Reflections from Kinnernet USA 2009
Last weekend I participated at the first ever Kinnernet USA, an un-conference, inspired by Tim O’Reilly’s foo camp, that was organized by Jeff Pulver and Yossi Vardi. The camp was at the beautiful Bolger Center at Potomoc MD and it brought together about 100 people who came from all over the US, Europe and Israel to interact, discuss, create, play (music and games) and share thoughts and ideas.
This was my 3rd Kinnernet (first two were the “original” ones in Israel). It was very enjoyable & also different than the Israeli version. Kinnernet USA had less of the wild outdoors activities Kinnernet is known for like drag racing, robotics, fireworks, water activities and others and there was more focus on workshops & discussions. Similarities included tons of food, very little sleep, very funny Eggstravaganza, extremely creative Gadgethon (winners were a computer powered sand table and Zoozbeat created by the very talented Gil Weinberg), Midnight Cooking Madness (I think it was the best ever) and fun jam sessions.
The biggest evidence to how different this Kinnernet was compared to its Israeli version could be found in the gaming section. The game room, typically the most crowded place 24×7, was well equipped with plenty of gaming consoles, large screens and massive sound systems. However, it remained empty most of the time. At the same time, plenty of folks played all night long, sessions of Werewolf games thanks to Jimmy Wales who initiated this. Not only that, Werewolf has made it to future Kinnernet’s official playlist and got Yossi’s blessing.
Overall, it was a very fun weekend as you can see in some of the photos I shot and in the videos uploaded to qik here.
And here’s the presentation I gave at the opening ceremony. Named “Kinnernet For Dummies”, it is a quick start guide for newbies done using photos from past Kinnernets.
