startupi

Anyone linked to the world of IT and Communication has probably heard of InterCon, the event organized by Tiago Baeta of iMasters. It’s been going on since 2003, after all!

This weekend was another edition - full of new things. “Many events have sprung up in the last few years and everything is getting repetitive,” said the organizer himself. “The most important thing for InterCon 2009 is our focus on bringing some really rich content for the active professional, and seek out new speakers.”

To better understand what has changed, I asked him to explain further (Editor’s Note: this conversation took place in early November, before InterCon took place - soon, we’ll publish a new post with coverage).

Tiago, how did the first InterCon come about, and what has changed since then?

The first InterCon was in 2003. The market was really weak and it was our obligation to take the first step. InterCon 2003 was pure technology. Oracle, Linux, Java, Free Software and so on… The following years we stretched into the realm of communication and creativity. And since last year we have mixed technology and creation, because one doesn’t happen without the other, and it’s an opportunity to bring together two different types of professionals in one place.

Regarding the innovations you have in this round of InterCon: how did you get the idea for a collaborative book, for the cyberpunk space, and the different event themes?

The idea of the book came from an excellent conversation I had with Indio Brasileiro and Ricardo Almeida. It was a pure brainstorm that brought us to the idea. It will be the first collaborative book produced and launched at the same event.

The CyberPunks was Gil Giardelli’s idea. A a curator of one of the thematic areas he was being sought out by a lot of professionals who wanted to do presentations. He decided to create a parallel unconference area to bring together professionals who had more unusual ideas, and call it CyberPunks.

The themes of the event were planned to try to delve into each theme, making for a richer content and avoiding superficiality.

InterCon took place Saturday, November 7, 2009 at the Renaissance Hotel in São Paulo, from 8am to 6pm. The program was enormous, full of speakers organized into six thematic areas. Yours truly performed a “Startup Comedy” in the CyberPunk unconference section.

The event was livestreamed. Follow Tiago Beata on Twitter.