Sheila,

Thanks for creating a word out of my poor condition. That's quite an honor. And I agree with you, let's hope that it serves as a lesson to future conference organizers. Being Ismaeled is no fun...

Take care
-Ismael

Sheila,

Adding yourself to the Speakers Wiki is a good move. So is registering for whatever you are interested in and feel qualified for.  'Cause that's exactly how this conference is being organized:  The speaker list is not by invitation,  the organizer called for speaker applications here.

With open registration if you don't sign up, you can't really complain of being excluded ...

Ismael, you're wearing it well. Thanks for stopping by.

Zoli, you've been saying the same thing on other blogs, so by now you have heard many times that the speaker list was assembled largely by invitation, and that subsequently having a form on the web site of a conference known only to friends of Ismael is hardly openness.

Your own comment at Frank Paynter's Listics above reveals the "membership" of this circle:

"But also consider the speaker’s background:
- mostly CEO’s of startups in related areas
- analyst / press types
Some will fly in, many are from the SF Bay Area.. combine those factors and you get the demographic we currently have."

Hey, that's the "wide ranging group of visionaries and industry leaders" you're touting?

This self-selecting demographic is an echo chamber. Since the conference involves apps that all of us will be using, why wouldn't those sharing information seek a variety of perspectives and ideas? You want to know what we really need? (I need flexible tools to make my ideas for a next-wave news and information site.)

Without such input we get narrow clunky apps and failed startups: What they can make (and think they can make money with) has to do what we want to do or nobody will care.

I see that more women have now been added, and indie podcasts will be welcomed. As damage control, it may help.

Finally... "you can't complain" -- as you've seen -- will only spawn defenses of the right to complain loudly and at length about anything. It's a condescending "shut up," and that never gets a good reception, and never gets you off the hook.

Thanks for pointing out the invite aspect. I was about to leave a PS to my other comment about his blog being full of "thank yous" to folks making introductions to speakers for him.

Nothing wrong with that, absolutely standard. Just don't trot out the patronizing "if you don't sign up, you can't really complain" argument. (Which of course wasn't Ismael's argument...to be very clear.)