Pop!Tech 2007: Continuous Partial Conversations: No Ordinary Moments … Or People

In my last post on Pop!Tech, I expressed the personal human impact the conference had on me – an extended and expansive whole body experience. Before delving into my more detailed notes of the event, I want to spend one more blog post – and more of my laptop battery power – on some [more] of the highlights.

I’d noted the high EQ (and IQ) of all the speakers and other participants at the conference. I think this was largely responsible for the fact that I did not have any ordinary conversations throughout the entire event … and I had lots of conversations. Whether sitting down for a meal, getting a drink, or even waiting in line for a bathroom, every conversation went deep almost immediately. I overheard occasional references to topics I typically consider rather superficial – e.g., sports (we were, of course, in Maine, which is Red Sox country, at a time the team is in the championships) and the weather (it did rain pretty hard for a period of time) – but nearly every conversation turned to matters of [more] significant import and impact at or near their very outset.

Andrew Zolli referred to Pop!Tech as a conversation, and the event was structured to allow some time for questions and comments from the audience after nearly every group of presentations. Several of the Q&A sessions had a very conversational feel to them … but all of them were, of course, constrained by time, and thus often seemed like partial conversations. When I combine these partial conversations with the partial conversations I had with people (offstage) at different times and places, what emerges for me is a notion of continuous partial conversation … perhaps akin to the continuous partial attention I heard – and wrote about – at Foo Camp.

I was reminded, repeatedly, of the notion of “no ordinary moments” articulated by Dan Millman in his book The Way of the Peaceful Warrior. There were, indeed, no ordinary moments, just as there were no ordinary conversations … and no ordinary conversation participants (otherwise known as people). In reflecting on this, I recognize that there really are no ordinary people – at Pop!Tech or elsewhere – however ordinary some people may seem at some times and places. In most times and places, I’m not willing to take the time to see past the superficial ordinariness I project onto most people. There was something special about the culture cultivated at Pop!Tech (I now see why Andrew refers to himself as the Pop!Tech curator rather than chairperson or organizer) that helped me – and perhaps others – take more time to appreciate the other people at the event. The people at Pop!Tech were, of course, special – and in many cases, especially those on stage, it was easier for me (and, I imagine, others) – to see that specialness, but I do believe everyone is special.

Ironically, or perhaps synchronistically, I was a bit slow to respond to Pop!Tech’s initial request for a bio to use on their speakers page (and my hastily taken and sent digital photo is not one of the better shots of me), so they composed one for me that I’d like to think is mostly on-target … and includes the following sentence:

Joe McCarthy thinks we all could take advantage of more opportunities to share valuable insights and experiences with each other.

Ahem … so once again, I find myself preaching what I want to practice. I just hope I can carry this perspective back with me … and apply it more often … and in more places … to extend the deep, continuous partial conversations … and a deeper appreciation for the people I encounter … in every moment.

Namaste.

[And, unlike several of the speakers, who emphasized their pragmatism and downplayed or denied their idealism, I herewith acknowledge that I am a card-carrying idealist … in case that’s not obvious.]