#e2conf is just a couple of weeks away. I'm here to offer some sizzling predictions and probing questions for the conference to come.

I see in our future:

• a wild launch of marketing zazz and thinly veiled insults regarding who and who does not, in fact, get 'it'. whatever 'it' may be
• a stinging blog post about how wrong we all are, how vendors are barking up the wrong tree, how consultants and analysts are missing the boat, how this daffy work we're doing has already been done under another moniker. we'll all rubberneck, RT, and talk about it for days
• a sustained cry that the vendor voice is too loud, that we're all reconsidering whether we'll come to the next conference
• a boutique consultancy/vendor/analyst will change the name of a common viewpoint, resource, service, product pronounce it a brand new epiphany, one that will clearly change the world in a way it couldn't with another name. we will all believe it
• a stunned crop of first timers who aren't used to seeing people hug at conferences will be stunned
• people first! now lets talk about seats and integration. you know, just to get it out of the way
• some sassy late night tweeting that may disappear from the stream by morning. be sure to get them while they're hot hot hot
• a flow of snarky conference blog posts... some may in fact appear before the conference... you may in fact be reading one this very moment 

And finally, I'm dying to know: 

• who will be the first vendor/analyst/consultant(s) to take the heat from the Statler & Waldorf that is Twitter?
• who's demo will fail spectacularly? 
• which party will be the most off the hookest? 
• will the wifi work? 
• will there be enough power for all of @elsua's gear? 
• will I sleep at all that week?
• why can't I write a blog post that isn't a list? 

Despite my tone, I'm stoked. E2 is my best chance to get more than 140's depth, catch up face to face with folks who're steeped in this work, and find out what I don't know. 

I hope to see you there.  

*for those who may not know my sense of humor, this is indeed humor. roll with it. 

Image credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Carnac.jpg

Headed off to #e2conf  in the morning. Thrilled to get back to the Bay Area as it's one of my favorite places in the world. Also thrilled to reconnect with everyone, and finally get to meet a few folks I've not yet met in the flesh.

I'm looking forward to participating the 2.0 Adoption Council's Black Belt Workshop on Monday. Hope you'll join us if you're there. When we began creating the workshop for June's Boston #e2conf I asked that we created the session I wish I could have attended as a new practitioner in 2007. I think we did that. This time, as I put together my material, I marveled at how much clearer the story is for practitioners. Community Management is maturing inside the enterprise and clarity around different types of community is solidifying. Governance, education and change management are all clearer stories with trucks full of case study and best practice. The fact that HR will have such a prominent voice this year is telling. We're getting it. Slowly, because we're human, but we're getting it.

The tools are still evolving and I believe we're chipping away at how they reflect and respect the depth of human business interaction. I've seen and heard about some fantastic things to come. Many point to a stronger focus on social psychology, user experience and measurable enterprise impact.

We're evolving slowly (it's how it's done after all) and it's exciting to see eyes continue to open. Regardless of where you see yourself across the spectrum, we're further than we were even six months ago. I'm eager to get a fresh pulse check next week.

If you'd like to connect you can find me at my sessions either in the Workshop, or as part of the Community Management track session: Community Managers: Why Do You Need Them and What Do They Do?  with my friend, "Madam Director", Claire Flanagan, and my newest Community Management cohort, Erica Kuhl. You can always hit me up on Twitter @meganmurray if you want to say hello.

There are some great pre-conference write ups out there that will help you plan your experience, be sure to take a look:

Strong Customer Showing at Enterprise 2.0 Conference - Sameer Patel

US Enterprise 2.0 Conference West Coast Edition Next Week - Oliver Marks

A Packed Agenda on HR Collaborative Technologies and SocialCRM at Enterprise 2.0 Conference Santa Clara - Rawn Shah

Finally, welcome to the new blog. If you see anything buggy please let me know!

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?