Saturday, September 30, 2006

Birthday celebrations with a few thousand friends


I celebrated my birthday in the most unusual of circumstances this week. On Tuesday evening I flew to Amsterdam to participate in a major conference, Picnic 06. The event attracted more than 4000 participants, including 2500 delegates to the main conference. I gave a brief ten-minute presentation on the impact of emerging virtual worlds on communication strategies on the afternoon of my birthday.

The hall was full as I rose to speak. I was following one of the event's most popular speakers, Phil Rosedale. He is the CEO of Linden Lab, creators of Second Life, a rapidly expanding online economy. Second Life was recently a cover story in Business Week magazine. A giant screen projected my image eight metres above the floor of the hall. I promised the crowd that I'd keep my presentation short, explaining that I was due in London later that evening for birthday celebrations. Much to my embarrassment the hall erupted in clapping and cheers.

Click here to see me in action. Initial feedback has been positive and many companies have approached me for more information. I later found out that Phil Rosedale's birthday was the following day. We celebrated with a quick beer after our presentations before I headed to the airport and home. Phil was remarkably approachable and down-to-earth for such a successful guy.

India trip canceled
I heard overnight that my business trip to India has been canceled. I'll be off to New York at the start of November instead. I now have only two trips planned for October; Stockholm and Lisbon.


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

That was a birthday you won't forget in a hurry. Garry told me that you were pleased with your presentation.