Kevin Hooks, EVP of Integrated Marketing in Weber Shandwick’s LA office, is on the ground in Paris for the granddaddy of European web conferences: Le Web. Here’s what he’s seen so far.
Day one of Le Web was filled with excellence in observations. Let me explain…as I strolled the “halls of innovation” (my gloss…not theirs) I was struck by the number of people who were first timers clearly in awe of what was before them yet appreciative of their good fortune. I spied a young account person from one major auto company actually pinch herself to confirm that she was awake and not dreaming.
Even I must admit experiencing a little trepidation as I entered the first hall. It wasn’t the design elements or the various companies pimping their newest innovations like male peacocks during breeding season. It wasn’t the incredible technology on display (as a point of note, technology is not the whole of the event…the event is the whole of technology). It was the people in the room that were impressive and that’s Le Web’s brilliance. The people are the value of the conference.
The excitement and buzz around the announcements (someone compared it to SXSW) are not lost on me however. They have announced tons of apps, media/social innovations and a number of cool new toys. But Le Web is the people. There are startup kings and queens, the best and brightest in multi-media, big brand representatives, top social players, tech geeks who managed to be nerds that are cool (how does that work?), and all kinds of people from across the spectrum of society. The sessions were interesting in ways that universities never discover. The location, Paris, is obviously one of the few places that immediately drive worldwide interest.
This incredible little event is both overwhelming and comfortable because the people who make up the population both on and offstage share these common traits – the confidence to observe, the skill to deliver and the passion to act.