Jeffrey Veen has a great brainstorming session, a Conference Hack as he calls it, where he addresses some of the challenges of running a conference and engaging the audience in conversation:

I had a very interesting experience a few months ago while participating in a panel discussion. Once again, I realized that the content on stage is merely the spark of a broader conversation, and that the backchannel is rapidly becoming the whole point. So we’ve decided to try an experiment at the Start Conference in a couple weeks to see how we might hack traditional presentations.

As many of you may recall, I hacked up the initial version of FrontChannel just in time for Web 2.0 earlier this year.  We’re currently working to productize it out more fully and will have it ready by September for more broad use.

Check out the Start conference as well, should be a blast.

Yesterday was a fun day on Twitter.  The #ramday meme emerged early in the day and had many baffled throughout.  #ramday stands for Random About Me Day and I enjoyed sharing a bunch of little tidbits about myself it usually takes a few drinks to coax out of me.

I thought I would collect them here:

• I forged dozens of fake notes granting me ealrly leave during Jr year of HS. Issued by the teacher who’s very class I was cutting
• things I’ve learned to impress a girl: 3D rendering, package design, bash scripting - who am I kidding, everything is a weapon :)
• I’m afraid of the open waters, esp when you can’t see the bottom
• I weighed 3lbs 6oz when born and was extracted when my heartbeat disappeared. Spent 45 days in the incubator cooking.
• I learned calligraphy after realizing my handwriting had gone to total shiite. Now I suck at multiple forms of writing.
• I “studied” Art History in London one winter.. missed half my classes due to the 19-year-old drinking limit (snakebites!)
• I designed covers for all my major papers in college - it’s how I learned photoshop
• I once was asked by a professor to re-write a test since she couldn’t read it She let me take it home to do it
• I worked on material for a standup skit for 6 months then chickened out the performance
• I once broke two ribs while bench pressing without a spotter - it was dumbells from then onwards
• I once passed out from eating super spicy buffalo wings (the rum didn’t help either)
• My first internet gig was for iVillage/About Work as a HTML/Javascript developer - I didn’t know JS at the time
• I was accepted to 3 medical schools but decided otherwise. My parents, both entrepreneurs, were surprised I did the same as them.
• I am the second youngest of 49 first cousins - we’ve never all been in the same place at the same time.
• I had a 4.0 in college all the way to Senior Year, then had a serious GF and that’s history
• I lost my license when 18 for 3 speeding tickets in 18 months. Drove 5 years not knowing it was lost - no tickets
• I often confuse worst and worse, much to @rgujral entertainment
• I received a scholarship from the sociology department when graduating (biggest nerd) and forgot about the ceremony - got the check
• My proudest grade in college: the only A (out of 400 peeps) in ‘Hinduism, Buddhism & Taoism”
• I opted out of my senior year of HS and went to college instead - I still had to take gym to graduate though
• I failed my road test the first time around. I still was one of the first to drive to school - liberating
• i have the bestest friends in the world, even the ones that I can’t name or remember
• This is NOT the most embarrassing video of me: http://tinyurl.com/5ca6w9
• The name Gregarious was given to me by my good friend @jamesjyu
• I’ve never had a full-time job and I love it.
• I started my first enterprise in 3rd grade - designing desk signs for my classmates - $5 a pop.
• On training: I ran a 5:58 mile in Junior High. I was on the Ski Team in HS. I used to bench 315lbs, not I weight it (j/k).
• I slept in my office on 14th street (1997ish) for 3 years, the gym was my shower. Startup life, FTW!
• I have 5 best friends, each from different periods of my life. All guys.
• The saddest days in my life: Nov 4 2007, Mar 5 2005, May 18 1999
• I have 5 scars on my face, 3 from childhood, 2 I can’t account for - but hey ,scars are the new tattoos

The full list is here.