Seattle recently played home to Gnomedex 5, a gathering of bloggers, publishers and developers interested in the intersection of technology and publishing.

There was a lot to report on from Gnomedex. Developer and influential blogger Dave Winer discussed his latest work, and his vision for the future of the web. Microsoft gave the first public demo of Internet Explorer 7, and introduced their plans for embracing RSS within Longhorn, the next version of Windows. Adam Curry discussed podcasting, and how podcasters and bloggers want to “take back our media”.

While there was a lot to talk about on-stage, the most interesting aspect of the conference was the new paradigm for conferencing, public relations and publishing that was being demo’d at the conference.

Offsite Link: Gnomedex 5 demos future of conferences

Both James and Elisabeth Lewin participated in a discussion on the future of media (mp3) at the 2005 Gnomedex conference in Seattle.Rob Greenlee of WebTalk Radio led the discussion with Mitch Ratcliffe, Gnomedex organizer Chris Pirillo, Ratcliffe, Todd Cochrane of GeekNewsCentral, Andy McCaskey of SlahDotReview, John Wall of TheMShow and Rob Walch of podCast411.

The Lewin Group’s Elisabeth Lewin was interviewed recently about the “godcasting” trend for an article in Milwaukee’s Journal Sentinal.

Elisabeth Lewin, 40, who operates Podcastingnews.com from an 1886 house with a view of downtown Des Moines, Iowa, ranks religion/spiritualty among the five most popular topics in podcasting.

“It’s like a sleeper hit,” Lewin said. “People are hungry for connection.”