One of the most engaging programs I attended today at IL2006 was Michael Porter’s presentation on Flickr and the libraries and librarians group there. Michael described how his involvement in the project evolved over time, how the group grew to include more than 900 members and close to six thousand photos, and how that growth had naturally caused the group to self-moderate with tagging guidelines or suggestions and a bit of back-end volunteer work. His description confirmed what we’ve been learning at WebJunction about the wisdom of groups and their tendency to self-moderate when they have ownership or particular community roles. (Let’s set aside for a moment the fact that I defy that statement myself – having posted a number of pictures to the group pool without, I am sure, adherence to suggested guidelines…)
But the most fascinating (and impressive) thing to me about Michael’s program was not flickr, nor his group, nor his group’s growth  – it was (drum roll please) the ultra-suave way he brought in voices from around the world (literally) to help him tell his story.

People in the libraries and librarians group in Flickr from both Spain and Australia did voiceovers for their portions of the program. They talked over their demonstrations – which were done in PPT, I think, but maybe there was some flash involved. It was so simple, but a nice big photograph of each speaker as they began, along with name and title, and Michael gave his audience the feeling of meeting someone online. Impressive! It has me thinking about how we (the WebJunction community) can bring our members into these types of conference or meeting settings without even physically being there. Next time we have a member reception at ALA or something, why not let WJ members who can’t or won’t be there tell their library’s story in a similar way? Any volunteers?
Though this one may be my favorite, it’s one of a thousand new ideas I have after being here. Lucky me – lucky us. Now it’s just a matter of sorting through them all!