This year at XML 2006 we’re going to try something new. On Tuesday night, Michael Smith will host a Vendor PechaKucha night [Wikipedia article on PechaKucha]. Any XML software or service vendor who is registered to attend the conference is welcome to participate, at no extra charge. Here’s how it works:

1. Each presenter submits, in advance, exactly 20 slides.
2. During the presentation, we will show each of the slides for 20 seconds while the presenter talks.
3. When the slides are done, the presentation is over (we should consider hiring the orchestra that plays to cut off Oscar speeches).

That means that a each talk is guaranteed to last exactly 6:40. PechaKucha (roughly, “yackity-yack”) is — you guessed it — big in Japan, and we think that it will be a fun and fast way for people to learn about a lot of products and services in a short amount of time. We encourage people to come and go during the evening and, generally, just to have fun.

So if you’re selling an XML-related product or service and you plan to register to attend XML 2006, why not take six minutes and fourty seconds to tell everyone what’s special about what you have to offer? If you’re coming to learn more about XML, why not sit in on a few quick talks?

For more information on participating, please see http://2006.xmlconference.org/pechakucha.html.