DISQUS

what did you think of LeWeb last year? There were some great start-ups in the basement. Enjoyed what you had to share even if you don't like travelling....

amazing shots with that Canon 40D. Can you change my tag to jonathanmarks? Hope post DLD is trating you well. It was a fun, chaotic conference.

Good interview and it is to be hoped that Annan will also use Seesmic as part of his Climate Justice campaign. I see that Vincent Bolloré's Havas is to handle the global advertising for Kofi Annan's Campaign which aims to raise awareness of the impact of the changing environment on poor communities.

Annan, who is launching the climate change campaign through his Global Humanitarian Forum, revealed the tie-up alongside David Jones, the chief executive of Havas Worldwide, at the World Economic Forum in Davos yesterday. They say the ad agency network Euro RSCG will launch the campaign at this year's Cannes International Advertising Festival on 26 June.

The campaign is aimed at ensuring the human impact side of the climate change argument is prioritised at the United Nations conference on the topic in Copenhagan in December.

Part of the tie-up will see Annan support Euro RSCG's own global initiative, One Young World.

They seems to be a tie-up with the BBC Worldwide website (where I see Seesmic is being used as one feedback channel) and the project is being promoted by Google. I guess Richard Sambrook, the BBC Director of global news must be involved.

I was involved with a early computer show on Dutch radio called Hobbyscoop in 1984, as well as presenting a show on Radio Netherlands called Media Network. We did everything on the Apple II and later the IIe. There was a scheme to buy one of the first Mac's but it was slow to take off because of the Lisa fiasco prior to the Mac. I ended up waiting for the Mac II, later upgrading to the Mac IIx. I also bought one of the early Laserprinters for 6000 dollars. That was a huge investment in those days, but it all lasted 8 years with no problems. By the early 90's, the whole PowerMac range was very confusing and I had problems with poor foreign language support from Apple in the Netherlands. Apple was one of the vendors we considered for a newsroom project at the TV station I was working out - with hindsight I am glad they didn't get the contract. Today would be different. Happy Birthday Mac.

Rocky...you're doing a great job. I do documentary work and you get great results with a very short time to prepare (lighting, acoustics, etc.). What mics r you using? I'm pleased with the sennheiser wireless mikes, especially when there's poor room acoustics. Makes a huge difference. I am curious 2 see how Mercury changes. I get the impression some European newspapers are further with video reportages, though a lot are still making "broomcupboard" TV.

It's interesting to see that TED has just announced TED Europe will be permanently in Oxford as from next year. I think LeWeb in its present form complements TED, Lift rather nicely - good quality, especially the keynotes. It was also nice that people like Hans Rosling stuck around and chatted with participants - it wasn't just a speech then handwaves and quick departure ( call them bungee speakers - gone before they arrive). LeWeb gave rising talent a chance to perform. 80% is top class, 20% is the pits - but you take visible risks and the audience appreciates that. That's a much better score than 60/40 that you get at many European conferences and festivals. I think the mix is about right - but you need to focus on quality rather than quantity if you want to continue having fun. Geraldine does an excellent, professional job mixing and matching. I am sure it is a huge challenge, and as long as it remains fun and she "loves" doing it, then it will blossom. But if the risks increase, so there are sleepless nights wondering if its going to pay its way - that's the time to simply say full is full. The bigger they get, the less personal. Too big and the red giant will implode.

Leweb is one of the few conferences where there are visible differences each year - you clearly take the wisdom of the crowds seriously and I believe people already regard the networking opportunities as one of the highlights of the year. You have gained respect from the community for listening - and those who criticize it as being "too commercial" have never tried organising anything like this on this kind of scale.

You have to find the balance between access and exclusivity. a 2000 person leweb would be a disaster. But on the other hand - I don't think a 400 person , "3000 Euro a ticket" event would work right now, unless you want to take on Techcrunch or Demo. It may be a cultural thing - there are more people in the US that make a living public speaking than anywhere. Perhaps that's because in Europe we tend to reward a great presentation with a bottle of wine or a book token.

Success in your deliberations. As long as you look in the mirror (or Geraldine looks in the mirror) as says we're still having fun, its worth continuing. Routine is your biggest enemy.

Quick question Loic,

does the skypephone work with just its internal battery? I see an application for this in West Africa where bandwidth is improving, but the local mains power is still very unreliable. So if you're in a call and power goes off, does the unit cut out or switch to internal battery power.

Hang in there Loic. Your are obviously a people manager with a big heart - and that makes decisions like this especially tough. Good luck to those who have to leave.

Some of those interviewees at Davos 08 have a lot to answer for. I expect big budget cuts here in Europe in the development aid and broadcast sectors. Part of it though, is simply a natural correction. Curious to see what happens to the Chinese and Indian economies which have been growing far too fast in my opinion.

This is definitely going to be of use in disaster relief business where you have to be able to operate under very damp and dusty connections. But also the radio industry. Studio mixers operating in radio stations in Africa last about 3 years before dust and dirt get inside and totally mess up the electronics. I see this being offered as an (essential) extra by manufacturers, rather than people shipping stuff to MA.

There are still too many people who are risk averse in Europe - especially in the Netherlands which has the highest number of insurance companies per capita. It is very difficult to be different from the rest when those around don't know how to celebrate success, nor do they want to excel...a 6 out of 10 is good enough. That, in short, is the difference between Silicon Polder and Silicon Valley. I find more exciting things happening in Eastern Europe and the Nordic areas.

Agree with most of those thoughts when applied to boards here in Europe. The only aspect I would be wary of is conflicts - especially when there are serious conflicts of interest or relationships (like family relations) which might lead to misunderstandings by the press/government. I don't believe a board member and a managing director can have any form of relationship, even if it is clear up front, in a public company. Family run businesses are obviously different.

Brilliant. Wish it would also work on the iPod Touch. Wifi on this device is fantastic. But then just making a special barcode on the screen is also a simple way to jump the queue. Hope it beccomes a reality.

Congrats. You managed to get Anne Wojcicki and Linda Avey to explain what 23 and Me in a much clearer fashion than they did on stage at DLD. I don't think they addressed the questions of counseling (what happens if you discover something terrible in the results) very well.

Works better in audio, but the lip sync too many times for me.

agree with you. My experience is that there is little conversation lost by closing the comments on posts older than 30 days. I have had excellent e-mails from people who have been trawling a specific subject and come up with the blog entry through Google or Yahoo. But they didn't need the comments space to do that. Success with your blog....its a must read here in Europe.