Just saw this post by twitter pal JJ Toothman and had to share. I've been dormant here for a while because to be honest, blogging has become somewhat tedious for me anymore. Now that I am so deeply connected to the microblogging community in twitter, anything beyond 140 characters seems superfluous. Additionally, social media and marketing blogs have become tiresome for me. They seem to be all saying the same thing.

And that's part of what led to my conversation with JJ about the tech/social media conference gamut seeming to become the new Dead Show. If you've never been to a Dead Show, understand that seeing the Dead was started by the music but later housed by the community. Going to see the Dead was about seeing your friends at the next show. Oh yeah, and seeing the band. And a great tailgate. And that's kinda what all of these gnomeblogsocialmediapodbarcampinteractive's have become. A place to gather and see your friends, have a great tailgate and listen to the same songs (or in this case topics/sessions) you know so well by heart that you often karaoke them locally. And when you karaoke them, for the record, all your friends think you sound JUST like them!

Don't get me wrong - I think there's value to gain from conferencing, however, I think there may be even more value to gain by taking what you know and applying it outside the echochamber.

So while I'd love to go back "on tour" and hang with my friends on the SM party circuit (I'm imagining myself screaming "Twitter" instead of "Eyes" here, and I am scared), I'm being very selective of my SM conference attendance moving forward. For the most part, I'll stick to trading (tweets, not tapes) online.