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So this weekend was Community Next over at Stanford. This photo pretty much sums up what I thought of the conference:

It was a stellar event.

Thanks to Dana for capturing this totally-not-staged moment ;) Major props go to Noah (above) for throwing a totally awesome-tastic conference. Community Next was a conference focused on how to optimize social communities for growth and monetization.

There were a few presentations at the event that I dug a lot and learned from. The guys who created Threadless had a killer-entertaining powerpoint about how to engage users of your online social community. The key to their successful presentation was how vibrant, humorous and straightforward they were. Some of the not-so-great presenters can learn a thing or two on presenting from these guys.

The Guy Kawasaki panel with Drew Curtis of Fark.com and James Hong of hotornot.com was also really informative and engaging. Again, a touch of humor and transparency makes things so much more fun.

Above all, the people I met at Community Next was the coolest part. People from so many different backgrounds with such similar interests and ambitions. Chatting with Eric of MyBlogLog and Denise of Moo.com (two products I totally dig) were definitely highlights.

If you’re reading this and attended CNext, I recommend you go through that stash of business / Moo cards and follow up with those people that you met. Better now while it’s fresh on your (and their) mind than later.

To see more photos, check out the post on Community Next by Scott Beale of Laughing Squid.

Update: Full Photo Gallery of Community Next on Valleywag. Thanks to Matt of JamGlue for the heads-up.

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Tags: Community Next, Stanford, conference, social community