Convergence Conference: Invergence 2007
We have come a long way over the past several months helping to plan the new convergence conference in Portland set for September 6-7. Steve Gehlen, who has successfully organized the Internet Strategy Fourm (2007 was last week and brought FedEx, Yahoo, Robert Scoble and many many others to town to speak was amazing.
This new event Steve has planned is going to be one that will become a MUST attend event. Not only will it bring in some great minds, but also coincides with the NorthwestMusicFest as well as the PICA Time Based Art Festival (TBA). Three events like this over the same time frame is like stars lining up.
If you are going to be anywhere on the West Coast, or have been looking for a reason to get to Portland, Oregon (rated best place to live, work, active people, etc) this might be the perfect storm for you. And September in Oregon is one of the best times ever for weather and the outdoors.
Read Steve’s note on the Invergence 2007 event after the jump and visit the new holding blog put up leading to the event.
During that time, as I’ve talked to over 100 people about the conference concept and read material on various related subjects, I’ve come to realize that the term “convergence” alone does not capture the full scope of what is happening and where we are heading.
The new twist is interaction and participation, so I’ve come up with a new term: invergence, to describe the emerging interactive convergence.
1) New Blog Launched
Today I’m announcing the launch of a new blog at invergence.com to describe, document and debate this concept.
The blog will feature a regular group of thought-leader contributors as well as guest posts. If you are interested in contributing a post or being a regular contributor, let me know.
Also, I encourage you to add your comments to any of the blog posts.
2) Name Selected for the Conference
The blog provides details about the new conference, now called Inverge 2007 (visit the details page). It also talks about Portland as an ideal destination for the event.
The full conference web site, www.inverge.com, is currently in development.
The core concepts of the conference, the venue and affiliation with the Time-Based Art Festival & MusicFestNW are still intact.
3) New Speakers Added to the Program
We have already confirmed several compelling speakers for our inaugural event, including Dalen Harrison, CEO of Ensequence, a leading Interactive Television platform.
> See list of speakers confirmed so far
I will keep you posted as new speakers are added. If you have suggestions for other speaker prospects, please use our interactive dialog.
4) Help Spread the Word
Now that the blog is launched you can help spread the word with your colleagues by sending them a link to http://invergence.com or www.invergence.com.
Steve Gehlen
Founder & Director
Inverge 2007: the interactive convergence conference
503-819-6219
steve@gehlen.name
http://www.linkedin.com/in/stevegehlen
Thanks to The Email Wars for this great article.