My last post addressed the “meta” aspect of this year’s Defrag. But if all that you do is stay “in the meta,” you don’t get the full picture. The problem is that when a lot of people say “tactical” what they really mean is “case study.” And, while some case studies are wonderful, others really are just platitudes. The question becomes: how do you really get “in the weeds?”
There’s a wonderful creative tension that can be fostered by moving back and forth between extremely strategic and extremely tactical — and that’s what we’re aiming for with this year’s Defrag. Where the keynotes will explore the BIG topics, the breakout sessions are where I’m driving for insanely tactical. Think: “how to socialize your sales process in 3 steps”; “the 5 things to avoid when implementing a social media analytics platform”; “why homegrown tomatoes rock compared to store bought ones” — you get the idea. 
What we want is to expand the parameters of our collective thinking and then drive it home via things that can be done right now.
It sounds great, and it’s something a lot of conferences aim for — the proverbial “target often missed.” I’ll be working hard to see just how close we can get.
I should also note that because of the CloudCamp success we had at Glue, we’ll be having a Barcamp at Defrag as well. The indefatigable Ben Kepes will be organzing “Technology4Good” – an event focused on “using technology to bring about change for the good.”
Through this series of posts, I hope you’ve begun to get the sense that Defrag is just not your ordinary technology conference. And I hope you’ll choose to join us.
