1. I can't believe how big this conference got. Rich did a panel this morning - one of i think 6 panels going on simultaneously - and the room he was in (which was filled) was as big as many of the "main rooms" at most conferences.
2. Rich got some press for his comment that "maybe mass media was a temporary phenomenon resulting from the scarcity of information distribution." I think he might be right - or at the very least the definition of "mass" is to become much smaller.
3. Someone else on that panel made the analogy that today's bloggers are similar to many musicians out there - they do it because they have a passion for writing, not a desire to make a living from doing it. I think that's right as well. And that doesn't bode well for careers in journalism.
4. Chris mentioned at lunch how when we ponied up to be a conference sponsor for the first one of these conferences (three years ago), it was kind of a bet. It was right at the end of the dot.com nuclear winter and no one knew whether the conference would succeed. Obviously, it is now huge and that was a good bet.
5. Topix has come a long way in the past few years. We used to have the worst booth at these conferences - a shabby sign with a typo in it, and that's all. Now we have the full blown booth with street teams outside promoting the site. Pretty cool.
6. Web 2.0? Three years is a long time between release cycles. ;)
7. The Arrington hosted panel on the VC world was one of the more lively panels I've attended. Other moderators should take note and not be afraid to push the envelope a bit in these discussions.
8. Looking forward to seeing everyone at the St. Regis tonight for the Topix launch party!