None, really. This has already been discussed here: http://ff.im/ev0wN Part of the problem was that demos ran concurrently with conference sessions; I like Christina's idea to run the demos separately from the sessions, for example during breaks or lunch. I also think a Friday afternoon tech expo would be cool and would attract more geeks to the conference. What types of technology would be of interest to conference participants? Hardware such as laptops or mobile devices? Software demos that focus on communication (such as Google wave or Google sidewiki)? - Walter Jessen

My chips would be on mobile devices and also software demos (preferably OS ones). Like Walter, I also agree with Christina's idea. Similarly, I also think a Friday tech expo would attract more tech geeks to the Conference. - Graham Steel

We are reading all these FF threads and jotting down all these ideas. We'll keep them on the table when we start planning the next one....keep the ideas coming. - Bora Zivkovic

There was a lot of technology behind the scenes at #scio10, from SignalShare to all these Web 2.0 tools that we take for granted. I would like to see a few demos of new tools, i.e. those that are almost ready to launch. - Martin Fenner

Love the tech expo idea. As Graham says, I think mobile devices and software demos would be popular. What might be good is a "linux for n00bs" session or demo, and/or "linux for science". I often feel a pang of guilt over not having switched to an Open Source OS, but I always feel I can't afford the time to climb the steep learning curve. Andy Farke gave me a quick tour of his Eee PC running (I forget which) Linux, and showed me that it is not as daunting as I had thought. - Bill Hooker

Crazy idea for a demo: could you set up a small research institute's IT department (intranet, internet access, storage, backup, all the usual personal and scientific software equivalents) for, say, $1000? $500? How low can you go, using Open Source OS and software and various cheap hardware sources? The demo could consist of a server and several client machines, all running various software as though they were sitting in offices and labs throughout the institute... - Bill Hooker

Brilliant idea, Bill...... - Graham Steel

I went to the first demo session (Google Wave, Trixie Tracker, Fish reporting via sms, ...) and it was fun and stimulating. As a researcher, I love seeing demos that can help me carry out open science. But things I want to see are possibly very specific and many of the other attendees wouldn't care. - Steve Koch

I went to some of the demos but I was much more motivated to discuss ideas than tech. Ideas around tech would have been worth my while but a very short introduction to something that was probably quite complex seemed to not provide the opportunity to really dig in properly. So I'd argue for longer demos, perhaps even a sort of "trade show" session where people can wander from demo to demo over the course of an hour or so...? - Cameron Neylon

Exactly what I was thinking when I suggested a tech expo. Run it all afternoon on Friday - this would provide ample time for participants to see a number of demos and to really "dig in" to those they were interested in. The extended time slot and trade show feel would also allow time for networking between participants (since I think all of us wish there had been more time to meet and talk with others). - Walter Jessen

Agree: Tech expo all day on Friday at the hotel would have been great. Especially since the bar had not run out of beer at that point. - Steve Koch