I have tons of goals for Defrag. Being an OCD sales-freak, I track my revenue on nearly a minute by minute basis (and have corresponding goals). But those “hard numbers” goals aren’t my big, meta-goals for Defrag. My “meta-goals” are actually non-numerical in nature; derived from two conference experiences that set the bar for me for Defrag.
The first was PC Forum (Esther Dyson’s long running, now defunct, forever the best, tech conference). I went to PC Forum a couple of times, but I’ll never forget my first time there — when I found myself ordering a drink with Jeff Bezos standing on my right and Tony Scott (then CTO of General Motors) standing on my left. I felt like I was amidst royalty. That conference (the feel, the attendees, the way Esther and Daphne Kis ran it, etc) was the pinnacle for me. In fact, it still is.
The second was the first Web 2.0 Summit. There was an excitement in the air (around the topic); the idea that we were all on to something “brand new” — it’s hard to beat that kind of atmosphere.
I’ve received tons of suggestions over the years from folks that were at those events about how to replicate them. They range from “move Defrag to a super-exclusive resort” (PC Forum was at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess – where rooms were around $600 per night) to “make Defrag invite only” (PC Forum started as invite only, and became super-exclusive [and not cheap]). I’m not ready to go down the road of either of those suggestions, but that doesn’t mean I don’t wanna still achieve my meta-goals.
Those meta-goal visions are what I keep in my head as I confirm keynoters and sessions for this year’s conference. In other words, I’m setting the bar HIGH. I want someone who was me in my late 20’s/early 30’s standing at the Defrag evening reception thinking, “can you BELIEVE who’s here?” I want to stun. I want to amaze. I want to impress. I want Defrag year 4 to make Defrag year’s 1-3 look silly in comparison.
I guess that’s why they call it a “goal.”
(P.S. Join Us.)
