We're half way through the first day and the content so far has been incredibly high-level conceptual design oriented. The quality of the speakers has been very high and the ideas put forward so far are making a few brain cells twitch...

But, more than anything else so far, I'm absolutely stunned at how small a world it really is out there. I know a fair amount of people from various places, times, events and travels but just recently they all seem to be converging.

It started when I saw Tom's post this morning and has just carried on all day. For instance, I met with George Arriola the other night, from Adobe. He's good friends with Adam Greenfield who happens to be here in Amsterdam. Dan Hill from the BBC has just finished his presentation and he enthused about a book Paul Dourish called "Where the Action Is". I was at an event in Tokyo earlier this year and hung out with Paul a fair bit there. Reading his book page I find that he works alongside Hiroshi Ishii who I've worked alongside at a couple of Prix Ars Electronica Jury sessions.

I don't mean for this post to be one big name-drop, I'm just surprised that people I've met at such different times and in such different circumstances have such clear cut connections. I don't know whether or not this is a symptom of my social network shrinking or becoming more focussed or whether it's just coincidence but it's very cool and it's the first time I've really observed it this way. Joining the dots definitely helps you grasp the bigger picture - something I've had problems doing on occasion in the past 18 months...