A confession: I belong to those weird folks that spend their holidays at conferences. Last was Ars Electronica, next, starting tomorrow, is LIFT08.

It's the third time I'm attending LIFT (tagline: “Challenges and opportunities of technology in society”) in Geneva, so I already know the strange kind fun of having a Fondue with local heroes and global web celebrities (usual suspects attending again this year: Sterling, Scoble, Giussani), as well as I do know the massive boredom of a conference full of en-vogue consultant types all thinking and talking so professionally outside-the-box that they don't even notice they actually are the box. LIFT07 was very much like that, a great deal bigger and rather different from the first instalment in 06.

LIFT08 seems designed to tackle these issues: Less high-profile jet set speakers (somebody should have made Cory and Régine come again anyhow.. :)), just a single track of presentations (but at more cost), no panels (were mostly irrelevant) – and more focus again on participants just socializing happily. Looks like more art, less tech, too, or like more openness to non-valley kinds of innovation.

Be that as it may, I'll be there trying to capture the thing in liveblogging mode – if there's something on the program or somebody on the participant list you think I must absolutely see: tell me.