There is a Desmond Tutu quote that I adore:

You need others. But you need others for everything, really. In our part of the world, we have something called ubuntu. Ubuntu. Ubuntu. Ubuntu. The essence of being human. We say a person is a person through other persons. I can't be human in isolation. I need you to be all you can be so that I can become me and all that I can be.

Being at NetSquared captures a sense of the beloved community that I so often yearn for. At lunch today, I sat next to someone from literally half the world away - a person doing extraordinary work to race a scourge of death on the African continent.  She is here, soaking up ideas from others - she is here, to be lifted up and celebrated - she is here, because what she is doing teaches all of us in the "developed" world.  Most importantly, she is here because the NetSquared paid her way to come here.  Fully 20% of the 350 people here are present because NetSquared raised the money to have this attendee base reflect the richness of the human race, rather than the mono-culture that one usually finds at conferences.  Christine Herron points out that at typical business, geek or non-profit (or church) conferences, that mon-culture is about 70-90% white males.

I've gone to more than my share of seminars & conferences, so I realize that this richness does not often come naturally.  It comes from the detailed efforts to find the amazing people outside the typical networks, to get to know their efforts, to invite them to join a conversation.  It comes from raising money for travel, childcare, housing and registration.  This is quiet, un-sexy work that rarely gets done by conference organizers and even more rarely gets the recognition I deserves.

So I want to raise my voice in admiration and gratitude to the NetSquared folks who made a little bit of this beloved community come to reality.  You are walking your own talk about the community-building power that the mash-up of social change and technology.