(Disclaimer: at first this might seem like a tech industry post that might put you to sleep, but it’s not really about technology.)
I’m a little slow sometimes. I attended the Flickr Turns 4 birthday party in San Francisco one week ago, and I just realised something out about it today.
Last Saturday Kevin and I had dinner at Metreon before walking over to 111 Minna Gallery, where the party was taking place. Somewhere along the way a couple of people turned a corner and walked in front of us, one of whom looked faintly familiar. Kevin asked me if I knew who Robert Scoble was, and I said yes, but I didn’t follow his blog, I only knew about him. I assumed the teenager walking beside him was his son.
“I’ll bet he’s going to the Flickr party.”
Sure enough, he led us straight there — the spot clearly marked by a bunch of pink and blue balloons.
It only occurred to me today that I didn’t see Scoble inside the party, or at all after that, so I went over to his blog to see if he’d written anything about it.
Lo and behold, he did. In fact, he said a lot of things, most of which centred around his staunch opinion that Flickr had done their users a major disservice by throwing the party at a venue that is 21+.
I RSVP’ed on the Upcoming.org event page, so I already knew that they would ID at the door. It was also covered in the Flickr Turns 4 group, which was advertised on Flickr’s homepage for weeks beforehand. Scoble says he didn’t see any mention of it on his emailed invitation.
After I showed my ID at the door and we went inside, it didn’t occur to me that Scoble and company would likely not be permitted on account of his son being a minor.
After reading the comments and discussion that followed on Scoble’s blog post, I can see how it might look to a parent. Why not make it all ages? Many of the photographers on Flickr, including those who have photos displayed on the walls all over the venue, are under 21 years old.
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