Every once in a while, we're lucky enough to be in an environment where the world's simple facade can be peeled away and we can peer into the juicy center.
There are many layers to modern life. Take this week's conference at the MaRS center in Toronto for example...
Over 400 people came out to this particular event. It was the standard tech-conference demographic makeup. 90% male. Everyone holding several wired devices. Laptops. iPhones. Facial hair.
As attendees filtered into the room for the poorly named "mingling" session we sat in the back as people quietly took their seats and logged on.
Ten minutes before showtime, the room was full... but no one was talking. It was quiet enough that you could quite literally hear every single noise in the room... and then I realized it.... I looked around and watched as hundreds of fingers typed secret messages to one another.
I grabbed my seat at the front of the room and logged onto Twitter. Entered the proper hashtag... and suddenly it all made sense.
There was a conversation. It was just silent.
These quiet, poorly dressed introverts were actually all involved in a highly opinionated and visceral discussion amongst themselves. The mingle was in full effect. Having all these hypertechs in one room at one time did have the same conversation-catalyst effect as a nightclub. The power of proximity was clear.
One woman had sent me a message on Twitter before the event "looking forward to meeting you there, you won't be able to miss me!" The irony was thick.
#wtf
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