Wow! The turnout today was incredible… 38 people showed up at the “darrencamp” or “digital media holiday gathering” (depending on who you talk to) and it was fantastic! We overwhelmed the staff and patrons of Le Pain Quotidien but nevertheless, conversation flowed even moreso than the green tea and coffee.
The goal of today was to bring together a group of digital media mavens, finance finaglers, advertising gurus, technological wizards, and enduring entrepreneurs and talk about 2007 predictions in the digital world. After a brief introduction, we broke out into 2 main groups (seperated by Shreyas Pandit and David Honig) and spoke for an hour or so in our “trend groups.” Each larger group broke out into smaller sustainable conversations and topics ranged from mobile/wireless flat-fee pricing structures, consumer generated media consumption, RMTs/micropayments, web applications that are on the desktop, and other fascinating areas.
Prior to holding this holiday get together, I put together a spreadsheet which was debuted today. The goal of this sheet was to show what the blogosphere was predicting in 2004, 2005, 2006 and then for 2007. The spreadsheet is not the end-all and be-all of predictions and trends, but it’s certainly a starting point for any conversation. If you could not make the meeting today or would like a digital copy, drop me a note thru the comments section and I’ll gladly send you the .xls document. (If you did receive one today, I’d really appreciate feedback)
All in all, I thought it was pretty successful. Lots of extremely smart people in the room sharing their opinions always leads to interesting collaboration. I encourage anyone who was at the meeting to blog about the event and share your pictures… I certainly noticed a few cameras and cameraphones snapping photos.
I do not know the official title of this event, but if you’re looking for something quirky and short, lets officially name it:Â “darrencamp”
Also, I have received many requests to make the contact information of the attendees available but due to privacy and confidentiality, I’d rather you contact me for the direct contact information and I’ll gladly make the introduction you are seeking.
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December 28th, 2006 at 9:52 am
Sorry I couldn’t make it - I’d love a copy of the spreadsheet.
December 28th, 2006 at 10:09 am
Excellent gathering last night, Darren! One of the best networking opportunities that I’ve ever attended — great job! Thanks for everything
December 28th, 2006 at 10:39 am
Wish I could have made it. Please send me a copy of the excel file when you get a chance. thank you.
December 28th, 2006 at 10:53 am
Thanks so much, Darren — had a great time! And what a perfect choice of location. The Upper East Side really isn’t a problem for the average downtowner, despite your concern…just don’t start holding future darrencamps at Columbia, because that’s pushing it
December 28th, 2006 at 11:06 am
I wish I could have been there - next time! I’d love to see the spreadsheet - send one along - you know my addy.
December 28th, 2006 at 12:34 pm
[...] I’m an internet guy, but the web has nothing on physical interaction. Doesn’t even come close (well… it comes close but not close enough). Last night I attended “Darrencamp” on the Upper East Side section of Manhattan. [...]
December 29th, 2006 at 11:53 am
Unfortunately, couldn’t make it. Sounds like the event was a big success. I’d love to get a copy of the spreadsheet.
December 30th, 2006 at 2:09 pm
Darren,
Great gathering. I would love to receive a digital copy of the digital trends piece that you put together.
One thought: I’m wondering why many of the 2007 themes seem a little old or obvious. Possible explanations: 1. a lack of really new ideas floating around in the blogosphere; 2. many of the ideas are still in the “early adopter” stage even though I hear about them a lot; 3. something else.
I appreciate how you looked at both past and future predictions.
Alan
Alan
December 30th, 2006 at 6:35 pm
[...] Looking forward to an amazing 2007 and provoking many more conversations here. darrenCamp has emerged as well, and I look forward to holding more in 2007. I’m excited! Happy holidays, DJH [...]
January 1st, 2007 at 10:15 pm
[...] Over the past year, I have signed significant contracts with advertisers, raised over $17 million in venture funding, spoke across the world at marketing events, advised multiple startups on advertising and fundraising strategy, hosted a darrenCamp, and posted over 220 lengthy articles to this blog amongst many other things… but nothing this past year challenged my creativity as much as this past Friday night. For 1 hour, I was taken completely out of my comfort zone of entrepreneurship and marketing and was playing on a level playing field with two girls with a combined age of less than half my age. I had to think on my toes more than ever and thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity. It was amazing. I had received a box of Floam Critters for the holidays and we the three of us sat around the table (see the picture) and decided what we wanted to create. The older girl took the lead and decided to construct something and went straight at it… but the younger one need some guidance and totally relied on me to help create. I had no experience prior to this but for that moment, I was about to become the expert. [...]
January 4th, 2007 at 5:24 pm
I’d enjoy receiving a copy of the spreadsheet. You did a nice job of providing an overview of major trends from the past several years.
As for predictions, I’m confident a number of people who were there will turn the hyypotheses into reality.
Met a lot of really bright, engaged entrepreneurs, VCs and advertising gurus. One of the best investments of time I made in ‘06.
Not to mention the fact that your first-time event was Standing Room Only.
Kevin Heisler
ProofTheory