I watched the final bits of Shmoocon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lots of the typical stuff I’d expect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There’s been lots of lessons that have been learned amongst the staff and participants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You build on others’ previous successes, and end up creating something better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The assembly of the community, however, is something you really can’t replicate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I’ve had bits of seemingly-unusual connections. It probably started with my brother marrying one of the Hack-of-Halo staff’s sister. (I don’t know that he’s been around the past few years….he’s actually been b\/uilding more humans…) <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, the charge from The Potters was to go find or build something else (using what you’ve learned at Shmoo…).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The personal connections, however, are something I didn’t really create many of. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do people know me because of my attendance at Shmoocon? <\/em>Um. Probably not very many.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I am very introverted. When I started attending, I was doing IT work amidst my regular overnight radio duties. There’s a lot of things you can do in the IT world in the middle of the night. When you’re the only person working, so long as the stations are on the air, you can do whatever you need to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As things have progressed, however, I’ve had moments where the NoVA groupthink really bothered me. That’s probably a lot of the reason I didn’t want to spend my very-limited funds on coming to DC to participate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I did enjoy socializing more when I was younger, but that’s kind of worn off as I’ve gotten older.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This year, with my body really betraying me, I spent very little time down on in the rooms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Could someone do something similar that’s all done with the advances that have come with advances in network technology? We’re doing seminars these hours, then drinking for a few hours afterwards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the same time, I wonder how many of the people who were so amped about Net Neutrality in, say, 2011, would have ever been okay with Ajit Pai<\/a> at the FCC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I am absolutely amazed at the speed increases. This was supposed to be impossible, so it was terribly important to constrain things into what seemed possible not very long ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you’d asked me in 2014 if I’d ever see Gigabit speeds almost everywhere, I’d have said you were nuts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I’ll look around, but I’d really like something virtual. I do like drinking my own liquor, showering in my own shower, and sleeping in my own bed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n