Defrag Blog

The smell of bacon is in the kitchen, there’s a deck being built in the back yard, and I awoke this morning with big thoughts in my head.

I’ve been contemplating the different formats of conferences for the past week or so - all with the goal of doing something “big” around Defrag. I don’t just want to have another conference, I want to effect a change in *something.*

Partly, that means that I don’t want Defrag focused solely on the here and now. Frankly, there’s enough of that in the conference world. Call it the “case study” model for conferences. Not to say it’s a bad thing - it’s just a different thing: find a pain point or rising need in the enterprise, tap the “vendor market” around that need, put successful case studies on stage to attract the folks that are right at the point of adoption (or buying) - and there ya go - great conference business. One problem: these conferences never A) last very long or B) doing any really “BIG” thinking.

Let me stop and be PERFECTLY CLEAR: I am not putting the “case study model” of conferences down. Hell, I helped build, run and sell one (Digital ID World) - and, as a business model that’s tied to a point on the IT adoption curve — it’s about as good as it gets. You might even get lucky and help the industry move forward a bit. Bottom line: more power to them. Please have at it.

But I’m realizing the “case study” model is not what I want out of Defrag. That’s not to say that I want Defrag to be some useless, pie in the sky, talking heads talking to each other mish mash of crap. I don’t. What I want is for Defrag to take a longer view (what I mean by “big thoughts”), to foster a sense of history and to think in 3, 5, 7, 10 year time frames, not in terms of IT budget requests for 2009.

The irony is that I think the really valuable “relationships” that can be had at case study conferences rise to the top at the kind of show I want Defrag to be. They become real relationships that span years, not contracts.

I don’t think Defrag is there yet - but I’m pushing with all of my might to move it closer this year. Practically, that means I’m focused on the agenda in ways I’ve never been before (energy wise). It also means I’m looking for the change I can effect. I don’t know what that is yet. It’s not a change in the “conference industry” - it’s a change Defrag can significantly move forward through something we do at the conference. Maybe it takes us 3 years. I don’t care. That’s actually kind of the point.

I want to “differentiate” by truly being different. By getting above the noise, while still adding real, tangible and challenging value to the everyday realm. You shouldn’t come to Defrag to head-nod in agreement with all of your pals around social media platitudes. You should come to Defrag to be challenged. To get mentally tired (yes, tired); to think about disparate topic areas that strangely seem to relate to what you’re working on.

I don’t want to be in this for the short haul. I don’t want to do 7 figures in revenue and sell Defrag to a media company (been there, done that). I want to look back in 5 years and be proud of what we’ve done together. I think that 5 years from now, we’ll all be different people. I think we’ll be in a tech industry that was a source of refuge from an economy that probably won’t see more than 2% GDP growth in that timeframe.

Yea Yea a lot of community cheerleading, I know. I don’t know what to say. I’m one guy, sitting here on July 5th in Belleville, Illinois, thinking that innovation is what matters — not sniping with competitors, not focusing on salaries and hiring, and not getting so wrapped up in the here and now that you never stick your head up above the successful case study to consider what things you might actually need to think about.

Call me crazy, but I think Defrag’s gonna rock. And I’m gonna spend the next 4 months convincing you that that is the case.