The Supernova Experience: A Dynamic Collaborative Exploration

I spent this week enjoying one of the most remarkable conference experiences of my life at Supernova in San Francisco.

Organized by broadband policy luminary Kevin Werbach, Supernova brought together a remarkable group of like-minded people.

There were network types from Orange, BT, and SKTelecom; major Internet companies like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft; a number of startups with a heavy emphasis on social entrepreneurship; VC and finance types; social media experts; industry observers and pundits; top DC technology policy advisors and leaders like Larry Strickling and Alec Ross; and leading community broadband advocates, like Joanne Hovis and Esme Vos.

Never before have I been to an event with such a rich tapestry of interests and expertise coming together to talk about the present and future of our world in the Network Age.

Reflecting the diversity of attendees was the dynamism of the wide-ranging agenda. I got to jump from sessions on broadband policy to the business of startups to the future of real-time communications.

Even more impressive is that pretty much every single session captured and held my attention for its entirety. Unfortunately, that rarely happens at conferences, where most sessions either cover stuff you already know, say things you don't agree with, discuss matters too technically or too simplistically, don't feature well-delivered performances, and/or don't engage the audience. This all-too-common failing of conferences was almost nonexistent at Supernova.

Not surprisingly, the combination of good people participating in an interesting dialog during sessions led to many great conversations in the hallways during breaks. That tends to be the true value of any conference, and Supernova supplied it in spades.

I'm starting to feel a little embarrassed by my excessive gushing about Supernova in this post but I just really did have that good and productive of a time attending. Even the food was good as there were some terrific sandwiches for lunch.

Part of what I think helps create the Supernova environment is the fact that it's located in San Francisco, which has to be one of the most dynamic, innovative areas on the planet. The creative entrepreneurial energy in this city crackles, driven in large part by the willingness of its innovators to share openly and honestly with each other, and the desire by its community to do right by the world.

This isn't just about closing deals and making money. There's a real sense that there are higher ideals we should be aspiring towards. And yet Supernova in particular also contained a terrific concentration of people with those ideals who are pursuing them through pragmatic, sustainable, and even profitable endeavors.

And this isn't about coming up with an idea of holding it tight to the vest. It's about an open spirit of community and collaboration, one that embraces the idea that by sharing resources we can all achieve more than by trying to do everything on our own.

There's an amazing collection of great people doing great things in this town, and at an event like Supernova it feels like that energy achieves critical mass, setting the stage for even greater things to become possible

I don't yet know what great things will come from having attended Supernova other than having had the opportunity to meet a lot of great people, but I can't wait to see. And I'm officially adding Supernova to my list of must-attend broadband events.