This was not a forum for making major decisions or generating new strategies for tackling profound questions, he wrote in a lengthy commentary. It was also not a venue for finding the best way to reward innovative thinkers while continuing to promote innovation.

Yet, there is "inestimable value in the conversations and connections made off the official record and unknown benefits to be reaped by the potential future collaborations," he noted.

"If the diversity of attendees or the number and range of opinions expressed is the gauge of success, then the 2007 IGF was a huge success," he wrote. There were nearly 1,400 attendees from all walks of Web life.

But many sessions involved "people talking past one another" and the question Faris is left to ponder is "how the exchanges of opinions can be aggregated and channeled into something genuinely useful."

On a lighter note, he added: "I find fresh coconut milk the perfect fuel for digesting the enormity of Internet governance, particularly in combination with the sonorous lapping of waves. When that isn’t enough, a caipirinha can help with one’s courage of conviction."

Read Faris's detailed reflections on IGF in the next issue of the Filter, Berkman's monthly e-newsletter.