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jinianJanelle Monáe [warning, big HD video] looks like that in person! With the hair! And she is so tidily built and rounded, really lovely. There were some guys up there too.
Okay, okay, one was Nile Rodgers, who claims to be mostly good at guitar but is also an immensely important producer. He had stories on stories about different people he's worked with, Madonna and David Bowie and loads of other artists. He was funny and did good impressions, and when the moderator played Janelle Monáe's "Tightrope" video he sat next to me in the audience so he could see without killing his neck (I offered the empty seat when he knelt in the aisle), and the EMP photographer guy took a bunch of pictures of us together. Fame for me!
The third panelist was Joe Henry (whose name I keep forgetting because it's so generic). He's a singer/songwriter who has also brought together a bunch of different artists for collaborations and made some very fine music in various genres.
The best part of the keynote was that they played music and video samples, which a lot of the panels did, but -- we were in the Sky Church. I'd been in there for concerts, but concerts are immediate, usually unpolished, and unidirectional. When the moderator played a clip of Bowie's "Modern Love" I had to glance over my shoulder to where the hissing vocal track was coming from. Joe Henry's "Richard Pryor Addresses a Tearful Nation" was overpowering. It was really amazing. Being in a room of people who all really pay attention and rock out a little when the music comes on was pretty great too.
The mics went out, along with some of the wall lighting and the music samples, near the end of the panel. Pretty sad, EMP. Luckily, all the panelists were trained to project. The audience questioners less so, but this meant that many people were spared a lot of rambling on; I was not, but oh well. After maybe ten minutes the mics were restored.
The topic of the panel was nominally technology, since that's the focus of this year's conference, but really the conversation ranged all over. I especially liked the parts about how to get the people you're working with onto the same page (make them watch an assigned movie!) and how to work with people in your community. And the part where Janelle Monáe was like, "well, -I- think I'm cool" so she wants to share that with the world. Right on. :)
Overall, this conference was the best zero dollars I've spent in quite a while. Thanks, Paul Allen!
(I'm refusing to decide what I'm doing tomorrow, though plant sales and continuing free conference/EMP for the rest of the weekend are both calling to me. No plans, brain. Cope.)
Okay, okay, one was Nile Rodgers, who claims to be mostly good at guitar but is also an immensely important producer. He had stories on stories about different people he's worked with, Madonna and David Bowie and loads of other artists. He was funny and did good impressions, and when the moderator played Janelle Monáe's "Tightrope" video he sat next to me in the audience so he could see without killing his neck (I offered the empty seat when he knelt in the aisle), and the EMP photographer guy took a bunch of pictures of us together. Fame for me!
The third panelist was Joe Henry (whose name I keep forgetting because it's so generic). He's a singer/songwriter who has also brought together a bunch of different artists for collaborations and made some very fine music in various genres.
The best part of the keynote was that they played music and video samples, which a lot of the panels did, but -- we were in the Sky Church. I'd been in there for concerts, but concerts are immediate, usually unpolished, and unidirectional. When the moderator played a clip of Bowie's "Modern Love" I had to glance over my shoulder to where the hissing vocal track was coming from. Joe Henry's "Richard Pryor Addresses a Tearful Nation" was overpowering. It was really amazing. Being in a room of people who all really pay attention and rock out a little when the music comes on was pretty great too.
The mics went out, along with some of the wall lighting and the music samples, near the end of the panel. Pretty sad, EMP. Luckily, all the panelists were trained to project. The audience questioners less so, but this meant that many people were spared a lot of rambling on; I was not, but oh well. After maybe ten minutes the mics were restored.
The topic of the panel was nominally technology, since that's the focus of this year's conference, but really the conversation ranged all over. I especially liked the parts about how to get the people you're working with onto the same page (make them watch an assigned movie!) and how to work with people in your community. And the part where Janelle Monáe was like, "well, -I- think I'm cool" so she wants to share that with the world. Right on. :)
Overall, this conference was the best zero dollars I've spent in quite a while. Thanks, Paul Allen!
(I'm refusing to decide what I'm doing tomorrow, though plant sales and continuing free conference/EMP for the rest of the weekend are both calling to me. No plans, brain. Cope.)
