Dave Is Easily Bored
November 8th, 2007 by EyeOnWinerContinuing on his quest to moderate every conference in existence, Dave gives us another reason why conferences “suck”:
This morning after a bit of processing, it struck me — don’t know why I didn’t see this before, but the problem with most conferences is that except for the people putting it on, we don’t have enough to do.
This is why Dave loves his “unconference” format so much… it gives him the right to interrupt anyone, at any time, to shout them down. Especially when he’s the moderator. He gets to decide when someone else is done talking, which means that he’s always engaged, always looking for a way to do the greatest good… which, in Dave’s world, is defined as “whatever Dave wants.”
if you want to have a truly useful conference that everyone gets something out of, structure it so that everyone has something to do at all times.
This is a trivial statement, but it’s also not helpful. People always do have something to do at a conference… sometimes it’s called “listening to someone else talk.” Dave doesn’t really consider that an option, though. What he really meant was this:
if you want to have a truly useful conference that everyone gets something out of, structure it so that everyone has something to do that they really want to do at all times.
But when you say it like that, it’s like saying “If you want to have a really popular restaurant, just make sure that everyone can find something on your menu that they love.” It’s an admirable goal, but glaringly obvious and basically impossible.
November 8th, 2007 at 9:39 am
Are you that guy who sued Dave? Russa Hall, his name, I think, something like that. You seem pretty bitter. What did Dave do to you- kick sand in your face? No wonder he won’t let you comment on his blog- who wants to be psycholanayzed by someone with an ax to grind. Why dont you give it up? Get over your obsession, get some help.
November 8th, 2007 at 10:13 am
I suppose he could not go to as many conferences, and actually do some kind of work.
Nah.
I suppose he could listen to what the people are saying, take notes, and try to learn something he doesn’t know.
Nah.
I suppose he could drink too much.
Sorry, but I’m running out of options here.
Having never been to more than three conferences in a year (and only one big one), I understand the boredom. Sometimes you pick the wrong session, and most you’ve already heard most everything in it. Sometimes there isn’t a good one to go to (for you, at least).
Still, interrupting people at a whim is just ruining it for everyone else. I wonder — if he interrupts a speaker, can other people interrupt his interruption?
November 8th, 2007 at 12:22 pm
There is an obvious explanation for why dave is bored at conferences. He’s always bored whenever HE isn’t speaking.
November 8th, 2007 at 2:36 pm
A.
Someone sued Dave Winer? For money? Seriously… It’s a widely held view that you should NEVER try to win an argument with Dave Winer.
People who prefer to just analyze his latest blog posts do so here. And yes we seek tirelessly to understand what makes him tick.
It’s obvious to me that his father didn’t give the poor kid any strokes and it makes him really hungry for attention and validation. When a parent screws up a kid the kid spends the rest of his/her life trying to fix the damage.
I try to leave his mother out of it. She IS a counselor by training if not education.
Thanks for pitching in with the “why don’t you guys just move on”. Everyone has a reason and some of the reasons are probably personal.
Karma has a way of surround some people with animus. Dave has a decidedly politial effect on web conversations and has touched hundreds of people in his business life as well.
November 8th, 2007 at 3:41 pm
In the immortal words of Tommy: “See me, feel me, touch me”.
Conversely, this Attention Deficit Disordered Blogger is a great source of energy.
We want to engage him in debate… fix some of his wacky thinking… and the job is never done.
Old dogs and such.
If a conference allows him to participate they should give him something to do or there are often consequences. He engages a hapless presenter and makes the situation ugly. Blake Ross (?) two GnomeDex’es back comes to mind. Dave unconferenced his ass into a complete mess.
Blake, as I recall, was there to talk about how to build a community around a project (Firefox) and Dave made it a conversation/interrogation about how closed Firefox is… which for him means: ‘They never write, they never call… fuck em. Don’t they know who I AM? This kid must pay for the slight.”
PS> Loic Le Muir is shaping up to be Dave’s new BFF.
So, we have two key story arcs in play: 1. Google must die for promoting the adoption of Atom. 2. Loic is someone Dave can use and Dave is someone Loic can use: i.e. a Dave friendship… reciprocal utility.
November 8th, 2007 at 3:44 pm
Comment moderation is still a regular duty for the old dog. Guarding his audience from his critics: it’s an ugly job but someone must do it.
Comments appear hour after being posted: that brings the author back to see if they made it past Dave’s filter.
November 8th, 2007 at 3:46 pm
And we just have to sit and wait for the Le Muir / Winer flame-out the moment Loic says something Dave disagrees with or makes some change to his service that Dave thinks is “evil”
It should be fantastic.
November 8th, 2007 at 11:20 pm
To ‘A’, I’m pretty proud of my ax that I’m grinding, personally: Dave Winer invited pedophiles to sexually assault a minor pictured on Rogers Cadenhead’s web site. He has never apologized for that.
As someone pretty passionate about child welfare, particularly abuse of the sort Dave was ringing the dinner bell on, I’m not going to apologize for watchdogging his disgusting no-holds-barred approach to trashing anyone, at all costs, to service his ego. We can have some comic relief with it when it’s all just a bunch of privileged grownups giving each other shit. But, the next time he crosses the line and jeopardizes families and children, I’m glad people are watching him who will be able to put it in context and illustrate the larger pattern of behavior for the passer-by reader.
November 9th, 2007 at 8:14 am
dave is always bored whenever he’s not talking. He only loves listening to himself.
November 9th, 2007 at 9:48 am
The lawsuit our new friend A is referring to was Jack Russo suing Winer over selling Weblogs.Com without sharing the proceeds with Russo or any other partners at the original UserLand Software.
Winer’s not big on sharing. Credit, money or even OPML.
November 9th, 2007 at 9:57 am
I wondered if anyone else sued Winer.
You could write a book on the Weblogs.com experience… but then Winer would sue you.
November 11th, 2007 at 10:41 pm
Yo “A”….maybe you’re on of Winer’s tiny circle of suck-ups but there’s absolutely nothing untoward about the eyeonwiner post you refer to. i’ve had a similar experience trying to disagree on winer’s forum. believe me, i didn’t flame or use profanity. but i called his BS for what it was. do you think those posts ever saw the light of day? nope
November 14th, 2007 at 12:45 pm
Comments are broken, I think.
November 14th, 2007 at 12:51 pm
OK… I wrote a long comment and can’t get it posted.
It’s about Dave desparately wanting a mobile device that runs the Frontier kernel so he can write “mobile apps”. iPhone doesn’t, gPhone OS doesn’t (it’s a modified Java VM) and the Windows Mobile OS won’t.
Unless someone makes a Linux based device and he can get Frontier ported he’s not going to be able to code fomr the new edge of the network.
But it’s not critical because the new edge is just a new browser instance and it’s actually less complex for him to put text there than on the Rich Internet App platforms like SilverLake, AIR or JavaFX.
November 14th, 2007 at 9:41 pm
You can’t tell the players without a program. Today Dave Winer wrote:
“But companies that try to shut down critics, with personal attacks, are wrong. Startups that do it are worse than wrong, they’re doomed.”
The doomed start-up: Mahalo (foiunded by Jason Calacanis) The shutdown critic: Dave Winer The story: Dave and Jason Calacanis (follow-up to the “Gnow Gnews from GnomeDex” story arc).
November 14th, 2007 at 9:43 pm
For some people a blog is like a voodoo doll… you can use it to harm people that you feel harmed you. You just gotta believe to make it work… or gather a large group of blind followers.