From Web 2.0 to Le Web 3
As I type this, I am returning from Le Web 3 in Paris. What started out as a small blogging conference organized by Six Apart to help connect bloggers throughout Europe (Les Blog), has in three short years become a massive international gathering of entrepreneurs, journalists, executives, investors and now politicians, all focused upon the power of the Internet to transform markets, economies, and governments. Like the vastly oversubscribed Web 2.0 conference a month ago, Le Web was standing room only. Registration closed at 1,000 attendees from 38 countries, with many more hoping, begging to get in. Add 180 traditional journalists -- print, radio and television -- and you have more than a conference, you have a phenomenon.
The content of Le Web mirrored that of Web 2.0 in many ways. There were discussions of the powers of communities, the emergence of online games as virtual economies, Dave Sifry's "State of the Blogsphere." And, of course, the obligatory debate as to whether Europe can compete with Silicon Valley as fertile ground for growing web companies (a fraction of the crowd voted on the proposition by SMS, giving the nod to Europe by a margin of two to one). Like Web 2.0, the lobby of Le Web was bustling with entrepreneurs anxious to show off their fledgling services to journalists and investors alike. And like Web 2.0 before it, I left Le Web with a heightened sense of optimism about the ever increasing capacity of entrepreneurs to harness the power of the Internet for the betterment of the world. Does it sound hyperbolic? You bet. Do I believe it? You bet. After talking with entrepreneurs from throughout the world, it is clear to me that the Internet is the transformative force in world economies today and will remain so for the foreseeable future.
David,
I am curious why you did not mention the big controversy about the speech of Francois Bayrou and Nicolas Sarkozy. I did not attend the conference but it seems a lot of people were offended (http://crueltobekind.org/archive/2006-12-12/loic_lemeur_betraying_1000_att).
Did you think the speech was appropriate? Do you expect a significant impact for next years conference?
hi David, was good to meet you there and share the same panel. keep on blogging.
Hi David, great meeting you at LeWeb, and am looking forward to chatting again in the valley soon.
oh come ON mr. hornik... i call BULLS**T on you for this one.
how can you POSSIBLY post about Le Web 3 conference and not even say a word about all the controversy?
furthermore, as a Six Apart investor you appear blatantly biased by not disclosing the connection to Loic.
totally fine to disagree / defend the controversy, but to not even MENTION it is a gross obfuscation / dereliction of duty as a blogger.
seriously: your readers deserve better.
Actually, I call bullshit on the controversy. In my mind it is massively overblown. The organizers of a conference always get to determine the content of that conference. To the extent that folks think the political speakers were misplaced, that is their prerogative. But it was Loic's prerogative to invite them. I certainly understand that some attendees did not think that it was a good choice. And I believe that Loic has heard that message loud and clear. But the political speakers were a very small portion of a very successful web conference. My relationship to Six Apart or Loic have nothing to do with my belief that Le Web was a powerful testimony to the vibrance of web startups in Europe.
so again, i fully accept your right to say the controversy was overblown... and even more importantly, you're one of the few people i respect enough to take that perspective and make me believe it.
as i was saying, your avoiding even mentioning the issue would appear to lend credibility to it. given that you chose to post something, i just can't see how you could choose to not say anything about it.
my apologies if you feel my comment was overly harsh, but i wouldn't feel that way if you hadn't said anything about it at all. however, since you did, guess i kind of expected you to say something one way or the other.
just my perspective perhaps, but seems like i wasn't the only commenter that felt that way.
anyway, your opinion does matter to me, as someone i trust who was there.