CyborgCamp is gaining momentum as an intellectual, technical and exploratory event. Its existence is not limited to Portland area either.
Example: a fascinating individual flying out from New York to attend. Her name is Gennefer Snowfield and she was kind enough to answer some questions for us so that the Portland Tech community and conference attendees could get to know her better.
Where are you from? What kind of work do you do?
I’m your stereotypical fast-paced ‘East Coaster’ from the NYC/NJ area but have been fortunate to have traveled all over the world, and have lived in a few different cities in the US — and abroad — over the years.
Currently, I am the Founder and CEO of Acclimedia, a consulting firm focused primarily on online brand adaptation, helping clients acclimate their products/services and customer experience to the web environment. We take a holistic approach to this process in order to preserve — and maintain — the integrity and essence of the brand online. I also serve as President and Chief Marketing Officer for Jelly Labs, the creative agency and market research arm of Acclimedia, specializing in campaign stickiness.
How did you first hear about CyborgCamp? What made you decide to attend?
With my immersion (or more aptly, submersion!) in the digital world, I’ve had an increasing interest in HCI (Human Computer Interaction), and was seeking to network with others in this area. A Twitter search on the topic led me to tweet from @CyborgCamp, and after a quick scan of the posts and interactions, I began following immediately. Through @CyborgCamp, I have been able to connect with several interesting, intelligent and savvy people from in and around the Portland area — especially Bram Pitoyo, with whom I have sparked riveting, thought-provoking discussions about the semantic web and branding.
I am always seeking kindred spirits and like-minded innovators for collaboration, and I thought that if the people with whom I had connected on Twitter were representative of those I would meet at Cyborg Camp, I knew I had to be there. Being able to interact with these folks in person is so exciting, and I can only imagine the energy that will be emanating from their erudite minds. I must also give a shout out to Tyler Sticka, yet another Portlander with whom I’ve had the pleasure of interacting through Twitter, as I was completely blown away by the logo he designed for CyborgCamp. It’s absolutely brilliant in its simplicity and manages to effectively juxtapose the human and machine elements in a meaningful — and engaging — way. Talk about stopping power. And, of course, you, Amber, whose insights on a variety of topics always leave me pondering the philosophical elements of this space. I continue to be amazed by how Portland seems to be a hotbed for such an enlightened group of individuals and am looking forward to meeting everyone in person.
What is your dream ‘future technology’? If there was anything you could change about the current state of technology, what would it be?
I’m a total geek so I have several dream ‘future technologies,’ but in this case, environmental consciousness wins out, and I would love to see groundbreaking advancements in renewable energy become a reality, finding innovative ways to harness wind and solar power, eliminating our wasteful dependence on fuel and its harmful effects. Of course, as someone who grew up with Star Trek, The Next Generation, and an old school first-person adventure gamer, if I had to choose a more frivolous dream technology, it would most definietly be a virtual reality chamber similar to that of the Holodeck.
The one thing I would probably change about the current state of technology is the ‘on all the time,’ ‘always wired’ mentality [and applications that perpetuate it].
What is the tech scene like in New York? Do you attend many tech events there?
It’s hard to say. In any city where there are mass numbers of people, there is always something brewing in tech, and NYC has been home to many Web 2.0 types of expos and the like. It’s a hub for gathering people from all over the world, so it’s an attractive spot for events, but the scene itself tends to veer more toward the social realm of the industry than deep into the geek sector. And those with successful tech start ups tend to migrate west to Silicon Valley and other more booming tech ecospheres.
Running several companies with clients — and vendor partners — throughout the world, I don’t have the luxury of attending as many events as I’d like. That’s one of the reasons I am continually exploring new technologies for participating remotely without sacrificing the experience, or being able to benefit from the key learnings just as I would as in-person attendee.
Obviously, nothing can ever truly replace physicially being at an event, amongst a group of people collaborating and sharing ideas, but I think that there are ways to bridge the virtual and physical worlds to make it advantageous for remote viewers to participate, share in discussions, and watch it happening real time.
Pop!Tech did this very effectively with the live stream for their recent conference. While there weren’t any participatory applications to join in directly, the quality of the video was top notch, allowing you to substantively connect with the speakers and subject matter, and you could supplement the experience via sharing tools like Twitter. There are a few events where I think it’s important to attend in person, however, so in addition to Cyborg Camp, I am planning to attend SXSW in Austin, TX in March, and possibly Interactions09 in Vancouver in February.
Have you ever been to an un-conference before? If so, which conference? How was your experience?
I have attended a few unconferences, and I prefer them to big, splashy events because the intimate setting and smaller, thematic-driven groups allow for participatory learning rather than having so-called ‘expert’ speakers pontificate to a large group. The result is always inspiring and I find the experiences expand my views on a subject and enrich my thinking much more than linear, highly structured formats; plus, you are able to feed off the energy of the participants, who typically are very passionate about the topic. There’s much more of a community feel and sense of ownership to the material because it was self-created, where each participant plays an instrumental role in the process instead of watching a series of slides and taking notes. I think unconferences also stimulate action more so than traditional events, because you are excited and inspired to start applying your newfound knowledge and put your ideas into motion.
What do you think about the future of entertainment, branding, online media? How has your world been affected by new networks such as Twitter?
I think the future of branding has many challenges as brands tend to get diluted in the oversaturated web space. And I am of the thinking that not all brands need to — or should — have a digital presence.
Entertainment, on the other hand, is significantly augmented by technology, and is on the precipice of expansion in a variety of different areas. In addition to the rich visuals and advancements in CGI, more traditional network programming is able to connect viewers with their favorite TV show, or even characters with web-enabled services and extras. Even movies are enhanced by using the web to draw users into the storyline where they can make a personal connection with the film. But, in my opinion, the future of techtainment is with the continued growth of podcasting, iTV and web film-making. Major, capital-driven networks no longer control the market or drive the content. Anyone with a video camera and a dream can penetrate the space, and some of the most popular programs are web shows that are able to reach a global audience thanks to the power of the Internet medium, and even gain the exposure of mainstream media previously reserved only for big budget film houses.
Online media is another area where oversaturation makes it difficult for many new products and services to rise above the clutter, and for platforms to sustain long-term. I think in order for the online media space to advance, it needs to be streamlined, sourcing content better for relevancy and audience, and built to evolve with its users’ needs/wants/behavior/usage. A living, breathing architecture will be critical for maximizing the value of online media, and creating a vehicle for meaningful interactions that become an inherent, consistent — and active — part of the user’s daily life [with tangible impact] vs. a distraction or passive activity that wanes over time until the next ‘hot hit’ comes along. The ‘throw spaghetti against the wall to see what sticks’ method doesn’t scale. If Web 2.0 is analagous to the ‘classoom,’ Web 3.0 is the real world opportunity to put those learnings into action.
Twitter has dramatically impacted my world in a positive way. Save for the distraction and source of procrastination it can sometimes be, it has become a daily (read: hourly!) go to resource for real time knowledge sharing, product reviews, market research and even local, national and international news. It’s information with a pulse. And it has become an important part of my routine from my daily good morning exchanges with friends I’ve made to checking in with the Twitterverse on a myriad of subjects throughout the day — from their insights on project-related/client issues to their thoughts and experiences with new gadgets — even recipes and restaurant recommendations. Just about everything that touches my life makes its way into my tweetstream.
How have you built your Twitter network? What rewards have you received? What do you find most difficult/annoying about Twitter?
I am a firm believer in using Twitter to build relationships. I take pride in my network and value my connections. And I’m proud that I have been able to build such a quality network of amazing individuals each of whom bring something unique to my tweetstream — and to my life. I built my entire network organically, using Twitter search on keywords of interest to me, connecting through @ replies to individuals connected to those I follow, and by returning the follow to those who have sought me out through similar means. I always read a person’s bio, visit the link to their blog or website and read at least 3 pages of their posts before I follow. I take it very seriously and do not use auto follow scripts or try to inflate my followers. I prefer to keep my network small with even ratios of followers/following as I believe that’s the only way you can develop — and nurture — the one-on-one interactions that drive meaningful exchanges and encourage sharing.
I have made professional contacts, built lasting friendships, secured new opportunities and been exposed to new cultures through my Twitter community. In fact, my overseas partner is someone whom I connected with via Twitter, expanding my services into the European market with a creative shop in London. I will also be co-hosting a podcast with another Twitter contact and am collaborating with others on a new venture. Not to mention the personal friendships I’ve built that have come to mean a great deal to me.
Without question, the most annoying thing about Twitter is the spammers, self-promoters and get-rich-quick schemers that appear to be multiplying in droves, as well as those who are obsessed with their number of followers, using it as a misguided measuring stick for their popularity or ‘influence.’ I have always contended that the true value of Twitter is in the relationships, and the aforementioned groups are only interested in advancing their own agenda. It’s a megaphone for them vs. a sharing tool to spark two-way communication. Their misuse and flagrant disrespect for the network detracts from the experiece and devalues the service. I’ve become adept at spotting (and avoiding) the culprits, but it requires continual contact clean up to maintain a quality, spam-free community — time that could be better spent engaging with people who actually want to learn and share with you.
Do you know what you’re going to talk about at CyborgCamp? What would you like to see discussed?
I recently ditched PowerPoint and any form of canned slides when presenting to clients or speaking at events, which has proven to be a much more creatively enriching experience for me — and my participants. By not stifling the flow of creativity with a highly structured set of materials, I’ve found that the group is more open and expressive, and that better ideas are generated. So, I am going to apply that same principle to CyborgCamp, allow the dynamics of the group to guide my talking points, and put a raw perspective out there for consumption, dissection, discussion and ideation.
I don’t want to limit the flow of creativity or expression by mandating a list of topics but I’d love to spark a discussion around what I referred to earlier in the interview as ‘The Human Web’ to get the group’s perspective on the interconnectivity of it all and how to effectively bridge/honor the dual faceted-ness of that interaction.
Contact Acclimedia
cyborgcamp@acclimedia.com
http://twitter.com/acclimedia
Websites
http://www.acclimedia.com/
http://jelly-labs.com/
Blog: http://www.jellyflux.com
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