What do a Goose, Community Minded Innovators, and Web 2.0 have in common?
The FIRST ATMosphere Conference!
I can hardly remember a time in my life when computers and tech didn’t play a part (It was basically before 1982). With almost 30 years of experience in the Big Tech industry, I have attended many conferences! I can only think of one conference I attended that I didn’t feel totally out of place AND was inspired- Grace Hopper (I got to attend 3 times) UNTIL TODAY.
This weekend I attended the FIRST ATmosphere Developer Conference. Now, I’m not a developer- but the promise of AT Protocol and the growth of Bluesky combined with my next evolution: (soon to be a legal entity) Collective Good Technology A Nonprofit Corporation, I am in full on learning and storming mode.
The first conference resulted in 300 attendees- about half in person/half streaming ON AT PROTOCOL through stream.place!! Do you know how awesome that is?! I know they were ON it all conference keeping things going and learning new things. Everyone that put on this conference- I cannot thank you enough for putting together an ATmosphere (see what I did there 😊) that called to all of us thinking “There is a better fucking way!” As they told us GenXers- If you build it, they will come.
I cannot wait to come together again and to keep this going- I mean do you know what it means to see men in tech come to a mic in the Q&A ask in front of a room to a presenter “What can we do to support you?” and to MEAN IT?! I don’t say this to be a complete ass- I have worked with some of the best men in tech- but this is not a question you hear, in earnest, in big tech as a woman and certainly not over and over.
Humanity, humane internet and ensuring accessibility, diversity, equity, and inclusion were not just key words added to presentations- they are the values that everyone in the room and online, put front and center in their actions and intentions for their work. And these are people of ACTION….I felt like I stepped into Monsters, Inc AFTER they learned that joy and laugher were way more valuable than scares- we are told all the time that C-Levels need to make 6000X more than their lowest paid employee because THAT is how you drive innovation and bring value to the company’s shareholders, but I sat in a room with 300 people who seem to be driven much like I am, but necessity. Frankly- my 30 years in tech have taught me that necessity is the MOTHER of all innovation, and I think even the midwife of Twitter, Blaine Cook would agree with this…
Blaine Cook was the first speaker and about 5 minutes into his talk- I knew that I was EXACTLY where I should be. And it just went on from there- I have notes on EVERY single speaker, you ALL lit sparklers in my imagination. I have a list of articles and books to read, I learned today that I am trying to create a Vernacular Institution thanks to Erin Kissane (who I want to sit and talk to for hours) who like SO many other presenters combined their tech talk with art history!!! As a former Art Docent Chair for my kids school because STEM is great, but without ART- creativity is missing and well….when you don’t understand WHY you need art – you end up w flat technology inventions like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram where innovation was sacrificed for making big money over becoming what would have really fulfilled the promise of “connecting everyone on the planet.”
Speaking of those internet parking space’s CEOs (sort of)…I MET JAY, CEO of Bluesky!!! Look- I’m not that wow’d by CEOs and Exec Leadership. I’ve worked for some heavy hitters in tech and have met Steve Balmer (wanted to tell him I voted him off the island every proxy vote) and Bill Gates (who I was slightly more awkward meeting than Jay, longer story, next AT Proto meet up at Big Time!). I’m hard on CEOs and Upper Management of tech because most aren’t that impressive in my experience. Jay is impressive. She has been fighting on the side of data rights for a long while and while I don’t expect her to get it right all the time, I BET she gets it right in the end. She is authentic, intentional, and she is competing on the right field- that of the users and impact of her work on society- good and bad.
I’m literally getting Goosetopher bumps rethinking this weekend!
I went this weekend to learn, be inspired, and maybe meet a few people. I joined a whole new community- the side conversations were where the magic really happened for me with regards to my own next steps. I left with more than a concept of a plan for my first project on AT Proto (going to start working on that after I finish this post, more on that later!), I have support!
I can’t wait to see what this community looks like as it grows over the next year, I hope maybe we don’t wait a year, and I will volunteer to put together mini-conf/hackathons (3 months? 6 months? Regular working sessions?). Thank you again to the ATmosphere Conf 2025 organizers- See everyone next year for sure!
-AmS