LIFT ‘08 opens with a keynote from Bruce Sterling, which ends up a being a cross between a disappointment and an annoyance.  He starts with the “prediction” that nothing much will happen in 2008, that the year will basically be “crappy” and then proceeds to read (from his notes) a beautifully-written and entertaining but completely off-the-wall essay reflecting on the possible ‘futures’ of French Prime Minister Sarkozy and his new wife.

In general, I’m as much a Sterling fan as the next person (well, truth be told, maybe less so.  I don’t normally read science fiction and I never could get behind the concept “blogjects”).  But I’ve heard him give some absolutely fabulous speeches, and there’s rarely a column that I miss. 

Perhaps the plethora of speaking invitations has given Sterling the idea he has a free pass to get up on stage and say whatever he wants, whether it’s appropriate to the audience or not.   One had the impression that the extent of his preparation for LIFT was swigging down a latte and saying “let’s see, today’s Thursday… I’m in Europe… it’s a conference about the future…. I’ll say 2008 will be a crappy year and gossip about the French prime minister.”  But perhaps I’m not being fair: maybe that speech was meant for a different conference and he just forgot what day it was.

If I had come to LIFT to hear Sterling speak, I would have been hugely disappointed.  But thankfully, LIFT is about more than big-name speakers.  In contrast to other conferences that are filled with speaking “whales” LIFT guarantees a fair share of surprises - smaller names (and egos), but big ideas.  And most importantly, it delivers on that promise.  The fabulous thing about LIFT is that one can easily shake off a bad keynote, settle in and wait for real show to begin.

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