Two days at LesBlogs Paris

What I saw

I just spent 2 days at the LesBlogs conference in Paris, organised by Loïc Lemeur/SixApart Europe. A gathering of geeks, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and web architects, focused on “Blogs 2.0”. Days filled with speeches, panels, chats, networking lunch, dinner and drinks, sometimes dull, sometimes highly amusing and generally quite interesting.
Why not throw everything into a meme-map (Web 2.0 style):
LesBlogs Paris Meme-Map

What I liked

What speakers made the biggest impression:

  1. Ben Hammersley: one of the rare presentations (as opposed to panels) but undoubtedly the best. Thought-provoking (title of the speech: “Eight ideas that will really revolutionize the 21st century (and why blogging isn’t one of them)“), hilarious (“To improve horses, you have to put a fast stallion and a fast mare together, they have to shag … it’s all very technical!“) and thoroughly energising (“Remember: we are all first-row witnesses of a new renaissance, the roommates of Leonardo Da Vinci“).
  2. David Sifry: apart from the admiration I have for his technical skills (his most recent start-up is Technorati), he also had some pertinent things to say about ethical engineering, the responsibility of pioneers and how technology can change the world.
  3. Ethan Zuckerman: the uber-geek and social entrepreneur who started GeekCorps and Global Voices. A man with a mission. And long hair.
  4. Thomas Crampton: journalist with the International Herald Tribune, and guest blogger at Joi Ito’s site, with excellent British wit and some strong ideas on the role of journalism.
  5. Ben Metcalfe: a.k.a. ‘dotBen’, of BBC Backstage fame, for standing up and defending himself in a correct manner when he was attacked by Mena Trott.

And of course the networking was great: I met a lot of people while hunting for food and drinks. One particular nice chap was FactoryJoe, one of the Flockies. I was also very lucky to hang out with my fellow Belgians Francois and Denis (they would be the Shoobies), which made for interesting conversations, encounters and lots of background stories.

What I disliked

Technorati:

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