CreateSouth Conference in April

A while back, Dave Slusher started mentioning a conference he was working on. What actually caught my attention was the approach they're taking. Conferences (even the ones about participatory culture) tend to set themselves up with experts up on a platform conveying their expertise to crowds of various sizes.

CreateSouth is at least aiming to do things a bit different:

The idea of the conference is that if there is some project you want to do but haven't tackled because the learning curve is too high, you should walk out of the conference knowing where to start and maybe with an email address or three of people that can help you if you get into trouble.

One of the things that keeps me from attending many conferences is my tendency to scale the learning curve on topics quickly. Basically, if I'm interested in a topic to any level above casual, I dive in and get myself to a pretty good level of understanding.

That's resulted in a situation where, if I'm interested in a field enough to want to attend a conference on it, I find little of value in the panels and presentations.

I know, I know. Everyone says that the value in attending conferences is in the hallway conversations. And, for the conferences I've attended, that has been the case.

However, I don't do well in crowds and do really poorly at *starting* those conversations. I've found that if I don't take measures to compensate, I tend to find myself accompanied mostly by silence.

One of the compensations I've found particularly useful is *being* one of those experts. That's not because I'm particularly worthy of being called an expert. Rather, I've found some of the greatest joy in life by sharing what little I *do* know with others.

Doing so on a panel or in a presentation is often enough of a catalyst in the situation to help conversations find me.

However, in an environment like the one that Dave and the others behind CreateSouth eliminates the need for that particular crutch. When everyone is there to share what they know and help others, then the conversations really DO happen on their own.

All of that is to say that I was excited about the idea of attending CreateSouth and looked seriously at being there. Alas, the realities of life in all its aspects have rendered that decision for me in the negative.

When I realized that, I did some thinking about it. Prior to making that decision, I had been willing to pay $600 for a flight, another couple of hundred on a hotel, money for food and a day of lost consulting revenue. I had wanted to do that for a mixed desire to help others and to receive and enjoy the experience.

So, when Dave mentioned that they were looking for sponsorship, I dropped him an email. Sure, by not being able to attend myself, I'm unable to get the benefit of the receiving portion of the equation. However, there's no reason I couldn't still help.

It wouldn't be the same contribution as being there in person, helping people with their blogging or other new media skills. However, I figured I might be able to help defray some of the infrastructure expenses.

So, on Monday, I sent a check over that I know that Dave and crew will put to good use. Hopefully that ensures that there's a 2nd annual CreateSouth and I can actually attend that one.