BigHook 2000: The Network We Want

What

David S. Isenberg has invited some of the SMARTest people he knows to think about these questions with him for a weekend of dialog, interaction, real-time formulation, active questioning and collegial thinking-together.

Here's why Isenberg calls this weekend BigHook . . .

Who

BigHook2000 will be co-created by some 50 specially selected SMART People, including:

Scott Bradner, former chair of the IPv6 working group, and current Area Co-Director of the IETF Transport Area
Douglass Carmichael, systems thinker and organizational psychologist, president of Shakespeare & Tao Consulting, and co-producer of one of the first networked group conferencing products
Lawrence Lessig, author of "Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace," former Special Master in the Microsoft anti-trust trial
Tom Petzinger, founder of LaunchCyte, author of "The New Pioneers" and former Wall Street Journal columnist
David P. Reed, co-author of "End-to-End System Design" 1981), which is the original Stupid Network paper
Bill St. Arnaud, network architect for CANARIE, the national research network of Canada
David Weinberger, perpetrator of "Journal of the Hyperlinked Organization", co-author of The Cluetrain Manifesto

In addition, I have engaged the services of Joe Sterling, an inspired scribe who has a genius for capturing the flow of a conversation in words, shapes and pictures. And Bob Kostelak, a former Opportunity Discovery Department colleague will serve as facilitator to make sure that the discussion becomes all that it can be.

Here's a list of BigHook participants we currently expect . . .

When

The conversation will convene Friday afternoon, September 22, 2000 and it will last until Sunday afternoon, September 24.

THE AGENDA will consist of five sessions, spread from Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon, with plenty of time for informal conversation facilitated by good food, good music and such oceanfront activities as late September on Cape Cod affords.

Where

Folks will gather at the awesome Airplane House in Woods Hole, Massachusetts.

There's more information available on Woods Hole here . . .

Here's how to get to Woods Hole . . .

Why: A Different Kind of Communications Conference

Most communications networking conferences these days focus on the networks we already have and how to make them better, on emerging e-commerce and business models, and on issues like privacy and intellectual property. But I'd like to move beyond talking about how to squeeze more bits through retrofitted network architectures, about B2B and Bricks-n-Clicks, and about the problems that these almost-old businesses and technologies have already put under our noses.

I propose that we pause in our headlong rush to get networked, stand back and breathe, expand the vision, appreciate the scene in its context, and envision where we might want to go tomorrow.

So let's make this weekend different. Let's discuss ideals: what kinds of networks we want, what their properties should be, what their business and social implications could be, and how we could bring the best aspects to realization.

At most conferences, the formal presentations are not the main event. The real action takes place in collegial conversations in the hallways, by the pool, over meals, etc., far from the prepared, self-interested, marketing-oriented remarks on the stage.

So on this weekend, I propose that we keep "presentations" as brief as possible, and use them only to set the stage and context. In addition, everybody will get one "chip" when they register, worth five minutes of floor time, which they can "play" at any point (except during somebody else's five minutes.)

Here's another way to frame these issues . . .

How

IMPORTANT: Please note that your invitation means that I'm inviting *you*personally.* The Airplane House only holds 50 people. So I'm hand-selecting invitees from the SMART List. I'm inviting people who not only can think deeply and express themselves clearly, but also who can listen openly and expand their viewpoints. Therefore, your invitation is not transferable.

We're overbooked at this time. If you're not confirmed yet, we can put you on the waiting list in the event of a cancellation. If you'd like to be on the waiting list, please fill out the APPLICATION TO ATTEND BIGHOOK2000. If we have an opening for you, the fee will be $2000, but don't worry about this unless we find you a seat.

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Date page last modified: October 16, 2001