I’m at the second Microsoft Social Computing Symposium in Redmond, a group of about 100 academics and normals. Last year, the conference was useful mainly outside of the presentations (and I say this as one of the presenters) because we didn’t quite figure out how to talk with one another in a public forum. This year, it’s more discussion-oriented. They even switched from last year’s One Big Room format to a hotel with some nooks and crannies.

The main room is a typical set up: long tables with chairs, all facing forward. (I’m sitting next to Liz!). But Shelly Farnham has us do an unusual opening exercise: A person stands up, says a few sentences about herself, and throws a ball of string at someone she knows, creating a physical knot of people.

The IRC is at irc.freenode.net #scs. Come join us. [Technorati tags: scs SocialSoftware]

Categories: Uncategorized dw