“Sub Optic – The Olympics of our Community”
By Fiona Beck Sub Optic is one of those conferences that, like the Olympics, has a sufficient gap between events to make it much anticipated. The 2007 conference was no exception. We had almost 700 attendees; up 15% on the last Sub Optic. This reflects more buoyant and positive industry conditions. Sub Optic is different; it’s the only conference I go to where I make sure I attend all the sessions. I think Sub Optic is a learning and networking experience unlike any other.
Sub Optic 2007 was hosted by Tyco Telecommunications in Baltimore, MD. The conference got off to a great start when Jaron Lanier provided his assessment of why video conferencing has fallen flat. It’s always fascinating to see someone, like Jaron, who is “out there”, a visionary, and who can also talk his socks off without any speech notes. As you’ll remember video conferencing started with a hiss and a roar, but has since dropped away dramatically. Jaron’s answer was that video conferencing does not permit the non-
verbal signals that are so important in face to face communication. Jaron certainly had some interesting ideas about how to capture some of those non-verbal signals and from there the conference was truly launched.
Like the last Sub Optic, our 2007 conference prominently featured the poster session. The poster session is truly coming into its own and gives people a chance to discuss their ideas with authors on a one on one basis in a more relaxed environment (this time with drinks!!)
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