This year’s Le Web conference, which took place in Paris this week, was a spectacular event, but overall a slightly mixed experience this time round. There has been plenty of other coverage of the event from Dennis Howlett and Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten among others. The first day’s programme was pretty weak, but there were some good talks on the second day. Overall, an impressive event, but one which I think needs some stronger direction next year
My personal favourite talks were
Chris Anderson, curator of TED, gave a wonderfully engaging talk about how the web is (and should) add to the total sum of human knowledge and learning, whilst sharing this value globally as an educational resource. It was a lovely talk, and provided the kind of sustenance and inspiration I found so lacking among the banal fireside chats and re-hashed celeb talks. More like this please
Dr. Brian Cox, particle physicist and someone who works on the LHC in Geneva, shared his love for the universe with us, and argued that loving our universe is a first step to loving ourselves. When he explained how the entire universe seems to be constructed from 12 particles of matter held together by four distinct ‘forces of nature’ and how humans are made from just one type of particle replicated in three generations, it was clear this was something he continues to marvel at. I also learned that the miracle of life on earth is even more of an extraordinary confluence of very specific factors than I realised, that come together in precisely the right way to create the conditions for the stable form of carbon upon which life is built. I liked his observations about the apparent uniqueness of life on earth, and whether this should mean we feel lonely or special.
Marissa Mayer from Google was very professional and generous in answering questions in contrast to Michael Arrington who used the session to ask his own question, which he then wrote up as a scoop (Techcrunch is a great example of the fact blogs and journalism are not always the same thing). She spoke about the experimental search wiki feature and this year’s just released Zeitgeist, but also about the future of search in different contexts (car, phone, PC, etc) and the tough problem of video search. This theme was picked up in the start up competition, which was won by video search company Viewdle (again).
I always enjoy Le Web, largely because it is a place where I have lots of good friends, and so I am grateful to Loic and Geraldine and would encourage them to continue. It has never had the depth of ideas of Reboot or Lift, for example, but it is bigger and glitzier and an authentically European event that has an important place on the social web’s calendar. Loic’s personal energy and optimism are a key factor in making the event what it has become, and I admire him very much. But I would like to offer some friendly criticism as feedback to help improve the event. I know Loic is open enough and big enough to take it in the spirit it is intended, so here are my issues and some ideas for improvement
LogisticsEnough has been said about the logistics – lack of food, warmth and WiFi – and whilst these would have been unforgivable from a major event producer, I think we should bear in mind that Loic and Geraldine pretty much produce the event themselves. We survived, but I think many people will think twice about paying so much money for such an experience again, despite the fact this has been one of the events really strong points in recent years. Loic has addressed this already in an open and honest way
Banal Fireside chatsWhen Le Web was created – in a wiki, by the way – it was a much needed meeting point for European web people (NOT just “startups” or “entrepreneurs” but also practitioners) and US-based thinkers and doers. It was a lovely combination of French, European and global (aka American). There were proper talks and some panels, but it was possible to come away with some ideas and inspiration. Recently, I think the programme is too full of small slots that just exist as an opportunity for Loic to give a platform to rich or ‘cool’ friends, but with very little meaningful content, ideas or insights. I have heard some of these ‘stories’ so many times that unless these people are willing to put in a little bit of work and give a talk – with some actual ideas – then I am not interested in ‘appearances’. They are not rock stars, just people who have made money in one or both tech bubbles. Well done. Now move over please. Or at least get someone to ask some hard questions
The absurd reification of startups and VCsThis combines with my other bugbear, which is the obsession with VC funding and “startups”. That is soooo 2007 and, in all honesty, slightly passé. The really amazing startups just do it. They don’t compete for 2 minutes of attention from VC, Robert Scoble (no offence intended – he’s lovely) or self-appointed kingmakers like Techcrunch. We were a web startup when Le Web began and now we are a multi-million pound profitable small company. We want to change the world, and that needs real ideas, courage and passion, not another micro-blogging clone or UGC content rating service. Tim O’Reilly urges ambitious young people to go out and solve big problems, creating more value than you consume. I like that. Encouraging startups regardless of purpose, quality or usefulness is not helpful any more. Haven’t they got the memo about the collapse of the debt economy? Pre-revenue is one thing. No-hope-of-revenue is another. Better to encourage young people to do something meaningful with their skills, as Social Innovation Camp does, than to entice them into the VC sausage machine in the mistaken belief that one of them will get bought out and ‘cash in’
Lack of content depthChallenge your speakers for goodness sake! Make them write a talk, not recycle one they gave before. Le Web has had some great talks, such as Hans Rosling last year. I confess I did not make it to all the sessions this year, but I loved Chris Anderson and Brian Cox (and I heard the conductor was amazing too). Many of the others were really quite disappointingly light on original content
That’s all! It’s a great event and a welcome opportunity to get together with friends and colleagues in a wonderful city, and if you haven’t experienced it yet, then I would highly recommend it. Thanks again to Loic and Geraldine for making it happen
UPDATE: As usual, we now have the traditional Le Web spat, with Loic and Michael Arrington trading blows. I like Loic’s original response to Arrington. Meanwhile, I am enjoying watching some of the videos such as Morten Lund, David Weinberger’s suit – and let’s just say that Vent Privée was very well received in my household On balance I am still a fan.