Web 2.0 Ireland - The story so far
Written on December 22, 2007 by Conor O'Neill
A little storm erupted this morning over the TechLudd initiative which was launched by some of those who went on the Paddy’s Valley trip to the USA. Paul Walsh from Segala considers it misguided and wonders why no attempt was made to reach out to existing networks in Ireland, particularly considering TechLudd is supposed to be about networking. I offered my few cents in support of Paul’s position and some decent debate ensued in the comments.
Fergus Burns posted a comment which I consider incredibly important to the web community and I quote it below. I encourage you to offer your own opinions on the Segala post.
On a sidenote, I just did a theme change on the Web2Ireland site and imported all my old blognation posts there. It would be fantastic if some designer in the Irish web community would do a custom design and logo for the site. It has a large number of RSS subscribers and many highly influential people visit it regularly. It would be a great calling card for your design abilities.
Fergus on Web2Ireland and the community here:
- Web2Ireland is for everyone - its not me, nooked - its about the community
- it was setup @ web2con in SF in 2005
- its audience is widespread - you would be surprised who’s subscribed
- web2ireland is a brand that people relate to [esp. outside of Ireland]
- EI provide no support to the forum - although its all about startups/web companies in Ireland [32 counties]
- I personally pay for the domain reg.
- Hosting365 provide hosting for free
- we ran one large conf in 2006 - which EI stage managed
- Web2Ireland only works because people like Conor, Paul, Sean, Jonathan, Julian and a host of others contribute
- we also try to stimulate activity - seedcamp, opencoffee, barcamp, etc - not in the business of “approving stuff”
- we tried our best to get EI to do a israelwebtour - instead people stepped up and PV happened
- Demobar was based on Stirr model in Valley
- Ryan/FOWA presented a great opp to make the 1st event successful
- Sean O’Sullivan made DemoBar I happen
- the next demobar was pencilled in for end of Jan [the date was based on a keynote speaker availability and working with Ireland Inc dinner, etc - hence how Paul and I ended up talking about events in Jan]
- We have sponsors already - instead of us going with a begging bowl, we actually have people coming to us. [and some of these sponsors contacted me in relation to techludd - confusion as you can imagine]
- At the end of the day the question is - do you want a vibrant community @ web2 in Ireland or do you want a host of little groups doing their own thing.
- An example of how it can work from Ryan Carson: “The scene in Dublin is very, very exciting. So much so that I’d venture to say that it’s even more happening than the London scene. We had a massive turnout (200 excited people), there were demos, tons of networking - it felt even more exciting than a TechCrunch party in Silicon Valley. I’d say a big key to that is the Web2Ireland group. They’re very positive, outgoing and excited about succeeding in the web space.”
- An example of it not working was MashupCamp - that was not good - Damien posted what everybody felt was wrong.
- In summary its all about a successful ecosystem - we’re struggling to create one - and I question if we’ll ever have one.
- Its not about who does what - its about who does what for everyone - and creating success for a everyone
As usual Fergus is 100% on the money.
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Aye, 100%. My knee-jerk reaction was to defend Antoin, whom I’ve met at Limerick OpenCoffee a few times, because I was delighted to see the Paddy’s Valley trippers infected with entrepreneurial enthusiasm and eager to keep the ball rolling. And I know that Antoin is a great guy. However, with cold analysis I have to admit that yourself, Paul and Fergus are on the money.
I hope my abrasivness is not seen as an attack on Anton as his enthusiasm is refreshing.
There is huge value to be gained from the experiences of everyone who went on PV. Some sort of event would be fantastic to see but it will have far more impact and value if it leverages the existing networks rather than trying to build a new one.
I also don’t just mean Web2Ireland. How about all the OpenCoffees have a special PV session with talks, Q&A, photos, video clips etc? Damien in Cork, Anton/Jan etc in Limerick, Joe/Eoghan etc in Dublin. Helene in Waterford. Any Galwegians?
“I hope my abrasivness is not seen as an attack on Anton as his enthusiasm is refreshing.”
Don’t be like most by holding back. Don’t be afraid to say what you think.
Don’t worry lads. To be honest I don’t take offence at just about anything.
My intention is totally to attend/support all of the events mentioned above, I can.
I found while on PV from talking to people that there was enthusiasm for something that was slightly different than what was available. So thinking there was nothing else going on in January I suggested we do something to keep up the momentum. Most people thought this was a good idea.
I was contacted by Fergus and wrote back explaining what the idea was. If I’d been asked, or it had been suggested at that stage that I not run the event or hold it til after the web2ireland event I would have, happily.
I really do think that the point has been missed hugely here. I don’t want anyone to abandon or not support anything. Quite the opposite.
It’s an Event. The idea is to start a regular event designed by the community. This unfortunately had to have some starting point. This was taken from thoughts of the people I spoke to up to that point. I am fully aware it wasn’t perfect but how could it be? Within 2 days though it has a webdesigner etc. and a ream of suggestions for a new name. And a totally new agenda has been suggested too. How brilliant is that?
I hope that those who are getting involved now, such as Eoghan and Sabrina, can forge it into something better for everybody.
I for one recognise absoutely and really appreciate the unbelievable work done by the web2ireland guys and I will definately be working hard to supbportthe web2ireland event in any way I can whenever it’s announced, as well as all the other events, and I would call on everyone else to do the same.
Hi Anton,
Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate your thoughts.
The core issue is that TechLudd is supposed to be about networking but (outside of the PV crew) little seems to have been done.
The only experience I have of running regular events is OpenCoffee and it’s hard work keeping people engaged. The way it works for us is to constantly reach out to the community and other networks (like it@cork, SohoSolo, CorkBIC etc) rather than expecting them to find us.
Whilst I take Marcuses comment that lots of people were talking and you were the only one to “do”, I think more talk to a wider group could have got TechLudd off to a much better start.
I agree absolutely! But it isn’t intended to replace anything or take over from anything. I feel I’ve explained the position regarding the web2ireland event.
If I (or we, no matter how big a network I consulted) were to organise everything first and then tell everyone, how much input would there be really. The idea is that people in those networks spread the word.
I made a point of meeting guys who run meetups in the SV area and the largest and longest running started with the personal connections of the guys themselves. I am willing to do the legwork to make what people want happen. It had to have some starting point. The idea is start it and let it become what people want it to be. Sort of in the mould of Loic le Meurs principals for starting internet business. A truly web 2.0 event.
Anton, the point is that this isn’t new and it’s something that has been building up. It’s as if a trip to the Valley has spurned something fantastic and new in Irish networking. What it has done, it demonstrate to those who went, what others already knew and do today.