I heard one of the panelists at SXSW today talk about it being a thinkers conference. I thought that was worth a short post, because imho if you exclude even one thought from the flow, it's no longer about thinking -- it's about keeping the promoters happy. That's a skill too, of course, but it's not much about thinking.

I mention this about SXSW because I've asked numerous times to be included in the thinking that goes on there, and my ideas have definitely appeared on their stage, many times -- but the promoters say they were offended in some way by something I said (probably something very much like this).

It's a great conference for launching products. And that's why I have, at times, wanted to present my ideas there. We still need a great tech conference for people who want to cooperate with others -- and market. Both are possible at the same time, as long as it's done with care.

I've put my ideas to the test on this, I ran four conferences in the early days of blogging. They were good events, I got a lot out of them, and I hear that other people did as well.

Anyway, I'm not making a big deal about it, I never have. Things are what they are.