{"id":2232,"date":"2009-11-11T10:07:35","date_gmt":"2009-11-11T17:07:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nerdseyeview.com\/blog\/?p=2232"},"modified":"2009-11-11T11:20:16","modified_gmt":"2009-11-11T18:20:16","slug":"rethink-hawaii-tedx-honolulu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nerdseyeview.com\/blog\/2009\/11\/11\/rethink-hawaii-tedx-honolulu\/","title":{"rendered":"Re[Think] Hawaii & TEDx Honolulu"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’d been invited to travel to Oahu by the Oahu Visitor’s Bureau in exchange for blogging about my adventures there. At the same time, Christine Lu<\/a> was planning re[Think] Hawaii<\/a>, a small conference about start-ups, sustainability, and social media and the dates lined up perfectly. Christine generously waived the attendance fee in exchange for… well, let’s say I owe her a favor or three. Neenz<\/a>, a Hawaii social, um, universe, she’s a social universe, invited the attendees of reThink Hawaii to TEDx<\/a>, a morning of interesting ideas and speakers. Now for some long winded contextual stuff…<\/p>\n

I’ve attended what feels like a pile of conferences this year — SxSW, TBEX, BlogHer, BlogWorld Expo, reThink Hawaii was the last in a long run. Unfortunately, it solidified something for me that I’ve been slowly concluding with each event that I attend — I don’t thrive in these environments. I’m not particularly shy, but I don’t like to do things in large groups. I’d really prefer to have dinner with two or three smartypants types, being in a room with 100 of them just isn’t that rewarding for me.<\/p>\n

I can’t work a room. That’s not to say that I don’t want to meet you, it’s rather that I don’t have the skills to compete for your attention, a cheerier extrovert will do a much better job than I will and because of that, we probably won’t talk unless I sit next to you at breakfast or in those funny between times when everyone is elsewhere. I’m happiest in quiet conversation in a room where I can hear you. Though ironically, I have loved the speaker opportunities I’ve had this year, so I guess I like the spotlight when I don’t have to compete for it. How lazy is that?<\/p>\n

All of this is just so you can place my experience in context. Bookish type, kind of a nerd, socially not that great, especially\u00c2\u00a0 in a room full of\u00c2\u00a0 extroverted success stories. Yeah, not so much my scene. I’m going to sit over there and observe, quietly, and process, thank you, and I probably won’t show up to shout at you in a noisy bar later, I’ll be in my room, reading and eating take out bento.<\/p>\n

This doesn’t mean I’m not absorbing information or learning or making some good connections.\u00c2\u00a0 I was able to connect with some great people in the pantheon of Internet stars that attended and plan to follow up with a few — they’re doing work directly related to things that I’m doing. I loved the local presence — reThink and TEDx gave me the chance to spend quality time with people who live and work in Hawaii and I adore those folks, they’re wonderful. I’ve never felt so at home while living out of a suitcase. All that fuzzy stuff, the stuff around the edges, that was great.<\/p>\n

But I was struck, repeatedly, but what was NOT talked about at both reThink Hawaii and TEDx. My short list:<\/p>\n