Panel Discussion
As shown in the program, OSCOM 3 closes with a panel discussing the topic of "Content for the Masses". The central question: "How can we bring the value of content management to widespread use?". This page describes the topic and format.
Topic
The CMS market was born from the world of big systems, big VC rounds and public offerings, and big deployment price tags. This origin was similar to the mainframe world of days past, where all content went in one place, administered by high priests and consultants.
Along the way, the world of weblogging and similar offspring arrived, giving everyone a voice with simple content publishing. In some ways, this was like the PC revolution, where people regained control of their information.
In the mainframe-versus-PC fight, the tipping point came with LANs, in which people could connect their islands of information. In the world of weblogging and similar systems, these are the interconnectedness standards such as RSS, Trackback, and friends.
Open source content management is, of course, in the middle. We are very democratic, not just on price, but on attitude and cooperation. However, we still design our systems in a mainframe model, where all the content goes into one place.
Thus the topic: "How can we bring the value of content management to widespread use?"
Format
The panels for OSCOM 1 and OSCOM 2 were both valuable additions to the program. We also found a way to make it participatory, meaning, the converstation traveled widely around the room.
Here are some thoughts on format:
- Either include the audience in the discussion, or call it a day and head for beers.
- Put people on the panel that are both enticing and informative.
- Moderator opens with a statement similar to the above, to set the stage.
- Each of four panelists gets 3 minutes to make their position.
- We open the discussion to Q&A with the audience. First questions are pre-planned, to break the ice.
- Let the panelists comment on each others responses, and let the audience comment on responses.
- Don't get stuck on certain topics. Moderator has to keep things moving.
- Sprinkle in a few "show of hands" straw polls.
- Find the sweet spot. Somewhere, swimming around in the topic, is a burning question. We need to find it. (My guess: "Are we really adding more value than complexity?")
- Make the panel a good springboard to closing the conference and hanging out together over dinner.