Getting through day one of the Mesh Conference was a little difficult, as the breaks ran long and the sessions felt longer. It is not like there wasn’t some interesting content, but the pace just wasn’t the same as Northern Voice and MooseCamp.

It started with a bang, with Arrington chatting with Mathew Ingram and making a jab at Pay-Per-Post that will be remembered forever.

Watching a panel called “Barbarians at the Gate - Should Old Media Be Afraid of New Media?”, was really interesting but they only talked about things that most people in the media already knew: the answer is yes.

One of the interesting points brought up was that newspapers are going to have to change, and their role will no longer being about breaking the news, but instead reporting, and diving deep into a subject. I really thought that this was a really innovative idea that if newspapers hadn’t already thought of, they should be researching that avenue, as bloggers can really be a great source for breaking news.

After that, a panel was held, which Tony Hung sat on entitled, “Pros vs. Amateurs - the War for Attention”. The topic didn’t entirely stick to its main subject, but it was still rather interesting. I found the other panel members a little dry, but understood their points of view. Tony, and his forward looking, but mildly conservative views were just dead on in my mind, and really made the panel worth going to.

Lastly, I got to meet a person I am a huge fan of, Amber MacArthur, and then watched her in a panel called The Future of Entertainment - “The People Formerly Known as the Audience”. There were some interesting points brought up, but it eventually became nothing more than a talk about DRM. Ethan Kaplan, of Warner Bros. Records, was the most candid person on the panel, having even used the f-word a few times in talking about DRM, MP3’s and the focus on the file, rather than the music or thought.

All in all, it was an interesting day, and now day two begins. Yesterday focused on Media and Society, while today will focus on Marketing, PR, and Business.