going solo – Page 2 – Climb to the Stars

Lots of Going Solo News [en]

[fr] Des nouvelles de Going Solo. Plein de nouveau! Mais pas le courage d'écrire en français. Au pire, filez sur la page presse où vous trouverez de la documentation en français au sujet de la conférence.

Gosh, I can’t remember when I posted the last Going Solo update on this blog. The conference is in less than a week! I can’t believe it.

You should really, really, really subscribe to the [Going Solo blog](http://going-solo.net) to keep up with what’s going on on that front, or [sign up for the newsletter](http://groups.google.com/group/going-solo-news) if you’d rather get an e-mail every now and again.

Yes, [Going Solo finally has a newsletter](http://going-solo.net/2008/04/30/going-solo-has-a-newsletter/)! And [posters](http://going-solo.net/2008/05/03/more-cutting-edge-promotion-tools-posters/)! And [an agenda](http://going-solo.net/programme), [speaker interviews](http://going-solo.net/2008/05/01/interviews-of-going-solo-speakers-by-smallbizpod/), a [bunch of great sponsors and partners](http://going-solo.net/sponsors) (attendees will have a chance to [win a FreshBooks Shuttle Bus package](http://going-solo.net/2008/05/08/freshbooks-win-a-free-shuttle-bus-package/), [get MOO goodies](http://going-solo.net/2008/05/09/moo-goodies-for-everyone/), and even [see men in white](http://going-solo.net/2008/05/03/media-partner-the-next-web/). If you’re having trouble keeping track of where to find Going Solo online, [this round-up post](http://going-solo.net/2008/05/04/going-solo-all-over-the-place/) should help you.

Oh, and we have [pre-conference and post-conference events organized](http://going-solo.net/2008/05/09/going-solo-off-programme-is-on/), quite a bit of bandwidth at the venue (wifi of course), and we’re all set to [film the sessions](http://going-solo.net/2008/05/09/videos-online-with-dailymotion-and-taxi-pub/) on the big day.

Phew. What am I missing? Oh yes, we’re going to be able to keep [registration open](http://going-solo.net/registration) this week (the kind people at the Albatros-Navigation are flexible enough to allow us to do that). I need to write a note about that on the Going Solo blog. And we have a [press page](http://going-solo.net/press) where you can download shiny PDFs both in French and English.

Funnily, my stress levels are going down these days. I mean, we’re almost all set, aren’t we? I might bite my tongue for saying that these next days, though…

Google Groups Pain in the Neck [en]

[fr] Google Groups trouve qu'il n'est pas raisonnable de vouloir ajouter plus d'une dizaine de personnes à la fois à une newsletter nouvellement créée.

I’ve used Google Groups to set up a [newsletter for Going Solo](http://going-solo.net/2008/04/30/going-solo-has-a-newsletter/).

[Here it is](http://groups.google.com/group/going-solo-news/), with added proof (if needed) of my hopeless lack of design sense.

When I set up the group, I did what most normal newsletter creators would do: went through my contacts to invite those who might be interested in joining. I selected 30 or so people to start with.

My action triggered a flag for review, as I might be a potential spammer:

> **Your request to invite X new members has been flagged for review by our staff.**

>In order to protect our members from unsolicited email, Google manually reviews invite requests which meet various criteria. Your request will not be reviewed unless you provide us with more information in the form below. Reviews generally take 1 – 2 business days.

>Please provide an explanation for where these new members come from and why they would want to be part of your group. Note that Google takes a very dim view of Spam. The people you invite must know you and be expecting your message. If they complain, you will be banned from our service and your group will be deleted.

Great.

Well, I wrote up an explanation, saying I was setting up this newsletter so that people could stay informed about [Going Solo](http://going-solo.net/) ([registration](http://going-solo.net/registration/) is closing soon btw), and that I was going through my address book to let people know about it.

Anything wrong with that, in your opinion? I think not, and Google obviously didn’t think there was anything wrong either, because they let my invitations go through after a few hours.

**BUT.**

Now, each time I invite even **one single person**, my request is flagged.

What a pain! I’m going to be inviting people many times a day over the next week, as I dig out e-mail addresses. And obviously, just announcing the existence of the newsletter is not enough to get people to sign up — ever heard of lower the barrier to entry? If I’m creating this newsletter, it’s because I’m finally coming to my senses (!) and realising that not everybody [follows Twitter](http://going-solo.net/twitter), [subscribes to blogs](http://going-solo.net), hangs out on [Facebook](http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=8828618221) or [upcoming](http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/407911/), and that *good ol’ e-mail* still has some good days before it when it comes to getting information out to people.

I am really annoyed at Google Groups for making this so difficult. Shouldn’t there be a way for me to get the limit “lifted” for my group, by offering proof I’m not a nasty spammer, but a businesswoman (OMG!) who is very much aware that she will very quickly use up her social capital if she spams her network with irrelevant stuff? And therefore, that I actually *need* to send out invites to a few hundred people?

Also, look at this form:

Don’t you think that “e-mail addresses” field invites a reasonably large number of addresses?

I went through the help, and it wasn’t very encouraging, but I did learn a few useful things:

– [the “flagging limit” seems to be **10** invites at a time](http://groups.google.com/group/Managing-Your-Group/msg/034a807378fbdfd5) (talk about being unreasonably low for newsletters, bound to trigger TONS of false positives)
– you can [create a Google Groups account easily](https://www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount) even with a non-Gmail address (I think I had grief with this last year when I was struggling with Google Groups not wanting to send e-mail to the client I was setting up the discussion list for)
– messages from staff in the relevant threads seem to focus on [filling in the fields](http://groups.google.com/group/Managing-Your-Group/msg/d8efc2db78fc1502), which I’ve been doing, of course
– I’m not alone in thinking the [language Google uses for the warning message is a bit over the top](http://groups.google.com/group/Managing-Your-Group/browse_thread/thread/b5d34348c034b6e9), particularly given the number of false positives their low trigger limit is going to create (and the fact there is no warning that such a limit exists when you fill in the [**huge** field for e-mail addresses to invite](http://www.flickr.com/photos/bunny/2456715554/))
– [I’m not alone.](http://groups.google.com/group/Managing-Your-Group/browse_thread/thread/eca163d042772868/31512ccb7cb93d80?lnk=gst&q=)
– There doesn’t seem to be an official Google Groups blog.

So, please. If you have friends working on Google Groups, please draw their attention to this post and issue. It’s a bloody pain in the neck.

Oh yeah — and [please sign up for the newsletter](groups.google.com/group/going-solo-news/subscribe). I’m going to have trouble inviting you 😉 — [email protected] also works.

Interviewed About Multilingualism by Andrea Vascellari [en]

[fr] Une interview qui date de novembre, mais que je ne regarde qu'aujourd'hui (à ma grande honte). Andrea Vascellari m'a attrapée à Berlin lors de Web2.0Expo, et m'a interviewée sur les questions de multilinguisme en ligne que j'affectionne. Il a ajouté au début une petite partie sur Going Solo, donc si vous avez déjà vu mon discours donné à LIFT, sautez sans arrière-pensée les premières trois minutes de la vidéo. La suite est nouvelle, je vous rassure!

At Web2.0Expo in Berlin, last November, I met [Andrea Vascellari](http://media.vascellari.com/?page_id=2). He’s Italian, lives in Finland, and does a regular video podcast on [Vascellari Media Channel — VMC](http://media.vascellari.com/). I was [speaking on multilingualism at Web2Open](http://climbtothestars.org/archives/2007/11/05/reminder-speaking-tuesday-at-web2open-berlin/), so we sat down in a corridor (we thought it would be nice and quiet, but we picked a spot just near… the loo/bathroom/restroom/toilets) for a little chat on the topic of [languages online](/focus/multilingual).

Upon editing, Andrea added a few words about [Going Solo](http://going-solo.net) and inserted my [speech](http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8270350768335569204) about it — so if you already saw [the LIFT08 speech](http://climbtothestars.org/archives/2008/02/07/lift08-my-going-solo-open-stage-speech/), feel free to skip the first 3-4 minutes. There’s a whole bunch of new material waiting for you after it.

[VMC #30, where Andrea introduces Going Solo and makes me talk about multilingualism online](http://media.vascellari.com/?p=46). Andrea clearly knows the art of making his guest look good — thanks a lot!

Lunch at Seesmic [en]

[fr] Apparition dans le Seesmic du Jour suite à mon passage dans les bureaux de la startup de Loïc Le Meur hier. Je passe les commentaires sur mon accent vaudois... 😉

I was invited to drop in at the [Seesmic](http://seesmic.com/) offices yesterday for lunch and a chat. Lunch was really nice — sushi in a place where you can tell the chef to serve you what he wants. My dream come true! We need more restaurants like that. Where we don’t need to choose what we eat.

But anyway. Over lunch, Loïc was mentioning that his e-mail had become unmanageable, and that the only way he actually managed to deal with “stuff” was to do things immediately, when he thought of them. There’s something to be said for that — I’ve been doing it more and more with e-mail myself. Anyway, poor Loïc seemed swamped (and Vinvin chimed in with similar feelings), so I asked if they’d heard of/read [Getting Things Done](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getting_Things_Done). Yes, they’d heard about it, but had never really investigated.

I heard about GTD for a year before actually heading over to [43 Folders](http://www.43folders.com/), reading up, and ordering the book. Many people had sung the praises of Getting Things Done to me, but I kept thinking “just another over-hyped magical self-help productivity solve-all-your-problems snake-oil method”. I guess one person too much told me about it, and once I read the book, I really kicked myself for not doing it earlier. [It’s changed my life](http://climbtothestars.org/archives/2007/03/11/getting-things-done-its-just-about-stress/), even though I keep falling off the GTD wagon — but one nice thing about it is that it’s a *forgiving* system.

It takes a certain amount of commitment to learn and get on (if you’re not commited enough to read the book, fuggedaboudit), but once it’s in place, it’s not that hard to get back on when you fall off. In my opinion, it can also be beneficial even if [imperfectly implemented](http://climbtothestars.org/archives/2006/08/21/bridging-the-gap-between-me-and-orthodox-gtd/) (which is my case: I have an overflowing inbox, my lists aren’t up-to-date, and I never really managed to get the daily/weekly/monthly review thing going — but I strive towards that).

So anyway, Loïc immediately decided he was going to have me talk about GTD on the [daily Loic.tv show](http://www.loic.tv/). Here we are, then, me trying to actually get some information across (not easy with the two French clowns) in [Seesmic du Jour 107](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MwGxSFLeLU):

I got to say a few words about [Going Solo](http://going-solo.net) too, which was nice 🙂

Unfortunately they left out the bit where I hit Loïc on the head with my teaspoon, and nearly whacked him with my MacBook. He spent his whole time interrupting me, and then complaining that I wasn’t saying anything! I actually got him to leave the table so I could say a few words about Going Solo with a reasonably straight face…

Thanks for the invitation!

Marketers and Salespeople: Agents for Freelancers? [en]

[fr] Discussion à SXSW avec mon ami Thomas Vanderwal: existe-t-il des agents pour freelances/consultants? Je rencontre beaucoup d'indépendants (en plus de moi) qui ne se sentent pas à leur aise dans les négociations "commerciales" (préciser le mandat, le salaire, les conditions). Serait-il possible de déléguer cette partie-là du travail à un agent, contre commission, comme cela se fait dans le show-biz, ou comme on le fait avec un "book agent" ou un "speaking agent"?

Qu'en pensez-vous? Est-ce que ça existe?

Even though I didn’t play the social butterfly at SXSW, I had quite a few nice and interesting hallway conversations with friends I bumped into along the way (the way to where…? that’s another question). Hanging out at my usual haunt [the lego pit](http://flickr.com/photos/bunny/sets/72157604100202056/), I had a chat with my friend [Thomas Vanderwal](http://www.vanderwal.net/random/) about [Going Solo](http://going-solo.net) (of course) and the highs and lows of freelancing.

One of the things that came up in the conversation was how much difficulty we had with the actual “sales” part of our job as consultants. Getting clients interested and finding contacts is not much of a problem. Convincing people we have something to offer and that we’re the right person “for the job” isn’t either. What is a bigger problem is actually negotiating the terms of the agreement, closing the deal, discussing financials. Sales. Selling. Personally, I consider that I really suck at that, and many of my freelancer friends have said the same to me.

Does this remind you of anything? It should. Head over to read [Going Solo: A Few Words Of Advice](http://www.freshbooks.com/blog/2006/09/08/going-solo-a-few-words-of-advice/) on the [Freshbooks blog](http://www.freshbooks.com/blog/).

[Stowe Boyd](http://stoweboyd.com) wrote this nearly two years ago, and it’s been one of the starting points behind developing the [programme for Going Solo](http://going-solo.net/programme/) (yes, he’ll be speaking about this too). I also mentioned it in my [talk about being a blogging consultant](http://climbtothestars.org/archives/2007/11/12/being-a-blogging-consultant/) at the end of last year. I’m telling you this to emphasize how much of an eye-opener Stowe’s vision of freelancing has been to me. To summarize very briefly, the skills one needs to be a successful soloist fall in three categories:

– doing the work
– networking/marketing
– selling/business/money

So here we are. People who decide to go freelance, like me, are usually (hopefully) good at doing the work, good enough at marketing/networking, or they probably wouldn’t think about going solo in the first place.

And so, talking with Thomas, here’s the bright idea that came up (I honestly can’t remember which of us articulated it first): there are book agents, speaking agents, modelling agents — where are the freelancer/consultant agents? Where are the people who have strong selling skills, who will step in to negotiate contracts for us once we have got the client interested, who understand what we do and believe in it? I’d gladly give a percentage of what I earn for this kind of service.

There are communities out there for freelancers, but they seem to always focus also on “finding clients”. One always needs more leads, of course — but that’s not really the part of the job I need to delegate. I actually enjoy the networking/marketing part of my job. They also seem to have a pool of “agents”, and from the outside it doesn’t seem clear how personalized the service will be.

Is there anybody out there who does this? Do you think this kind of relationship can work? As somebody who would hire freelance consultants/workers, how would you feel about negotiating with an agent rather than the person you’re hiring directly?

Thinking About The Next Going Far Events [en]

[fr] Alors que je commence à penser aux conférences que j'organiserai après Going Solo, je me retrouve saisie par l'angoisse de la transparence. Même si je prêche l'authenticité et la transparence à mes clients, cela ne m'empêche pas d'être moi aussi sujette à la crainte d'en dire trop.

Je commence aussi à sentir le besoin de véritablement créer une entreprise. Il y a trop de travail pour moi seule. Je perçois quel devra être le profil de mon/mes associés: bon vendeur (je suis une bonne marketeuse, mais pas très douée pour clore et vendre), bon dans l'opérationnel, et qui ne rechigne pas aux tâches administratives. Il y en a probablement pour plus d'une personne, là. M'enfin, je réfléchis.

There hasn’t been much going on here, I have to admit, as I decided to postpone the actual incorporation of Going Far until Going Solo was off the ground. So, head over there (if that’s not where you’re coming from) to catch up, if necessary.

As Going Solo is taking shape, I’m really awed by how much support and how many positive responses and comments I’ve received, both from old friends and new contacts. It feels good to not be the only person to believe in what I’m doing. I have a great team of advisers, too, which has taken shape over these last months.

As I start thinking about the next events I want to organize, I find myself facing (once more) what I’m going to name “The Angst of Transparency”. Although I’m 100% sold on the idea of being transparent (the Cluetrain kool-aid and 8 years of blogging) I still find myself unsure about how much to say when business is at stake. It’s as if, when it came to myself and my own actions, I didn’t really believe what I was preaching to others. I find myself afraid, just like I sense others are afraid when I tell them transparency is the way to go. How transparent is too transparent?

I have a pretty good idea for what two (maybe three) of the next Going Far events are going to be. I’ve mentioned them in passing to a few people. I also have ideas for developing Going Solo, if the event on May 16th turns out to be the success it seems to be promising to be.

But I’m afraid to start blogging about this, on the one hand for fear of giving too much away and being overtaken (which in my right mind I find stupid), and on the other hand because it will set things in movement, and I’m already aware that there is not enough of me to deal with Going Solo itself — let alone get started on another two projects.

This is where I’m really starting to feel the need to create a company. I need other people on the boat with me. And I’m starting to see what kind of person/people I need to bring on board. I need a good salesperson. I’m good at marketing, but not so much at the actual selling/closing/getting the cash. I need somebody who’s good on the operational front, who actually gets things done, and doesn’t mind dealing with tasks like making sure people have paid, keeping track of what needs to be done when (that bit is project management, actually), and so on.

I’m not exactly sure how I’m going to go about finding that person or those people — but I guess having a clear “profile” in mind and making sure my advisers know what I’m looking for (and mentioning it here) is a good start. This isn’t a job ad, though. I’m far from there.

*Cross-posted from the Going Far blog.*

Stalling [en]

[fr] Trop à faire. 5 jours avant mon départ pour près de 4 semaines, et les priorités sont toutes conflictuelles. Aaaah! (Mais bon, je me connais, je vais m'en sortir.)

Gosh, I haven’t published in ages. Scary. I’m stalling. Too much to do, too little time, not sure where to start. Well, life is deciding for me, because I have 5 days left before departing on a nearly 4-week trip, and there is only so much one can do in 5 days. So, some news and some thoughts.

– [Going Solo](http://going-solo.net): things are good. 25% of tickets sold in less than a week. [Video of my speech](http://going-solo.net/2008/02/21/open-stage-speech-video-online/) finally made it online. Don’t miss [Early Bird price until March 16th](http://going-solo.net/2008/02/21/earlier-bird-is-gone-say-hello-to-early-bird/). In one word: [register](http://going-solo.net/register/). Reminder: stay up-to-date on Going Solo by subscribing to [the Going Solo blog](http://going-solo.net/) or the [Going Solo Twitter feed](http://twitter.com/goingsolo) — much better source of news than CTTS.
– 5 [talks/things](http://stephanie-booth.com/en/speaking/) in less than two weeks. A talk for [parents of teenagers](http://stephanie-booth.com/fr/conferences/) in neighbouring France Thursday evening. A session at [WebCamp SNP](http://webcamp.org/SocialNetworkPortability). A [panel to moderate](http://2008.blogtalk.net/programme/socialmediapanel) at BlogTalk. Co-hosting a [core conversation at SXSW](http://2008.sxsw.com/interactive/programming/panels_schedule/?action=show&id=IAP060453) and [moderating another panel](http://2008.sxsw.com/interactive/programming/panels_schedule/?action=show&id=IAP060434) (both [multilingual stuff](/focus/multilingual/)). I should blog about these more in detail. And more importantly, I have quite a bit of homework to do to prepare the four last ones. And I’m a bit anxious about how moderating panels will go — never done that before.
– travel: Cork (Ireland), Dallas-Austin (Texas), San Francisco. That means I need to sort some stuff out before I leave for nearly a month (clean the flat, do some paperwork, pay bills, see people). I’m going to have to pack <shudder> — and I still need to unpack. I’ll be in San Francisco for two weeks, so maybe I want to organise a dinner or something there. I’ll be distributing Going Solo moo cards all along my journey. I’m apprehensive about all this travel. I don’t want to go. I want to stay here, curled up on the sofa, with the cat purring next to me. But I’m looking forward to seeing people I like.
– work to do for Going Solo: not the least, unfortunately. Sort out the programme. Get back to all the people who sent in speaker proposals. Get sponsor/partner documentation and contracts sorted out so that the partners waiting in the lobby can be let in. Promote, promote. Worry about WiFi a bit more. Happily, video filming, venue set-up and design, and some offline promotion do not depend entirely on me. Prepare a “dossier de presse”. Finish rounding up media partners. Promote, promote.
– blogging: posts piling up in my head. About books I’ve read or am reading: The Paradox of Choice, A Perfect Mess (got a post brewing about GTD and messiness), and The Black Swan of course. Need more time to read. More time to write. Can’t keep up.
– misc: photos to upload, podcast to edit, other sites to update, e-mails to answer (I’m far from zero right now), plants to water, a life to live…

This roughly sums up where I’m at right now.

Time to Sign Up for Going Solo [en]

[fr] Ça va commencer à être le dernier moment de vous inscrire pour Going Solo, si vous voulez profiter du prix de lancement. Aussi le dernier moment pour en parler autour de vous! C'est possible d'acheter des billets plus tard, bien sûr (et ça fera plus de sous pour l'événement si vous vous enregistrez plus tard) -- mais bon, ce serait dommage de laisser passer le délai.

Je ne serai pas dans le coin pour vous le rappeler à nouveau (serai offline jusqu'à la fin du week-end), donc c'est maintenant entre vos mains. Si vous connaissez des communautés de freelancers qui peuvent être intéressées par l'info, ne vous gênez pas pour la communiquer plus loin. Il y a quelques bons articles en français couvrant Going Solo -- fouillez dans ma collection de liens ou bien sur Wikio.

…and [plug it](http://going-solo.net/support). Earlier Bird prices (300CHF) [end this week-end](http://going-solo.net/2008/02/14/only-a-few-more-earlier-bird-days-left/), I wouldn’t want you or your readers to miss them (well, I’ll get more $$ for the event if you [register](http://going-solo.net/registration/) after the deadline, but I’m thinking of you too, see).

I’m really happy about how this is going. Much [coverage](http://del.icio.us/steph/coverage+goingsolo) (in four languages so far! want to add yours?) and a very encouraging number of registrations.

I’m going to be offline from tonight to the end of this week-end, so I won’t be around to remind you that time is slipping away. It’s in your hands now! If you know of any freelancer community who might be interested in the news, *please* pass it on to them. I’ve spent my last three days actively promoting Going Solo all over the place (I should write a blog post about it, because I think it’s an interesting case study on how to do the whole “social media” stuff right — at least, I hope I’m doing it right!) and I’m just “out”.

Next thing I need to concentrate on is polishing up a press and partner package (pretty PDF with all the relevant information neatly tied up together). Next week, when I come back.

I’m now wondering why I’m posting this on CTTS rather than the [Going Solo blog](http://going-solo.net) — I should probably cross-post it later. Opinions on that welcome. (I’m again stuck in a “where do I blog this?” phase).

Going Solo Registration Open! [en]

[fr] Il est maintenant possible de s'enregistrer pour la conférence Going Solo, le 16 mai à Lausanne! N'attendez pas, et profitez du prix spécial durant la première semaine de mise en vente. (On veut encourager les gens à s'inscrire tôt, donc tous les moyens sont bons, vous voyez ;-)).

Here we are… the moment everybody (I hope!) was waiting for: [Registration](http://going-solo.net/registration/) for Going Solo is now [open](http://going-solo.net/2008/02/11/registration-open/), with a special discount for everybody during this first week: 100 CHF off the Early Bird price!

You can head straight to the [registration form](https://goingfar.expectnation.com/goingsolo/public/register/order/) if you don’t want to lose a second (which I’m sure you don’t).

Questions? You’ll probably find the answers on the [Going Solo site](http://going-solo.net). If you don’t, leave a comment somewhere and I’ll do my best to answer!

From LIFT06 to LIFT08 [en]

[fr] Un petit coup d'oeil sur les différences majeures entre mon expérience de LIFT06 et de LIFT08, à deux ans d'écart.

As I said in my [open stage speech](http://climbtothestars.org/archives/2008/02/07/lift08-my-going-solo-open-stage-speech/), two years (and a few days) ago I was sitting in the CICG conference hall, but things were very different from today. [LIFT06](http://www.liftconference.com/2006/) was, if I remember correctly, my second conference. I’d been to [BlogTalk2](http://2004.blogtalk.net/) in 2004 and met a few people there ([live-blogging already!](http://climbtothestars.org/archives/2004/07/08/taking-collaborative-notes-at-blogtalk/)). So, in 2006, there were very few people at the conference which I had actually met. I knew Lee Bryant. I knew Martin Röll. I knew Laurent Haug. I knew [Björn Ognibeni](http://www.ognibeni.de/) (I *think* he was at LIFT06, but couldn’t swear it). I knew a few local bloggers, and some people from online. (My memory is a bit fuzzy.) But most of the people who make up my *network* (both online and offline, personal and professional) were not part of my world yet.

LIFT06 is where I met [Robert Scoble](http://scobleizer.com), [Bruno Giussani](http://lunchoverip.com), [David Galipeau](http://galipeau.com), [Euan Semple](http://), [Hugh McLeod](http://gapingvoid.com), and a bunch of others. It’s where I got to know [Anne Dominique Mayor](http://annedominique.wordpress.com/) (we both sat down smack in front of Robert Scoble by pure chance, because we were going for power sockets — that’s how I met him), and she has since then become part of my close circle of friends. LIFT06 felt a bit [like San Francisco felt a year later](http://climbtothestars.org/archives/2007/01/12/im-really-liking-san-francisco/): my online world had suddenly materialized offline.

Retrospectively, I’d say that in 2006, I was introduced to people, but that today, in 2008, it is people who introduce themselves to me. It’s not as clear-cut, of course, but it’s the general trend.

At LIFT08, I’ve lost count of the people present whom I’ve already met. There are almost too many for me to say hello to each one. I’m holding a workshop, and giving an open stage speech, so I’m much more public — more people know me than I know them.

It’s a bit scary. I don’t know who I want to spend my time with anymore, for one (old friends? new, unknown people?) — and my brain just can’t keep up. I forget who I’ve met. I try giving [Going Solo](http://going-solo.net) moo cards to old friends more than once. I feel like I’ve become a networking automaton, and I don’t like it. I’m not good at faking it, I’d rather tell people that I’m over-socialized and that I have trouble processing all this.

Tag: going solo

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