words and pictures by Brian Solis
Dave Winer officially apologized to Jason Calacanis for his interruption and accusations of conference spam during Calacanis’ presentation at Gnomedex 7.0.
Not that this is breaking news, but I’m posting this because I respect Winer for publicly apologizing and also Calacanis for looking at the process as a way to improve Mahalo and for also publicly accepting Winer’s apology.
Winer truly felt bad and spent the weekend commenting that he regretted his actions on almost every post that documented the incident.
According to Dave’s post, “I gave it some thought, and I decided to apologize to Jason for interrupting his speech at Gnomedex. I wish I hadn’t done it. It’ll never happen again. That’s a promise.”
What’s important to realize is that Dave is only apologizing for the way in which he shared his thoughts. He is not apologizing for his opinion, nor should he.
Winer then twittered:
davewiner btw, i just apologized to calacanis on scripting news. that should end the misery part of this supposed “battle.” I am not fighting. period.
davewiner one thing i learned as a ceo, apologize easily and often. my grandfather, a businessman, taught me this. “pay for your sins,” he said.
davewiner he explained that no matter what you’re going to pay. the longer you wait the more it costs. 
Moments later, Calacanis replied:
JasonCalacanis Accepted Dave… and as always I respect your ideas greatly and am always open to hearing how you think any product can be better.
Cheers gentlemen for showing the blogosphere how things can be publicly handled with mutual respect and dignity.
Update: Jason’s post is online…”As always, and I’ve said this over and over, I respect your ideas greatly and am always open to hearing how you think any product can be better. I have no problem with spirited debate (as anyone can attest to), only with the concept of berating someone while they are on stage presenting their vision. In fact, I’ll take all the free advice I can get.”
More on Gnomedex day one here.
Day one pictures here.
Pre-party pictures here.
Discussion
Yes, both Jason and Dave should be commended. Good on Dave for not withdrawing the comment, just how he put it out there.
We owe it to each other to keep each other honest.
Here, here, Tris!