The 140 Conference was two days dedicated to exploring the disruptive nature of Twitter with a tribute to the power of broadband! “Humans are unable to process the vast amounts of information available on broadband,” Jeff Pulver, conference organizer, said, implicitly suggesting Twitter as a solution. Pulver subtitled the conference “The Power of Now,” in recognition of the immediacy enabled by today’s broadband powered communication tools like Twitter. These real time communications, in this case, “tweets,” are revolutionizing many industries and experts from numerous sectors – music, finance, and sports, to celebrity, public relations, and politics – gathered to discuss exactly how.

Photo by Frank Gruber

The most passionate panel  was on journalism, a particularly timely topic as Twitter was launched to the forefront for its large role in disseminating information about the Iran elections.   The Twitter favoring audience came face to face with mainstream media journalists like Rick Sanchez of CNN and Ann Curry of the Today Show and a lively debate ensued on how journalists must adapt to the citizen journalism facilitated by broadband and Twitter.

Some of my favorite quotes from the speakers that encapsulate the excitement about Twitter:

“Twitter is about approachability, transparency, and immediacy.” – Jack Dorsey, Creator of Twitter

“The secret of new media is to amplify communities.” – Tim O’Reilly, Founder of O’Reilly Media

“We have a tool to bypass the media and address the public directly.” – David Saranga, Consul for Media and Public Affairs at the Israeli Consulate

“I think of Twitter as the world’s largest networking room. Make a friend first and let them show you around.” – Liz Strauss, Founder of Successful Blog

“One of the ways that our social contract has changed is that you can now quantify your sphere of influence.” – Maegan Carberry, blogger at Huffington Post

“Getting Twitter means knowing it’s a conversation. That simple.” – Gavin Purcell, Producer of The Jimmy Fallon Show

‘We have the power to make voices heard that have never been heard before.” Stacey Monk, Founder of TweetsGiving

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