I have had several people asking me about this and thought it merited further clarification. The Web2.1 event is a type of unConference following some emerging ideas around what I like to call BrainJams. The idea is to put the meme into the commons and create a community of practice where people can share resources, knowledge and experience in regards to this emerging trend in “Knowledge Networking”.
So I am trying to clarify the definition further and set up the foundations for moving forward so we can capture this ever so brief moment of attention to self organize, furthering our movement away from the information economy towads the knowledge economy – where the bits of data that form a representation of a resource are imbued with the added element of context. Wihtout getting into a PHD level debate about brain science, artificial intellgence and all of those other deep and important areas of study, I believe that context comes from experience. I also believe that the personal, direct sharing of experience from person to person is the most effective form of transmission.
In case you don’t know, I am a capitalist through and through. I wanted to go to the Web 2.0 conference to meet those people and learn from their experience and hear what they have to say about my ideas and the company I have been trying to get funded. I wanted to go to share with them the ideas I have for their companies. If the market bears the $2800 price tag, so be it. If I had the money, I would have paid it. But since I didn’t have the money I realized this was a perfect opportunity to act instead of just write. A great way to ensure we dont make the same mistake we have made before – to ensure we dont end up talking geek to one another and to develop a community of practice around the 2-3 thingsI really, passionately care about and have been studying for the last decade.
So Web 2.1 is its own thing with the intention of ensuring the conversation around Web 2.0 is about people.
And BrainJams is its own thing which is a type of event that can serve as the basis for other people engaged in their own, altrusitic, Noble Pursuits
It just so happens that we are applying the loose idea/format of a BrainJam to the idea of Web 2.1 and seeing what we as a community of people who care about the same principles can do to make sure it is done right. I can not imagine a better way than cross-boundary collaboration in the commons. It is already happening with people sharing their knowledge at conferences, through seminars and through educational forums. With the experiences I had at all of these conferences this past summer (which just about broke the bank BTW) I just felt it was the right time to do a reorg around some of these principles and see if anyone else out there agrees with me.
Finally, here is the description of BrainJams I put on the Creative Commons License that will govern the site’s resources.
BrainJams is a resource community built on easy to use open source tools focused on expanding the practice of open, ad-hoc collaborations with the intent of sharing knowledge, solving problems and having fun. BrainJams is based on the principles of the Open Source technology community, bringing the core ideals of sharing, helping and belonging to the world of business, government and NGO’s. This license is intended to apply to all materials that are shared through the community.
BrainJams web2.0 web2.1 web2.1brainjam knowledge+networking brainjamming
