The only thing harder than getting ready for mesh is coming down after it. After months of work and anticipation, the intensity of the conference is a pretty powerful experience. Leaving that behind and moving on is actually quite difficult – particularly after what’s been a successful effort. It’s not easy to un-mesh, but writing a wrap-up post helps.
We’ve already thanked everyone involved in mesh six ways to Sunday, but I’m going to do it here again because it’s so much fun and because I’m so grateful for the contributions that people made. My mesh partners are both the best partners and best friends a guy could have – what are the odds of finding a team of five that shares the same vision and sense of commitment to it? Our sponsors have been extraordinary – being there when we needed them, and encouraging us to pursue our vision. Our speakers made a big commitment to us and did it with humour and grace. Working with people who love what they do is why I work in technology; it is such a pleasure to assemble a group of people so enthusiastic and positive about their work and our future. Our volunteers worked tirelessly – for long hours – and with humour. Our partners – Allen Gelberg and the rest of the folks at MaRS, Carey and the team at Encore Caterers, Mark Graham of Rightsleeve and Grant Edmonds of Dark Studio – did a superb job. And the folks at our event manager MCC, in particular Sheri Moore, are just astoundingly good at what they do. Finally, we have amazing guests – the folks who come to mesh arrive ready to connect, share and inspire, and give us a lot of intensity. To everyone, thanks for an amazing mesh07.
Mathew has a great post up linking to a lot of media – pictures, videos, posts and such-like, and we have stuff up on the blog too, so I’ll just point you there for that.
I had so many positive moments at mesh this year, but some particularly stand out for me:
- The conversations I had with Tom and Austin – both on the stage, and the evening before as we were preparing, and reading Tom’s post afterwards
- Meeting Phil De Vellis, creator of the Hillary 1984 video, and talking to him about the nitty-gritty of the current Presidential campaign
- Working on the voice intros with Stevan Hart, the remarkable voice behind the introductions to CBC’s The Current, and Grant Edmonds at Dark Studio, where we recorded the intros
- Meeting Loren Feldman and being in a 1938 Media video – don’t even get me started
- Spending time chatting with Ethan Kaplan and hearing how he got his start and what he thinks about the music business today
- Soaking in Mark Evan’s great conversation with the very funny Jim Buckmaster
- Seeing Robleh Jama’s presentation on Sneakerplay in 15 Minutes of Fame
- Meeting Mike Masnick, introducing him to clients who admire his work, and seeing them connect
- Hanging out with the incomparable and wildly talented Rachel Sklar
- Talking to Christine Herron about goings-on in US venture capital
- Seeing so many of my clients and friends at this year’s mesh
- Working on our workshop with Albert, and then getting to the session and having great conversations with people living through the very issues we were discussing
Many thanks everyone for a great mesh07.