Dramatic tension

There is something about changing weather in the mountains that captures the imagination. Of course, we love the warm sunny days, but when the weather changes, we get those gun-metal clouds scudding across the skyline between peaks. The pressure changes, and we feel a prickle on our skin. We know something important is happening, something worth paying attention to. There is something to be said for unsettled weather, something to be said for the discomfort of the situation. Usually, we learn more.

Jonathan Neufeld founded the NORTH51 Conference with his previous team six years ago. I was humbled to join him as a co-host last year, 2023. Since I started attending this event, open, sometimes uncomfortable discourse has been a central theme. From these discussions, we can find common ground and learn something.

This year, though, I honestly felt something important happened. Perhaps it was something of a coming of age for the event, or perhaps it was the careful curation of the speakers, but we were able to find some of the deep schisms in our industry and explore them. I feel confident that I haven't seen this happen anywhere else in our industry.

The power of meeting in person is finding common ground between ideas more easily than on the internet. Where discourse on X (or any other platform) usually creates distance between ideas, resulting in a combative environment, we tend to seek alignment if we present and discuss those ideas in a longer-form, more personal setting.

More importantly, this event is not recorded. While not being overtly Chatham House Rules, it may as well be. With only occasional handwritten quote tweets, speakers can more easily test ideas and reply honestly to hard questions. This frank and important vendor-agnostic discourse simply doesn't exist in most of the sales-focused event space (notable exceptions including SatSummit and SatCamp).

This year, our lineup was an astonishing who's who of modern geospatial. I can't possibly list everyone in this article. The list would be too long, and I would miss some because, critically, the audience members are as important as the speakers. A significant proportion of the attendees come expressly to listen for the weak signals and the latest trends. Where else will you be questioned by exited founders or the C-suite of some of our industry's most pivotal geospatial products?

So, we seek some tension. Because without tension, without disagreement, we don't progress. This year delivered. And, as I return from the Executive Dirtbag Offsite*, I note it is still delivering.

It should be because important things are worth talking about.

*Ask me about the EDO, where we take what we learned from N51 and remix it with backcountry skiing, saunas, and wood-burning stoves. You thought N51 was unique? This is next level.