Widget Summit, a conference done right

Earlier this week I moderated a panel at Niall Kennedy’s Widget Summit. It was the second year for this event which he co-hosted last year at the same time, right before the Web 2.0 Summit to take advantage of all the people in town. I want to give a public shout out to Niall for hosting an excellent conference that paid attention to a myriad of little details that often get looked over at other conferences.

Turn-by-turn directions, complete with Google Street view photos to help out of town drivers.

A great web site for the conference. Links to each speakers’ Facebook and LinkedIn profile was really handy so you could get in touch with folks you didn’t get a chance to exchange cards. Adding the MyBlogLog badge was to my page was a nice touch too.

The location (UCSF Mission Bay campus) was beautiful. The building was brand new and the colorful scheme made for a great backdrop for portrait photos. Lane Hartwell, the local flickr superstar, was the official photographer and has a great set online.)

Two-sided conference badges. How many times have you spent an entire cocktail party wandering around only to realize that you’ve been going by Mr. Blank all night because your badge had flipped over. Apparently the design of the badge was inspired by a spirited discussion on a Flickr photo somewhere about badge design.

Peet’s Coffee in take away paper cups. No fiddly china.

The dinner for the speakers at the Slanted Door was an excellent choice and a great way to get the people that are helping define the widget space together. Thanks Niall!.

A job board on the site because you know the widget companies are all looking for talent and they were all there.

Thanks again to everyone that was there for making it an enjoyable two days. See you all next year!