Could Gnomedex be put in the Cloud?

Do you think Gnomedex could be effectively put in the cloud? That is to say, give it a bigger online presence and experience than mere chat, live video, and traditional social media can provide?

Pardon the ramble, but clearly I've been thinking about this. I think that out of all the people who want to go to Gnomedex, many of us don't because we can't make it to Seattle. That's why Chris is thinking about letting people host their own Gnomedexes and people are complaining about costs other than the tickets.

So my thoughts on the matter are:

• The in-person conference would still occur. People love swag and meeting people.
• Multiple live streams so the online audience doesn't feel "locked in" to where the camera is sitting and could monitor the action from several angles and in several places. These streams would not be limited to the presentation.
• Perhaps host online videoconferences on big screens in the gathering areas. On the big screen, show the video of everyone else in that channel. Limit each station to 10-15 "video participants" at a time to avoid overwhelming people.
• Set up one of these video stations on stage, and have someone off to the side screening and presenting the good questions to the presenter.
• Use GoToMeeting, WebEx, or something similar to provide feedback to the presenter. Possibly a phone bridge for the online audience to talk with each other, thereby simulating interacting with nearby audience members.
• Some of the swag can be transferred electronically. For example, a thumbdrive with stuff on it becomes a download.
• Charge for online attendance, but less than in person. Maybe $50 or so. This will weed out the spammers and the junk people whose input is limited to "omg that 3D Printer is teh awesome", etc.
• We could still attend without leaving home or work.
• If properly executed, this would give Gnomedex yet another edge over other popular conferences.

If a few hundred people attend Gnomedex, I think a few thousand would go for this deal. Of course some of the rich value that they would find in person, but it may be a suitable compromise for the legions of people who can't make it.