The big big Web Summit
Speakers throughout the Web Summit claimed as many as 42,000 attendees walking around the terrain of the Royal Dublin Society. As my friends from Go Weekly wrote in their newsletter, the conference offered an enormous amount of opportunity, but the sheer size has made capturing a good slice of it impossible. Though it is still too early to analyze final results for both PEX Life and me personally I believe that we have gained from attending the conference. I was able to sharpen the pitch for the company, and understand what other entrepreneurs needed to hear to be able to relate to what our virtual health coaches offer. The jury is still out on what we can make possible from the new network we’ve gained at the Web Summit, but I am sure I can let you know soon. The speeches at Europe’s biggest tech conference, were … certainly underwhelming. It’s cool to hear from the tech giants what is coming next in their fields, but for most following tech there were no blockbuster announcements. The most rewarding discussions for me took place at the Society Summit, one of the 18 tracks at the conference. Specifically I found a discussion on the confluence of tech and humanitarian work the most interesting, which included UNICEF’s co-lead of innovation, TechCrunch’s Mike Butcher (also Techfugees), and Paula Schwarz of Startup Boat. The session harked back to the Rapid Innovation Challenge I participated in earlier this year. Interestingly, during the Challenge, I had focused on the tech/humanitarian work mix of Patrick Meier, who I ended up running into on the conference floor, and quickly pitched PEX Life. I hope to hear from him soon 😉
We had a blast with @BLaanen at #WebSummit last week. Thanks to all Dutch startups for proudly featuring the tulip! pic.twitter.com/dpWbJ5h8WD
— Founded in Holland (@FoundedHolland) November 9, 2015
Next to my stay in Dublin, I had an amazing time before the conference in Galway. As far as I can recall, this was the first time I celebrated Halloween outside of the United States. To my surprise, I learned that the holiday comes out of Gaelic traditions and thus highly celebrated in Ireland. I went out to the Cliffs of Moher that day, and was blessed with some extraordinary weather at this beautiful landmark. I highly recommend checking it out for anyone making the trek to Ireland! Galway itself is a small port city, easily walkable and a good deal of interesting things to see on its own right.
I came back to the Netherlands Thursday night, and after a quick night’s rest, I reminded myself that I am pursuing an MA still, and got back to studying for the majority of the weekend. With a bit of a break Friday night, as Drew and I hosted friends at our house for drinks and fun. Next to the studies, I’ve got my sights on coming Friday, when I fly to San Francisco Bay Area to prepare and run the Global Venture Forum. On top of that, I am truly excited to see my parents, younger brothers, and friends again. The Bay Area remains a place fond in my heart. Let’s make sure to plan in time when I’m there, make sure to get in contact!
See you in San Francisco next week!
