a blogger. Stuart MacDonald is a successful entreprenuer and, again, a blogger.
I’m not sure how or why this conference is such a big success. It’s possible that before mesh, Canada suffered a dearth of Web 2.0 events. However, it’s not really a Web 2.0 event per se. It’s an event that focuses on the “next-generation things happening around us” according to the conference site.
The organizers’ goal for mesh is equally, um, wide-ranging. In an email to me, Mark Evans said
We hope people will come away from this year’s mesh with a better understanding of how the Web is changing how we live, work and play. At the same time, we want to create a place where people from different busineses share ideas and get excited about the Web’s potential. It’s pretty simple.
It’s also possible that mesh just features a very cool and slightly eclectic mix of speakers (disclosure: I’m on a panel at mesh, but I don’t mean to imply that I’m cool or eclectic. I plan to blog when I’m there, of course.)
Whatever the case may be, it’s obvious that mesh is a good idea at the right time. That’s the most enviable thing of all.
Cynthia Brumfield at 10:28 AM|Comments(1)
Thanks a lot for the kind words, Cynthia. We're pretty excited about the second mesh -- and about having you on a panel as well, of course :-)
Posted by: Mathew Ingram at May 24, 2007 11:23 AM
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