It should have been a disappointment when Elizabeth Edwards couldn't make it to the Personal Democracy Forum Conference (PdF '08) in New York City where she had planned to speak Monday. Thanks to VoIP technology, those who had hoped to hear her were able to link up with her via Skype, and that turned out to be an unexpected advantage.It allowed her husband, former presidential candidate and ex-North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, to make an unstaged and unscripted cameo appearance after arriving home from work. The senator walked swiftly into his home, with no idea he was on camera, while 1,000 technophiles chatted with his wife on Skype and watched him in the background.

When Elizabeth Edwards motioned for the senator to join her on their couch in front of her computer, he cheerfully obliged. It was clear he didn't know who was on the other end. At the end of an otherwise normal workday, the crowd got to say "hello" to a former nominee for vice president before his children did.

The glimpse into the Edwards' lives and their home turned out to be a crowd pleaser, drawing applause and laughter when it resulted in the brief impromptu exchange with John Edwards during the last five minutes of the conference.

Once he regained his bearings, he told the crowd that technology has "completely changed the nature of the race already." He should know. He competed for the Democratic nomination before dropping out of the primary in January.

As a member of the audience, I found it a lot more interesting to see Elizabeth Edwards in her own surroundings -- on a yellow couch with a pink rose print, in front of oak furniture, pottery, and a grandfather clock in the background -- than it would have been to see one more speaker behind a podium and under a spotlight. And, without the technology behind Skype, I doubt I ever would have seen anyone nominated for vice president come home from work without the self-consciousness and self-editing that usually comes from knowing you're on camera.