2,500 entrepreneurs, leaders, investors, bloggers, journalists gathered together for 2 days in Paris on December 8-9, 2010 for an annual event those in the technology industry now know well – LeWeb.
The leading event in Europe for all things Web 2.0 and digital was held at a venue called The Docks, which is an area with more of a campus feel to it than anything else. Combine campus feel with urban and warehouse layout and you have 3 separate halls and tents that sponsors, vendors and speakers called “home” for two snowy days last week.
LeWeb brings together the most influential audience in the Internet ecosystem largely from Europe although I met entrepreneurs from Israel, Australia, South Africa, Ireland, Canada and the states during the event itself as well as the after networking gatherings and private dinners, my more notable experiences from the event.
Some of the speakers from this year included Carlos Ghosn, Marissa Mayer, Dennis Crowley, Alexander Tamas, Sebastien de Halleux, and Michael Arrington to name a few. The format on the main stage was not unlike last year – it combined Q&As, panel discussions and keynotes.
Take a look at my posts and videos on Gary Vaynerchuck, Foursquare’s Dennis Crowley, the Joe Green interview from Causes, Robert Scoble’s interview with Mitchell Baker, and the two-part video clip on the start-up competition which includes winners Waze from Israel (traffic), Paper.ly (publishing) from Switzerland and Super Marmite from France (food).
Also take a look at the Pearltrees recap video that Tom Foremski took — Patrice Lamothe and his team launched TEAM at LeWeb this year and their booth was by far, the most creative, interesting and compelling booth at the conference. (and yes, while I DO — disclosure — consult for them, it simply was the best. Enuf said).
Robert Scoble also interviewed Patrice Lamothe on TEAM’s capabilities which you can read here including a video clip. Additional pieces worth reading are Alastair Goldfisher’s piece on PE Hub, the ZDNET piece by Sam Diaz and Alexia Tsotsis post on TechCrunch.
Below is a Pearltree for the best of what happened at LeWeb and it includes video, blog posts, speakers, the schedule and more.
Below are some random shots I took on site with some contributions in the collection by Rodrigo as noted.
Mozilla’s Mitchell Baker
The food at conferences in Paris are — let’s just say — different
Foursquare’s Dennis Crowley, Renee Blodgett, Robin Wauters from Techcrunch Europe (yes, it snowed) — taken on Ben Parr’s iPhone
Judges who were largely investors give feedback to the three start-up competiton winners
Gary Vee, as passionate as ever, gives the closing keynote.
Start-up demos on the main stage
Fergus Burns and Daire Hickey over from Dublin
Loic Le Meur delivers an incredible set of entrepreneurs, investors and visionaries to the LeWeb audience
Present, present, present……..
Pearltrees blogger lunch in the trendy Alcazar along Rue Mazarine not far from Odeon
F.ounders networking dinner
Renee Blodgett, Robert Scoble, Ben Parr
After hours networking dinner
Gabe Rivera and Patrice Lamothe explore Pearltrees TEAM, a new feature launched at LeWeb
Paddy Cosgrave and Frederic Lardinois
David Hornik moderated the start-up competition
Jeremiah Owyang – one for the panel……
Jon Fine and Laurel Touby
Networking
Julien Pot, a French TV producer shows those credentials
The Next Web team showed up from Amsterdam
360 Capital Partners Dinner
Trending after hours in The Marais
Priorities….
Nicole Simon and Anina
Tom Foremski, Francois Rocaboy
Yves Eudes from Le Monde too busy covering WikiLeaks and Julian Assange to attend LeWeb
Salim Ismail from Singularity University in the Pearltrees booth
Mike Butcher (photo taken by Rodrigo)
Below taken by Rodrigo
Thomson Crampton over from Hong Kong (taken by Rodrigo)
Massages in front of the blogger lounge
Rodrigo Sepulveda
Foursquare’s Dennis Crowley on the LeWeb stage telling his ‘story’
Paul Papadimitriou
Ben Parr for pre LeWeb cafe and all that……
Disclosure Note: I am a consultant for Pearltrees.
Renee Blodgett is the founder of We Blog the World. The site combines the magic of an online culture and travel magazine with a global blog network and has contributors from every continent in the world. Having lived in 10 countries and explored nearly 80, she is an avid traveler, and a lover, observer and participant in cultural diversity.
She is also the CEO and founder of Magic Sauce Media, a new media services consultancy focused on viral marketing, social media, branding, events and PR. For over 20 years, she has helped companies from 12 countries get traction in the market. Known for her global and organic approach to product and corporate launches, Renee practices what she pitches and as an active user of social media, she helps clients navigate digital waters from around the world. Renee has been blogging for over 16 years and regularly writes on her personal blog Down the Avenue, Huffington Post, BlogHer, We Blog the World and other sites. She was ranked #12 Social Media Influencer by Forbes Magazine and is listed as a new media influencer and game changer on various sites and books on the new media revolution. In 2013, she was listed as the 6th most influential woman in social media by Forbes Magazine on a Top 20 List.
Her passion for art, storytelling and photography led to the launch of Magic Sauce Photography, which is a visual extension of her writing, the result of which has led to producing six photo books: Galapagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome, Urbanization and Ecuador.
Renee is also the co-founder of Traveling Geeks, an initiative that brings entrepreneurs, thought leaders, bloggers, creators, curators and influencers to other countries to share and learn from peers, governments, corporations, and the general public in order to educate, share, evaluate, and promote innovative technologies.
