Just got back from spending two days at the Business of Software 2007 conference organized by Neil Davidson of Red Gate Software. It was good and very inspirational. The lineup had many clever people, all saying equally clever things.

Still, I tend to favor substance over inspirational talks. Or maybe I just favor people talking about things that apply more closely to my situation, which is probably why I didn’t much appreciate Matt Mason’s talk about piracy, pop culture and innovation. I probably am a conservative when it comes to professional work; leave it to the professionals. And only small doses of pop culture for me, please.  (But no, I don’t buy Andrew Keen’s gloomy perspective as laid out in his book, The Cult of the Amateur. And don’t make the mistake I made and go and read it. His point is easily made in a few sentences. And his research is so one sided that it doesn’t classify as research.)

So back to substance; Bill Buxton I liked. He speaks and, it seems, thinks fast. His talk about designing things was very good and based on years of research and experience. I was inspired and it still felt like a proper and nutritional helping of his very relevant work.

I guess I like it when people do their research, which is why my second favorite was Jennifer Aaker. She spoke about the psychology involved in creating a strong relationship between company and customer. Well, she really did say consumer, but even in B2B it is real people buying your stuff. And then she would consistently use words like "transgression" instead of whatever would go down easier with an international audience. That was kind of funny to a guy with an accent, but with a dictionary at hand.

And there was much more. It was a great conference, and hopefully we will see a Business of Software 2008. And thanks to Neil for pulling all this together.