Highlights From The 2011 Roflcon Summit

    On October 1st, the leading experts in online culture gathered in Portland to discuss everything from the societal impact of sites like Reddit and Urban Dictionary to the historical importance of Geocities. With so much geek royalty from across the web together under one roof, this was truly an unforgettable occasion!

    Chris Menning
    by Chris Menning

    BuzzFeed Staff

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    One of the first things attendants saw when entering the office of Wieden + Kennedy was this giant Nyan Cat mural covering the wall.

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    Next to the giant Nyan Cat was an installation inspired by Ted Stevens, a metaphor for the Internet, a series of tubes.

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    For scale.

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    Behind the speakers' panel was this giant Forever Alone head, seen here with Funny Or Die's Darryl Gudmundson.

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    Another installation was the Advice Dog advice box.

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    An Antoine Dodsen inspired to-do list.

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    A full scale Minecraft crafting table.

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    This old-school meme was installed inside a bathroom stall upstairs where Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" played from the ceiling on a non-stop loop.

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    This installation was titled "What Time Is It?"

    I think you know what time it is.

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    Gabe & Max of Videogum and BestWeekEver opened the event with a hilarious presentation on fake memes like Gooey Bechamel, which is a lot like a much more specific version of BreadPeople.

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    Kicking off the serious talks, MemeFactory's Mike Rugnetta moderated the Emerging Platforms panel, featuring VHX's Jamie Wilkinson, Chris Poole of Canv.as and 4Chan, Cheezburger CEO Ben Huh, and myself.

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    Professor of Cultural Anthropology at NYU Biella Coleman and General Manager of Reddit Erik Martin spoke on the panel Internet Culture and Geopolitics, moderated by ROFLcon founder Tim Hwang.

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    Internet Archivists Brewster Kahle and Jason Scott spoke about suing the US government for the right to preserve Internet history in the Collecting And Preserving The Web panel.

    One memorable moment was when Jason Scott decried some site's practice of shutting down without providing a way for people to save their data; drawing the analogy of being evicted from your home and the property manager burning the house down the next morning.

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    This is an archive of nearly the entire Internet. It fills a shipping container.

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    EncyclopediaDramatica founder Sherrod Degrippo defended her controversial decision to take the site down without saving an archive by stating that "It's my site. It wasn't fun anymore...I don't want to be beholden to my community."

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    These calculator watches served as access wristbands for getting into the after-party on the Wieden + Kennedy rooftop.

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    A view of the after party.

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    Musical guests Deelay Ceelay providing the entertainment.

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    Best-tasting Lemon Party EVER!

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    ROFLcon Founder Tim Hwang at the party, sporting the Scumbag Steve hat.