Reflections on Northern Voice

I'm a little behind the curve here. Other people -- okay, many other people -- have already written some amazing reflections on Northern Voice.

And, unlike the people I linked to above, I'm still not able to condense my thoughts down -- at least not in any coherent way that does justice to the experience -- into anything that resembles "meaning."

And I'm gradually becoming okay with that.

During the conference, I had the good fortune to spend a fair amount of time talking with Alan Levine, Brian Lamb, D'Arcy Norman, Scott Leslie, Chris Lott, Jennifer Jones, Mikhail Gershovich, Jim Groom, and Doug Symington. I also got the chance to attend Nancy White's session; more on that a little later.

In these conversations, we challenged each other. I could say that we disagreed, but that misses the sense of it -- the folks involved in the conversation were an amazing -- almost overwhelming -- combination of open and informed.

In Nancy White's session, her method of facilitation helped me see the different types of beauty that arise from the conversation. I'm still getting my head around the full implications of the way she frames community, and how that can inform the design of community-driven sites.

And now, I'm back home, getting back into the work routine, and packing for another trip. But Eduglu, and open content, or just the Hitchcockian McGuffin -- they all lurk on the horizon. It's coming onto spring. Let's see what blooms.