I have to second the comments of iotum’s Alec Saunders about eTel and not being in the panels but instead being around the panels and events.
Om’s Launchpad was quite good with some new companies like Flat Planet Phone Company, PeerAnt and client Grand Central (who stole the show again IMHO) up on stage. The Voice 3.0 presentation by the soon to be wedded Yahoo “rock star” Jeff Bonforte and the following panel on Voice 2.0 moderated by VoIP-News’ Owen Linderholm were highlights for me.
Pal Tom Howe walked away with the Mashup prize and I walked away feeling that the time spent with uber technology braintrust Surj Patel over the past few months to help get some clients featured there was well worth it. Like Alec it was the people who were at eTel and the hallway and cafe conversations that made this event so wonderful.
Last year at VON I suggested to Scott Kargman and crew that for VON to become more electrified the hallway activity and the emerging companies needed a place to play that was not the usual format. eTel has that kind of spark that I wish more conferences had.
I don’t think Scott will understand what you mean until he experiences a conference with subject matter he personally cares about (does Scott strike you as intellectually curious?) and a format like an unconference, a barcamp, or an ETech. You can explain and justify it, but the juice of egalitarian participation, of low-structure high-intimacy encounters has an emotional component that words often fail to capture.