FastForward - Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!
Later this week I'm going to a conference called FastForward. I usually have a rule that if someone can't tell me what their company does in 15-20 seconds, they have a problem. Of course they might argue it's my problem, since I just don't understand the technology with which they deal, and they may be right... but I doubt it. Even if the technology requires expertise to understand, the problem that they solve should be within my grasp.
So I'm a little concerned about going to this conference when I can't really tell what it's all about. I'm sure most of those attending understand completely. And you're probably thinking - why is she going to a conference without knowing what it's about.
Well, I do this sometimes. Especially when it's someplace nice, like San Diego. And I do have some sense of the topic - FastForward is about searching on the internet, and specifically about the business of search. And that interests me.
In fact the whole interaction between individuals and tecnology interests me. I have been online longer than most attorneys. I not only had a compuserve account, but I used it actively. I met my husband (and a lot of my close friends) online in the early 1990s. I hooked up with SCUBA divers and even went on an "all compuserve" dive in Honduras way back when.
I was advising clients about the human aspect of internet use before most attorneys had computers in their offices. And I still have clients who are on the forefront of using technology to change how we live our lives. Plus I'm struggling with what to do with this blog in terms of my dual goals of providing information for my clients and getting my name in front of new potential clients.
All of which brings me back to FastForward. Occasionally I like to go jump in the deep end of the pool and attend events that offer a totally different perspective about something that interests me. I'm a matchmaker and teacher at heart. I love to put people together with each other, and with the information that they can use.
And that's what search is all about - putting people together with whatever it is they want to find, be it another person, or information. I doubt I'll understand everything that's said at FastForward, but I bet I internalize some concepts that will help me down the line. And maybe some of the other attendees will be interested in my perspective as a very curious amateur.
So into the forest I go.
