The first Community Leadership Summit kicked off today in San Jose, California, and the turnout is great. If you couldn't make it in person, you can follow along on Twitter (#cls) or read the session notes on the event wiki. Jono Bacon and the other event organizers and volunteers have done a wonderful job of creating an event that feels inclusive. Attendees range from actual "community managers," to community members and people who are just interested in aspects of creating and fostering community.

The first session I attended this morning was led by Kaliya Hamlin (organizer of She's Geeky) and covered the topic of tools for community managers. Session participants discussed what tools they currently use to "check on the pulse" of their communities, including homegrown solutions, TweetDeck, and RSS feeds.

Kirrily Robert led the Gendered Online Spaces talk in the afternoon. This brief discussion touched on communication differences and challenges in communities.

Amber Graner led a discussion on Encouraging Non-Technical Folks, which was well attended. It's good to see so many people interested in helping others get involved in their open source communities (and other communities, too).

At the end of the day, attendees regathered in one room and offered feedback on the first day's events before breaking off for the evening. One more day of Community Leadership Summit, and then on to OSCON 2009.