Le Web 3: Highlights from the French web 2.0 conference, plus the all-important explanation
This rather dishy Frenchman, Loïc Le Meur? Not only can he woo you with blue cheese and strong wine, he’s also France’s most prolific blogger, and organiser of the Le Web conferences, of which two of Shiny Media’s directors, Katie Lee and Chris Price, have been live-blogging today.
In its third incarnation this year, organiser Loïc Le Meur has thrown a two-day conference in Paris, with panels consisting of the creme de la creme of the online world.
As Katie eloquently said in her first live-blog post this morning, ‘I always feel a little forlorn that the internet has turned into crowds of consultants and people like us with our Web 2.0 companies, Twittering, Digging, Liveblogging and podcasting our way through conferences’, but needless to say, these love-in sessions consisting of web 2.0 personalities is needed.
Without them, online ventures such as Flickr, Facebook, Del.icio.us and MySpace wouldn’t have had the helping hand they received, and we’d probably still be looking for flats, friends and dates in ‘Loot’ and the like, instead of on the plethora of sites we have which answer our every need, however eccentric they may be.
So, hearing Digg’s Kevin Rose urge young start-ups to hold back from indulging in funding, designer Philippe Starck’s opinion on Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader, and Rafi Haladjian being rubbished by Mattias Keufkens and Iris Ben David about his pointless Nabaztag rabbits are all not only extremely interesting, but also important for the future, and indeed, for future web 2.0 entrepreneurs.
Whilst that may not target you in particular, we’re all users of the grand old thing we call ‘teh internetz’, and it’ll all come into play sooner or later, with future Kindle designs possibly adhering to what Starcke would deem ‘stylish’, or for more Facebook-style initiatives, where the founders of said hot new start-up resists succumbing to funding for as long as possible, meaning less advertising on whatever social-networking site is doing the rounds then.
If any of that doesn’t interest you so far, then hearing June Choen (of TED Media) discuss the radical concept that new media, such as blogs and social-networking sites, are actually old media, and old media (in the traditional print or TV format) is actually new media, will certainly change the way you view your media habits. Take a look at Katie’s live-blog on her talk at the conference, for more on this topic.
Otherwise, if you’re just keen for a chuckle and reminder that the old media vs. new media debate is still raging on, then Katie Bell, from The Guardian Unlimited, and Andrew Keen, author of ‘Cult of the Amateur’, have supplied you, by way of Katie’s live-blogging skills, with a friendly argument on this age-old topic.
Le Web 3
Schedule for Le Web 3’s panels
Live-stream of Le Web 3 video
The live-blogs so far…
Shiny Media goes to Le Web 3! First up, Digg’s Kevin Rose and Sarah Lacy from Business Week do some gentle flirting
The best thing I’ve heard so far at Le Web 3 – Hans Rosling, founder of Médecins Sans Frontières
Le Web 3: Philippe Starck is bonkers. And Robert Scoble just asked him what he thinks of the Kindle…
Le Web 3: Possibly the most tense panel discussion I’ve ever witnessed!
Le Web 3: According to June Cohen of TED Media, user-generated content is not new: it’s old media that’s the upstart
Le Web 3: Andrew Keen and Emily Bell ask if social media is killing our society?
