Web Summit 4, we came, we saw, we loved it, and some tips for next time

@SimonCocking more here.

It was an event and a half. We loved it, we had a great time.

Festival vibe

It was a festival vibe. We asked the organiser,@paddycosgrave if this was the Irish Glastonbury. He said that the average age of the organisers was around 27, and that many of these guys had been to plenty of great Irish music festivals, Picnic, Oxygen etc. The music festival was a vibe they were accustomed to. It is clear, with the more informal atmosphere, and quicker turn around of speakers at Web Summit, it feels more like a music festival. Participants, even investors from California said they preferred this atmosphere, akin to the BurningMan festival. Rather than say South by South West, or some other conferences with a more formal manner. The fact that Paddy’s comments, made at yesterday’s press briefing, were not mentioned by the mainstream Irish press, suggests not (m)any of them go to music festivals. Fortunately this didn’t get in the way of a fantastic event being delivered.

Poor wifi! Maybe not actually the end of the world?

This was actually less of a story than the media made it out to be. Internet connection not working, heavens above, perhaps you actually have to speak to the people around you, rather than merely tweeting a picture of Bono to both of your followers? Yes it can be tricky to demonstrate an app without the wifi, but there was so much more to the Summit than just that. As it was many people spent their time looking down at their screens, so the odd gap in the wifi wasn’t actually that disastrous.

The Alpha and Beta startups pitched, and pitched, and pitched. Tiring, but if you want to get out there, you have to hustle.

Pitching advice

 

Having inadvertently received about 50 pitches on Tuesday alone, I’d say the following:

Keep it short. If I want more I’ll ask.

Keep it simple. If I want more detail, yep, I’ll ask.

Be prepared, do the devil’s advocate questions before hand.

Be able and keen to hear feedback. Almost everyone here is happy to help, so take it when it’s offered.

Don’t be shy, this is your time.

The food was great

It was, thanks a million!

Bring your bike! Let’s have several Dublin bikes stations at all the venues next year 

I didn’t see many people moving between all three sites on a bike, but It was a great asset, fun and saved a lot of time.

Have a plan, mix it up and have fun

Listen to a few talks, pitch to people, take breaks too, go to the night events and enjoy yourself too.

It was a great event and we look forward to covering even more of it next year.