Wow…this was an interesting conference. The topics did feed a few general areas like networking, education and especially knowledge management issues. While I do agree that blogs do naturally fill some knowledge management areas, they are very lacking in the area of information retrieval.

I can see, however, a change/evolution in the thought behind weblogs. Last year, it seemed that the conference focused on blogging tools, its future, and how people could make money off of blogs. This year many of the same bloggers have attended and I feel that the thought behind the purpose of blogging has changed from seeing blogs in these ways, to see blogs as a tool for both social networking and especially for knowledge management. It is a refreshing change of opinion and one that I believe reflects a deeper exploration of the medium. I am looking forward to continuing my research in this area, and I am definitely leaving with new ideas, and not least great new connections. New projects are in the works, and even though it is time for vacation, my creative juices are flowing! I can not wait to begin!