Tom Foremski, Mike at TechDirt, and Dan Farber reported on the Tech Policy Summit this morning with some laments. They cheered the high-level speakers and the big media names involved as moderators, but they wondered why there weren't more techies at the Silicon Valley event.
First off, the organizer, Natalie Fonseca writes at her blog: "With over 280 people registered and a capacity of 300 attendees, we were very pleased with the level of interest we received in planning this event."
As well noted here, I was loosely involved in the conference as one of several "advisors". That basically meant that I provided my two cents a year ago about the viability of a tech policy event in the Valley and then gave my thoughts from time to time on the program. So there. I am biased -- but from a detached, hopefully objective perspective.
First off, the impact of Sunday's weather on the event can't be diminished. It basically was close to impossible to get to San Jose from the East Coast unless you were extremely motivated. This had to have a big hit on who showed.
And, those who registered from Silicon Valley and didn't make the drive down the 101 for one or both days apparently got stuck in the industry vortex that makes ADD the rule, and reflection, the exception.
But, all those tactical points aside, the question should be asked why large segments of Silicon Valley are seemingly detached from Washington and policy that many didn't put a portion of the energy into getting into this conference that is expended finagling their way into a TechCrunch party. Thoughts....
