Ok. My bad. I spend too much time thinking about things to post and, as you can see, no time actually posting. But recently I started thinking about those out there who seem to spend more time posting and less time thinking.

To clarify, when I go to industry events I look around at the attendees because…. Well, because I’m neurotic. Whatever. The point is that in the last couple years I have looked around the crowd during keynotes and other sessions and I have seen very few people who seem to be paying the presenter any attention, whatsoever. Instead, there are tight groups of people huddled around power strips and heads-down in their laptops.

My first reaction when I started seeing this is that these people must be very busy working or dealing with issues back at their mother ships. Given the cost of attending these conferences, this seemed to be a major waste of time and money. Then over time, I came to understand that many of these people were not only listening to the presenter; these people were parroting the presenter to their blog readers/Twitter followers/Facebook friends and fans, etc…

As I started following these conference hounds on Twitter I was beside myself at how devoid of value the practice truly was. What I got from these conference coyotes was a heap of quotes from the speaker that, when compiled, resulted in a steaming heap of humorous quips and commonly held beliefs and understandings that have already permeated the ethos of the industry. So why parrot this crap?

The true value lies in the sentences between the quotables. You can find it in the prepositions of novelty and invention. To assume that the full value of a presentation can be boiled down into four of five tweets is an insult to the speaker and the event coordinators who arranged to have them there in the first place.

I have spoken to audiences and–you can call me old-fashioned–I like to have their attention. The eye-to-eye contact speaks volumes to the presenter about how much the audience is comprehending. Distracted and nodding audiences tell me to pick it up while understanding nods and meaningful questions tell me that the audience is engaged.

I know, I know. The laws of the information economy say that the value of information is directly proportional to the proximity of source. So if I can hear from an industry leader directly and report what they are saying as soon as they say it, then I am offering more value to my sphere. Yes, there is value in that. But if I am reporting the same thing that hundreds of others are simultaneously reporting, then the scales tip to supply and the demand for my reports is diminished. If I were to play that game, I would simply be in a race for proximity and timeliness.

I am a busy person and I don’t like wasting my time. A simple race for followers based on my proximity to people who add value would be a waste of my time. And, honestly, most of you who partake in this practice are wasting everyone’s time.

So what am I doing? In the calm before the MIX2010 storm, I am posting about the valuelessness of posting about conferences? No. I’m not. I’m declaring that there is value in posting about conferences and there is an information market that demands it. But the majority of that value needs to be generated by the poster. Parroting information is not valuable.

In order to illustrate my point I am dedicating the next week to posting about the MIX2010 conference experiences and what I demand of myself is that I add value to information as it passes through. I don’t attend conferences to receive truth; I attend conferences to receive ideas and insight. I will not dishonor my many years of industry experience by simply acting as a conduit.

The MIX crew is usually pretty good about posting the presentation videos quickly. If you want to hear exactly what a speaker says, then watch the videos. Don’t waste your time listening to the social mimeographs. If you want more insight into the meaning of what the speakers are saying then come back here. I will challenge the information and seek to boost the value of the conversation.

If you’re going to be at MIX2010 let’s hook up and talk shop! Twitter: @stygz | Send Email