We are down to the wire, with mesh-the-first set to go next Monday and Tuesday. We are hoping that everyone will be coming ready-to-go, to meet each other, get involved and learn from each other.
I can tell you the five of us are both wiped and enthusiastic. There has been a *lot* to do to get this together – way more than we ever imagined (think: Brangelina wedding, pulled together by 5 “I’m best at providing direction” guys) – but pulled-it-together we have, with support from great sponsors and suppliers, and are all really happy that the mesh-ing will begin in a matter of days.
Some things you need to know (basically a round-up from emails I’ve been getting):
- Registration starts Monday at 8am. First session goes off at 9am. We will have coffee and yogurt available and there will be hundreds of people arriving, so feel free to start to mesh early.
- You do not need your online registration receipt (though feel free to bring it). Please just have i.d. available.
- If the credit card you used was in a different name than the name of the person registered, and you received a reminder email in the credit card name, do not be concerned. All badges are in the registration name. If there was any confusion as to which name we should be using, you have been contacted for clarification already.
- Following Day One, we will have a social mesh at MaRS. Following that, anyone so inclined is welcome to join in an after-party at The Drake. We will offer a shuttle between MaRS, the Delta Chelsea and The Drake until 10:30pm. A schedule will be posted, or just look for the big, yellow Expedia.ca bus.
- There have been some recent adds to the speaker’s roster. We will be posting the final, minute-by-minute schedule very soon – in fact, I’ve held off posting this until now because it’s coming any moment. I will add it when it’s done. We will also have copies of the schedule for everybody at registration.
- MaRS has free WiFi coverage, though from my experience GPRS ‘Berry signal in the main below-grade meeting room is spotty.
- We don’t have a dress code, but expect that things will range from casual to business casual.
- We are not planning to offer day-of-event sales, mostly because we don’t expect to have any tickets left. That said, if you want to take your chances and just show up or bring someone else with you, we will try to assist, space available.
- We are recording the sessions for podcast after the fact, and they will be available on IT Conversations. We will let you know exactly when.
So there you have it. I’m sure there’s more that I / we are forgetting, what with us never having done this before. Our sincere desire is that this is the first of many more meshes to come, with more and more local talent in the spotlight.
If you get the chance next week, please say “Hi” to me or any of the others – but. more importantly, say “Hi” to each other. Creating a place for that to happen is a big part of why we are doing this in the first place.
