MESH Canada's Web Conference Returns

I felt like such a Kathy Griffin last year not getting my ticket for MESH until it's too late and missing the whole shabang. Moral of the story, commit and get your tickets early.

I love the players at MESH and beyond bringing a set of interesting people together for 3 days of info exchange and networking, the quality of people in the audience are just as interesting as the people on stage (very few Sarah Lacys).

I was amused at their outreach to their 4 key constituent audiences and the tout to Marketers and PR people specifically  "The Web is rewriting the rule book for the marketing industry. Word of mouth is still the most powerful fuel a company can buy, but now it comes in the form of blogs, podcasts, forums and instant messaging – and it can not only power your marketing engine, but burn you when you least expect it. Those on the front lines share their advice on what to do, and what not to do".  

It may be nitpicking, but if I only had two issues with MESH it would be:

1)  the lack of integrators on the slate - I know its a conference on web but as opposed to all specialist web people, I'd love to get a mix of people who are integrating web experiences into broader company efforts and provide a bridging perspective. Getting the web industry to at least hear and perhaps recognize the needs and issues of commerce, culture and the broader marketplace may help push the wheels forward, but sometimes when you keep drinking the same Kool-Aid, it starts tasting like wine (translation - when all you hear is your own views, they become lodged as facts in your brains)

2) scare mongering word of mouth - the number of self-exploding efforts on word of mouth are few and far between - I just wish we would stop pointing the risk of WOM and start talking to its untapped potential  - the language above is like a travel guide saying "you might love New York, but watchout, you might be hit by a fast moving taxi" - chance are you won't, so enjoy the trip!

So see you there! (oh and of course, stick around for a sequel and see you at our June 12 conference as we tackle all forms of word of mouth).