mesh program goes live…finally!

The folks organizing the mesh conference in Toronto have finalized the program, and introduced the mesh class of 2006.

I am happy to attend, and I will be speaking in a session called “Is Web 2.0 Changing the Software Industry?” led by Mike McDerment, with Chris Messina of Flock.com, Matt Mullenweg of Wordpress, and me.

In the spirit of Canadianism, I went online yesterday and investigated emigrating to Canada. No kidding. Things are crazy down here, and maybe getting worse. I have family in Canada, which helps in the Canadian government’s assessment, it seems. Here’s the resulots of the self-assessment for skilled workers (includes journalists, IT consultants, and a number of other jobs I had in the past ten years). Similar tests exist for entrepreneurs and the self-employed, both which characterize my interests.

I can’t really emigrate right now — two sons in high school — but I am bringing Keenan, my eldest, up to Toronto to look at colleges there in May, the weekend before the conference. Maybe 3 years from now, when Conrad graduates. We’ll see.

I am half-serious, despite the recent swing in Canada toward a slightly more conservative government. More research to follow, at the conference.

Join us at mesh

Mark your calendars for the upcoming (and rescheduled) mesh — Canada’s web 2.0 conference - Toronto May 15 & 16. mesh will bring together great keynotes and speakers, including Om Malik, Paul Kedrosky, Andrew Coyne, Michael Geist, Tara Hunt, Paul Wells, Steve Rubel, Jason Fried, Stowe Boyd (yes, me), Amber McArthur, Ren Bucholz, Andrew Baron, Chris Messina, David Crow (whew!) and many others. Organizers include Rob Hyndman, Matthew Ingram, Mike McDerment, Stuart MacDonald, and Mark Evans.

Looks like a great conference, and a great venue. Toronto is a fabulous city.

[Long aside: I truly love Canada: even before my sister moved there and became a ‘landed’ immigrant after living in Toronto 20-odd years, I had traveled much of the country. In the past few decades, I have been to the country literally a hundred times or so, and I am increasingly enamored of this very foreign country so close by. I also hope that if I continue to say nice things, I will be allowed to emigrate, which looks like a better and better idea considering America’s political situation and progressive global warming. Although Toronto may be one day be under water as the Great Lakes slowly turn into a giant inland ocean.