Gnomedex (conference)

Gnomedex is a technology conference hosted by Chris Pirillo, the owner of Lockergnome, LLC [http://www.gnomedex.com/] and co-host of the show Call For Help on cable television channel TechTV. Started as an outgrowth of his technology newsletters and web site, Gnomedex has grown into a conference exploring new and emerging technologies with influencers, entrepreneurs and tech enthusiasts as the primary audience. Many of the attendees are prolific bloggers.

History

2001

The first Gnomedex was held Friday, October 12, 2001 through Sunday October 14, 2001 in Des Moines, Iowa [http://channels.lockergnome.com/windows/backissues/20011011.phtml] . Originally scheduled for the weekend of 9/11, it was postponed for a month to allow people to adjust their travel plans. Despite the uncertainty, nearly 200 people attended from all over the United States, Canada and Europe. The keynote was delivered by Steve Gibson, president of Gibson Research Corp. Notable presentations included:

* David Lawrence [http://www.thedavidlawrenceshow.com] on the future of the music industry
* Userland Software employee Robert Scoble discussing OPML and RSS technologies.
* Derek Brown from Microsoft's Mobility Team demonstrating a Windows Mobile-powered phone.

David Lawrence also made a live broadcast of his radio show Online Tonight from Gnomedex.

Sponsorship was by several companies, including SnapStream. Registration was $99.00USD.

2002

Gnomedex 2.0 occurred on August 23 and 24th, 2002 in Des Moines, IA at the Downtown Marriott. The keynote was delivered by Leo Laporte, formerly with TechTV. Notable presentations included:

* Evan Willams from Blogger.com's
* Phil "Pud" Kaplan, creator of F---edCompany.com

Several presenters from the 2001 Gnomedex also returned, including:

* Derek Brown
* Steve Gibson
* Mark Thompson of Analog X
* David Lawrence

2003

Gnomedex 3.0 date and location unknown.

2004

Gnomedex 4.0 was held in Lake Tahoe, Nevada.

2005

Gnomedex 5.0 was held in Seattle, Washington at the Bell Harbor Convention Center. Keynote was by Adam Curry. Microsoft announced that RSS feeds would be supported in the next version of Microsoft Windows. Notable presentations and activities included:

* Kathy Gill from University of Washington presented on blogging in the classroom [http://faculty.washington.edu/kegill/pub/gnomedex05/]
* Julie Leung gave a presentation on personal and public media
* Phillip Torrone of Make Magazine presented on the craft of making
* David Winer sung The Beatles' Yellow Submarine.

About 190 people attended.

2006

Gnomedex 6.0 was held in Seattle, Washington at the Bell Harbor Convention Center. Notable presentations were:

* keynote by Senator John Edwards [http://www.podtech.net/home/866/gnomedex-2006-marc-canters-hilarious-exchange-with-senator-john-edwards]
* a discussion and demonstration of Pixsy by Chase Norlin [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Aqqb9ZJEjs&fmt=18]
* a demonstration of Melodeo by Bill Valenti and Rob Greenlee [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Kw8GHs5Tog&fmt=18]

2007

Gnomedex 7.0 was held in Seattle, Washington at the Bell Harbor Convention Center.

2008

Gnomedex 8.0 was held in Seattle, Washington at the Bell Harbor Convention Center. The theme for this year's Gnomedex was "Human Circuitry." Listed below are the speakers, along with videos of their presentation (hosted on YouTube):

* Alex Steffen [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBlOoJOyuG4&fmt=18]
* Amanda Koster of SalaamGarage
* Dr. Arvind Krishnamurthy from the University of Washington
* Ben Huh of I_Can_Has_Cheezburger%3F [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpLAwjxTjaE&fmt=18]
* Beth Kanter from Summit Collaborative
* Brady Forrest from O'Reilly Radar
* Danny Sullivan
* Dave Mathews from boxee [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Khss9JjyflQ&fmt=18]
* Eric Lin [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQIGlIT8LDM&fmt=18]
* Ethan Kats-Basset
* Eve Maler
* Francine Hardaway
* Gabriel Maganis
* Jeremy Toeman
* Jon Malkin
* Josh Bancroft
* Kevin Fox [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FhURQINS78&fmt=18]
* Kris Krug
* Larry Halff
* Mark Bao [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVBoZtQTVW8&fmt=18]
* Matt Harding [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eP9d-O1-Pjk]
* Monica Guzman [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3I9A-Eaqyw]
* Nathan Wade from the University of Washington [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDiXiznF_aI&fmt=18]
* Sara Davies [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMi7QA7WzNI&fmt=18]
* Sarah Lacey
* Scott Maxwell from NASA [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pxFbwEv4OU&fmt=18] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvewrRlNg3c&fmt=18]
* Tadayoshi Kohno
* Tara Hunt

Interesting or notable events included: Dancing with Matt Harding. Sponsors included Blue Sky Factor, Chevrolet, CNN.com, Design Reactor, General Motors, HP, Mighty Leaf Tea, Pathable, Solarwinds, SnapStream, Sony, TechSmith Ustream, Viewzi, WeatherBug and Wetpaint.

References