The Enterprise 2.0 Conferences. Probably my favorite professional events. My gaggle of imaginary friends (read: colleagues scattered across the globe) turn into real live human beings vs. quippy avatars. We make ourselves clear; we bond, change and fortify opinions about one another, our theories and our products. We gather new connections and information. We do the schmooze and make alliances. We influence one another in an effort to improve our businesses, the organizations we support, or the world itself. Of course some just come because they’ve been told to, or better yet, because it’s fun. It’s all spectrum. For many of us connection and exchange are the meat of a conference experience. I think  UBM TechWeb, Steve Wylie and the Advisory Board get this. They’ve demonstrated their understanding in the evolution of the conference over the few short years of its existence. #e2conf has matured in step with the industry it serves. It has bragging rights to being the best at focusing on the conversations I need to inform my work, and to evolve as a delivering practitioner.

"Image courtesy of Alex Dunne"

Conferences, not unlike our E20 efforts, struggle to balance the expectations of attendees with those of the sponsors. I have no qualms with sponsor keynotes when they are balanced with bigger picture messages from the likes of JP (and hopefully soon, Euan … plugging away Steve, can't help it). I understand that sponsors value speaking as a way to improve impact and reach… not to mention the percentage of attendees that wouldn’t walk an expo floor if paid to. I get that the logos I see represent vendors who've helped pay the bills and will vie for a chunk of my attention in return. That’s sort of how it works. Should there be more influencers, big thinkers, and actionable information in keynotes? Sure. Will this event evolve into a unconference totally driven by attendee need? Probably not. I’m OK with that. I in no way mean to imply naivete or poo poo the call for more authenticity in our experience. If you know anything about me, you know that I expect a lot from my vendors. I don’t suffer pitch well, but I love a good conversation about how you’ll change the world. We should find creative ways to introduce balance. What I’m driving at is that our whole notion of keynotes will evolve with time as we allow it to. I loved the DJ experience JP brought. The hecklers on Twitter who were yanked out of their comfort zone were equally entertaining, and I was impressed that JP was totally present in each of those activities in real time. No hackneyed script. Just channeling some honest ideas about humans and what we’re apt to struggle with in a way we may not have considered. That my friends is what those of us in the trenches, selling change to folks at desks, feel like we're doing much of the time… but that’s another post. The way we communicate in groups continues to evolve (live or through the ether). The flow of feedback will help usher that evolution along to the schedule of mind-blowing call-to-action keynotes we all crave. Vendors will evolve their messages as customers become more savvy (they’ve been doing it all along actually) and it won’t ever be enough for the audience. It’s the tension that moves us forward. With all this in mind I offer a question. Knowing that vendor sponsors will be on the bill, what would you like to hear them say? How would you like to hear them say it? If you could sit down one of this year’s keynotes and offer actionable feedback, what would it sound like?