Let Me Be the First to NOT RSVP for Web 2.0

I went to the Web 2.0 conference in SF two years ago, in retrospect because it appealed to my sense of pride to be able to hob-nob with folks who've done well in the Internet. What I found was lots of people with black-rimmed glasses talking about lots of things that didn't (and still don't) really matter to the advertisers who pay my bills.

Last year I didn't go because I thought about it too late, and because I felt less of a need to validate myself by attending such an event. I did, however, attend the Ask.com cocktail event, but because they're a business partner of mine. Good thing, too, because everyone I talked to who went to 2.0 was either a VC looking in vain for reasonable investments, Wall St types looking for a research edge, or people as vain as I used to be.

This year, I'd like to be the first to go on the record as definitely not going. I will not be attending Web 2.0, and I actually believe that will get me in with the *in* crowd next year.

Why am I not going? As far as I can tell, there's not an iota of tangible business value on the agenda, and I would just as well write a love poem to every Web 1.0 C-level exec if it's really only going to be about Web 2.0 hob-nobbing with v1.0.