The caricature is Chris Pirillo, and Chris is a caricature. He and Ponzi, the conference organizers, ask these questions:

• Why call it a "technology" conference if you're not providing reliable Wi-Fi?
• Why provide Wi-Fi when you don't include a place for power in the main hall?
• Why try to set attendence records when the true value of a conference is in meeting other people?
• Why have more than one track when it only leads to frustrations in choosing which session to see?
• Why pay more attention to a select group of attendees when everybody should be treated like a VIP?
• Why find speakers who only do what they do because it's their job?
• Why involve participants who haven't done anything interesting or exciting?
• Why spend a thousand dollars on getting lost in the hallways?
• Why force your attendees to pay more for food and beverages throughout the day?

Because everybody else does...? Wrong answer.

Chris Pirillo and his partner Ponzi, your hosts for the conference weekend, will personally welcome you to the event and do their best to make sure your time at Gnomedex will be remembered long after it passes. Attendees from years past have grown accustomed to this experience - finding it refreshing and genuine. They created a conference that seemingly broke ALL the rules. They created this conference for you.

You can learn more about Chris, and what he does on a regular basis, on his blog. Ponzi also has a blog, but it's not updated as frequently. Gnomedex is just one part of their business, which also includes running the expert bloggers network at Lockergnome.com.