btw: Web 3.0 in Europe does not happen in London
If you are one of those people thinking that starting in Europe is done by going to London or taking a look at what is happening there, you should think again. It was always untrue as London is UK and not Europe but even more so now that we are talking Web 2.0 and all.
*The* major events happen in Copenhagen, Geneva, Lisbon with Reboot, Lift and Shift on the more idealistic visionary side and in Paris and Munich for the more enterprisy / media side with Les Blogs and Digital Lifestyle Day (Amsterdam not to be forgotten)
Yes, if you want a city where you can bump into a lot of things happening everyday then London is at the moment one of your best guesses. But thanks to a highly connected net of low cost airlines no place in Europe is much more than 2-3 flying hours away.
But as most people in Europe have to travel anyhow if they want to go somewhere, local places pick up with speed in what they are doing. I say it everytime and I say it again: If you only look at English as a language on what is happening over here, you are mistaken to do so.
Cultural diversity as well as the need for the local language make the market much more complicated (which is why companies find it easier to just go to London), but if you want to get an idea about the market and how for example at the moment new startups pop up in Germany you will need to find a way to communicate into and out of this country.
So let’s say you want to get a feel for how European diversity works and how it is to be in a room where people do not only speak english as their not non native language but as the language of choice, and where the usual visitor tends to speak at least 2 language, sometimes even 4 or 5. Where cultures connect not just states, then you have your conference to go – Les Web 3.
Les blogs changes to Le Web
Loic Lemeurchanges the name of Les Blogs to Le Web:
The new name is Le Web 3, I wanted it to be more general than just blogs. We had 450 people from 25 countries last year, we expect 1000 bloggers and key Web2.0 players this year
which I think is a good choice.
At Les Blogs 2 (besides some incidents with food and a backchannel) I felt that most of us where surprised how many normal people already had reached the point of ‘getting it’ and where eager to come and learn where the more digital boheme part of the conference was irritated because they where not expecting this.
This time the signal is clear, even without having the program yet: This is going to be about the mass market, the enterprises, the big topics of how to make this work and monetize it.
Coincedently I had made up my mind today that I wanted to go – even though after last time I was thinking not to. But now I am more than happy and curious to see who will come and what will happen at this conference.
One of the reasons to be so happy is actually that 2006 has been a very good year for Germany. While we still do not blog as much as other countries, a lot of new and intersting applications and ideas have risen. The amount of people talking / entering Second Life is astonishing. And while not obvious, the people using openbc for their social netword service of choice are high, even though it may not be on the radar of more american focussed viewers. People as well as big media and enterprises are entering the podcasting market equally in audio as in video, Germany always has been a strong wikipedia as well as ebay country.
Oh did I mention we do have more people living here than in the UK? So yes, events are happening in London, but the rest of the bunch is working and living somewhere else and interested in getting connected and making things happen. Over here, for people living here with their different approach to life / culture and society and bring new and different viewpoints to the table.
See you in Paris!
(I have now added an upcoming.org link for le web)
ps: And I can finally use google maps in Europe to find out where the conference is happening. You knew that Google did only have the UK for a very long time as the European map? A greeting to people from Salesforce and co who called their Google Map integration as their killer feature for international users in a time when Google barely knew the outline of the european countries …
Tags: european view
Hi Nicole!
Everyone takes the UK as “the country” where the Web is better and bigger in Europe. And I think that’s a good thing. This kind of thinking let’s the other countries grow at their own speed. Specially by not just copying what happens in the US but mostly by creating several different businesses more adapted to the European reality. These conferences, I think are the reflex of this.
Yes and no. While it is nice that everybody is able to go at their own pace, it also makes sure that there is not enough influence from the outside to speed things up. How much nicer and easier could the world be if we all would work for the same interests of ours instead of separating it additionally per country and culture? :)