Mozfest and Me: 2017
After an eight hour-ish flight from the states, I was greeted by the Heathrow Express team and boarded their above-ground train to Paddington station. Heathrow and Gatwick airports were familiar layovers for me, but I must say, I was initially overwhelmed by the underground train system while toting my jetlag and luggage up and down stairs and corridors, off and on circle and district lines. Fortunately, thanks to a helpful commuter named Lizzy, I arrived at the Radisson Blu Edwardian near Hyde Park and retreated into its creature comforts to prepare for my first Mozfest experience in London.
I set out to brave “The Tube” once more with a new sense of purpose — get to the MozHouse and connect with other folks in the Mozilla community during “office hours”. This time, I took a moment to analyze the maps of the various lines and their stops. Without my luggage and jetlag weighing on me, I was able to navigate the elaborate, yet well designed system rather easily to arrive at the Apple Market shopping area (which is also the clever home of one the most grand Apple retail stores I’ve ever had the pleasure of visiting), in no time.
The MozHouse, was established in the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce) — a beautiful, multi-floored building, presumably selected for its aesthetic appeal and sense of shared purpose with Mozfest. Touring the space, meeting some of the Mozilla team members and reading about some of the private sessions taking place within, gave me a broader understanding of Mozfest’s scope and mission.
I arrived for the official start of Mozfest at Ravensbourne College. I was taken aback by how organically the architecture of the college’s main building complimented the festival aesthetic. Once through the turnstile doors, I was embraced by the welcoming registration team, whisked through the pleasingly efficient process, greeted by security and began the ascent to the main area of Mozfest 2017.
For the past year, I’ve followed blockchain developments in various regions across the globe for the past and after reviewing the slate of sessions for Mozfest, I figured I would find other like-minded individuals on the decentralization floor; I was not disappointed.
The floor was partitioned into sections by movable walls to create pods of interaction for each session. The design was effective in corralling interested parties together with a level of semi-privacy.
The sessions ranged from hour-long discussions to day long interactions wherein the insights, energy and exchanges flowed fairly seamlessly. I found myself being the first to sign-up for a decentralized, non-profit funding organization — talking shop with the developers of a blockchain-enabled wireless bandwidth extension system (during a social showcase session) and interacting in small groups to consider various opportunities to leverage decentralized publishing. Being an actor and producer of mobile applications, video games as well as tv/film content, one of my favorite sessions considered the impact of leveraging blockchain technology to decentralize the distribution of film content.
The participants were so engaged and open during this session. It felt like in an instant we had addressed some very promising application avenues and at the end of the hour, we were going our separate ways. Fortunately, I glanced a few key name tags and continued discussions with the session coordinator throughout the weekend. I networked with others via email and conference call in the days/weeks thereafter. Connecting with professionals from all over the world, interested in disruptive technologies and our ability to impact the greater good, was an extremely rewarding experience.
As I took my last looks at London’s architecture, rich history and culture (to include an at-the-wire run to Wimbledon to pick up souvenirs for my wife/daughter), I realized how brilliantly Mozilla leveraged the city as an international backdrop to champion its mission toward a healthier internet ecosystem. Mozfest facilitated a unique introduction to a beautiful city, while engaging its participants in an organically designed gathering focused on inclusion, health, diversity and decentralization.
My Mozfest experience inspires and challenges to keep the momentum going. Mozfest is an emulatable model embodying the capacity to continue to influence throughout the year in strategic locations around the globe, connected by the common threads of the Mozilla Foundation mission. Like London’s transportation system, MozFest provides a well-designed framework to engage and navigate a complex system to arrive at a healthier internet.
The intent, design and level of engagement was something I’d love to see in my South Louisiana hometown of Lafayette. I am now focussed on developing a similar experience for my beautiful region of the world and inviting professionals to discuss topics that we are uniquely positioned to contribute to, like Fiber-to-the-Home, High Performance Computing and Blockchain Technology Development. I look forward to leveraging my experiences in a manner that continues to champion the spirit of Mozfest to keep the conversation and the progress going. Thanks Mozfest for the inspiration and the challenge to remain engaged.
