One of the things I always look forward to at VON is the break from the long New England winter … a week in sunny California. Well, I got in last night to record breaking low temperatures, it’s actually colder here in the Bay area than back home in Boston. 
But, VON starts tomorrow and I was just a gathering of some of the panelists for the communities session, including 2 dating folks, 2 gaming folks, our fearless moderator and a quiet little stealth company* with 35 million+ users with their own web pages. We talked about community, technology, dramaturgy and Goffman, richness of interaction, modalities of communication, and so on. Great group of people, and I look forward to continuing the discussion tomorrow (scroll down on link, if you click thru).
Speaking of tomorrow, I’m feeling a bit jammed. I mean, I can’t hear Lessig because I’m speaking. There’s at least two afternoon sessions, both of which I want to hear. At least I can make time for Jeff Pulver, Tim O’Reilly, Brough Turner, and James Enck on Wednesday. It’s the VON blur.
* oh, the stealth company. MyFamily — makers of Family Tree Maker and owners of genealogy.com amongst others. The best untold community story of the year — you heard it here first. No myspace, it’s not just all about you …