Information Overload BarCamp Nashville session (#bcn10)

Why and how you should filter out noise to unearth relevant and meaningful information

Chip Hayner and I presented at 9:50 am, Oct. 16 in the RockBar room at Cadillac Ranch, 305 Broadway.

We discussed theories on how to deal with information overload. This wasn’t a talk just about how to filter email and google reader.

It had practical applications, but it started by explaining why it’s vitally important that we understand what role information plays in our life. Hint: Information is not supposed to be distracting or give us a feeling we’re drowning. Here, we have a towel.

BarCamp Session Page | Photos by Chris Wage

Slides and Session Links

Information Overload: BarCamp Nashville (#bcn10)

Links

• Nate Baker on Twitter
  
• Chip Hayner on Twitter
• “The End of Education” by Neil Postman
• Getting Real: The Book by 37signals
• “Alone Time” chapter by 37signals
• “Meetings are Toxic” chapter by 37signals
• “The Long Tail” by Chris Anderson
• “Getting Things Done” by David Allen
• “Kung Fu, Meditation, and Sexual Intercourse” 43 Folders Podcast by Merlin Mann
• TechFasting.com
• Bacn email filtering for email you want by not right now
• SuperNick Email inbox system video (updated for gmail priority inbox)
• Original SuperNick Email system slides
• “Reader” iPhone and iPad app for google reader
• Instapaper
• Slide Notes: http://natenews.com/bcn10 (You are here)

SUPRISE!

Why We Changed Our BarCamp Nashville Topic

It’s less than a week away, and if you’re a member of the Nashville technology scene, you can sense Barcamp Nashville in the air.

• Organizers have wrapped up their last planning meeting.
• Speakers are practicing on empty chairs.
• Our amazing volunteer coordinator Sam Bradley just sent out an email including the words “Report to Nate Baker, the T-shirt General.” (Yes, I’m proud.)
• AND… *cough cough* Chip Hayner and I just changed our session topic.

The Session Topic That Died

We didn’t make this decision because we haven’t put work into our original session. We developed a session on internal communication within a technology company and learned a lot by preparing to teach.

• August 15: Chip and I began discussing our original topic.
• September 14: We collected relevant feedback.
• September 18: During our first face-to-face meeting we developed an outline, pages of notes, and charts.
• September 28: We finished most of the content at Chip’s desk.
• Yesterday: We both sat down to work remotely on the powerpoint and presentation details and decided to step back for a minute.

A Blank Document Made More Sense Than 6 Documents

—Then we realized we weren’t passionate about our topic. One of our goals all along was to create a session that we would want to attend ourselves. We did some quick brainstorming over the phone. As soon as we started hearing book quotes and human inflection, we knew we landed on our topic. We shared a new google document and easily filled it with a weighty outline.

Now, we know it’s a risk to change our topic this late in the game, but we think it’s the right decision. Chip summed it up nicely when I asked him what he thought of our new progress:

I think we’re further in 30 minutes than we were in the last month. ;)

This year’s slogan is “Getting to the good stuff.” For us, this means changing our session topic at the last minute. Come along for the ride if you’d like. If you were looking forward to content on communication, be sure to check out our friends’ session, Natural Tension: Web Development Project Management. Erin and Mark are great. They are sure to have a great talk.

So, our slides may be less polished, but I can promise we won’t need to look at the slides to find the depth of our passion or knowledge. Our new topic is Information Overload.

Ask us questions or leave a comment below: