:Title:    Thoughts from Chicago member conference
:Author:   Thomas Kriese (CCAL30)
:Date:     Fri, 29 Jul 2005 09:43:23 PDT
:Modified: Tue, 06 Sep 2005 15:18:03 PDT
:URL:      http://www.omidyar.net/user/u720884578/news/26/

I'll use this space to share things I find interesting while being in the same physical space as three dozen other omidyar.net members.

Day 1, Initial Gathering
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It's so much easier to remember people's names when you know so much about them before ever seeing their face for the first time. The anticipation was palpable before the official gathering got underway. The diversity of topics folks want to discuss looks a lot like a "what's new" page on steroids. I think we're in the right place. :^)

Day 1, First Session
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An interesting side topic that emerged in our talking about what to do as a result of our talking about Immigration (`/conference/immigration`_) was trying to understand if building compassion for immigrants is enough. 

Or must a direct action resulting from this compassion be the goal? 

I think this is getting at the whole "is this place all talk and no action?" that many have labelled omidyar.net with as they walk away. 

Is that an appropriate label here? As someon in the group brought up: "Why the fixation on action? It seems like a rush to act often short-circuits any room for compassion to take root."

Group Photo Taken at Conference's End
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Added 9/6/05, thanks to Brandon's leading a group effort (hover your cursor over the person's face to see what their name is):

.. on-include:: /conference/Chi2005_GroupPhoto