Marketing Babylon

In two weeks time, I’m heading out to Israel to take part in Kinnernet. This will be a very short visit and I’m doing it specifically for this special event.
For the third time, Yossi Vardi, of Mirabilis (ICQ) fame, with the help of some sponsors is gathering ~150 “net and technology – addicts, nerds ,geeks , thought leaders, and other creative people ,in order to give like-minded individuals the opportunity to gather informally and discuss topics and concepts that are of interest to them.” (no media & VCs allowed).
The rules of engagement are open-source-anti-con = the attendees are the agenda etc.
It’s always a challenge to decide what you want to talk about when you’re about to meet such a great bunch of people and can choose whatever you want to speak about. I have a lot of subjects I’m passionate about and want to share, so after much thought I narrowed them to three (which was still too much, especially since this is the biggest kinnernet so far):

1. The dynamics of the Israeli blogosphere and what causes it to be different (and I suspect some things there are true for blogs in small markets in general).
2. A critical look at the limits of blogging. I feel that often, the evangelists of blogging are so busy preaching, that some issues are neglected. This is an opportunity for the choir to sit together for a critique/reality check.
3. A marketing workshop for geeks – looking at the connection between product, brand and experience. To a certain degree, Web based applications ARE communication. I wanted to suggest a framework for figuring out what the brand is about / what’s the story of the product, using it to focus the product, user experience and marketing efforts.

Having to choose one subject I had no idea what to do. Eventually, I realised I should choose the one with the maximum combination between my contribution, and what the attendees can give me, since giving & receiving is what this event’s format is about. So I chose number 2. The other two will probably be introduced gradually in this blog.

And yes – I plan to blog aboout Kinnernet. Watch this space.