The Next Web conference

Al jaren ben ik een sucker wat betreft The Next Web: een mooi verhaal met dito groei, straffe evolutie en steeds op het scherp van de snee gewerkt. Los daarvan lijkt het me gewoon een jonge, leuke bende geeks en nerds. Toen ik de kans kreeg naar TNW conference te gaan in Amsterdam, moest ik dan ook geen twee keer nadenken.
 

Organisatie

Een event van dit formaat organiseren is geen kattenpis. Zeker als er ruim 12 000 nerds verwacht worden in het Amsterdamse Westerpark. Het mag gezegd worden: ook als is TNW geen gigantische organisatie in aantal medewerkers, hebben ze dit uitstekend gedaan. Communicatie voor, tijdens en na het event zijn steeds passend en to the point. Hier en daar een foutje dat vlot wordt vergeven, door de manier waarop ze hun vak uitvoeren: met de nodige professionele sérieux en tegelijk met een zelf-spottende en ludieke ondertoon.
 
 
De openingsshow kan in één woord uitgedruk wordt: immersive! Een indrukwekkende geluid- en lichtshow met grappige presentatie / introductie.
 
When I was younger I was embarrassed to be a nerd. All the athletes, the jocks, … they were picking on us. They would make fun of us. They would insult us.
Now they work for us and buy our shit.
We are living in a golden age of nerds!
 

Locatie

Amsterdam Westerpark is een super locatie: een oude industriële site, gerenoveerd met daarin een aantal indrukwekkende gebouwen en uitgebreid park. Bereikbaarheid van het park was niet altijd even eenvoudig, maar mits een goeie taxi of Uber raak je overal ter plaatse.
Los van TNW kan ik het Ramada Apollo hotel aanraden: mooie kamers, lekkere mojito’s, uitgebreid ontbijt en een indrukwekkend dakterras. Prijs mocht wel wat scherper 😉

Programma

Het programma werd jammer genoeg vrij laat bekend gemaakt (kleine twee weken vooraf), en voor een aantal zaken moest je vooraf inschrijven. Door de grote toevloed aan deelnemers en beperkt aantal toegelaten deelnemers was het aanbod vele malen kleiner dan de vraag. Jammer, omdat je hierdoor een aantal top talks mist.
Omdat we vanuit Sanoma met 3 mensen aanwezig waren, konden we ook vlot onze aandacht verdelen over verschillende topics.
 
 
 
Er waren verschillende type talks: de grotere talks rond Digital Innovation en Media & Marketing, specifieke talks rond entrepreneurships & startups en vervolgens ook een workshop area. Verder was er over het volledige terrein aandacht voor netwerking.
 
Als ik één verbeterpunt kan opmerken, dan gaat het voornamelijk om de diepte van de verschillende talks: vaak zijn ze vrij oppervlakkig en raken ze slechts het oppervlak van de materie aan. Weet je al iets van de specifieke topic, dan leer je niets nieuws. Integendeel, je blijft voornamelijk op je honger zitten met een “is this it?” gevoel.
Zo hebben Imran Khan (Snapchat) en Ray Chan (9GAG) weinig toegevoegde waarde gehad aan de conferentie. Buiten misschien een ronkende naam die de aandacht trekt?
Uiteraard zijn er ook andere sprekers, die wél in detail gaan en je stof tot nadenken geven. Denk maar aan Brad Templeton (over self-driving cars en de impact op de ganse transportindustrie) en Craig Cannon (over de impact van automatisatie op onze jobs).
 
 
The scarce resource in the 21th century will not be technology. It will be attention.
 

Start ups

Start ups hadden de kans te pitchen voor een jury. Als je niet in de jury zat, was dit een vrij eentonige bedoening. Wél interessant waren de vele standjes van de start ups zelf. Elke starter kreeg beperkte plaats om zijn ding te tonen. Hier zaten echte pareltjes tussen die méér aandacht verdienen. Denk maar aan Jack MediaSocial Seeder, Intigriti en Wordlift. En nog vele meer.
 
 
Leuk is dat er ook heel helder onderscheid gemaakt werd tussen Bootstraps (de early-stages), Boosts (growth), Scale (traction in the market) en Impact (solving world problems).
 
 

Praktische kant

Food & drinks waren zeker in orde. Veel verschillende foodtrucks met elk hun eigen specifieke specialiteiten. Tegen (doorgaans) democratische prijzen en lekker vers bereid. Wat me vooral sterk aansprak waren de bbq standjes van Smokey Goodness waar je een zalige pulled pork kon eten. Lekker!
Betalen van al je goodies, eten en drinken kon via je armband: hier kon je vooraf en tijdens het event geld opladen (dmv Paypal), en vervolgens gebruiken doorheen de conferentie. Handig, omdat je hierdoor niet moet sukkelen met cash of kaarten. Benieuwd of ik ook een refund zal krijgen van hetgeen ik niet geconsumeerd heb (wat wel beloofd werd) ;-).
Het terrein was netjes verzorgd, werd continue proper gehouden en er was voldoende begeleiding van TNW personeel om te te helpen waar nodig. De Westerfabriek (voor workshops) was niet eenvoudig te vinden (verwarring bij het plan) en ook de agenda werd niet altijd even strikt gerespecteerd. Maar geen al te storende zaken.

Conclusies

You rock

  • De openingsshow: ik ben geen discotheek ganger, maar dit was gewoonweg af.
  • Het lekkere eten: sommige foodtrucks waren gewoonweg zalig lekker, ook voldoende variatie in het aanbod.
  • De vlekkeloze organisatie: alles verliep (voor ons tenminste) heel smooth.
  • Het begeleiden van de verschillende talks door de hosts: met de nodige nerd humor kan je het ganse publiek bekoren.
  • De vele kansen tot netwerken en bijpraten met vrienden, professionele kennissen en (ex-)collega’s.
  • De inspirerende start ups.
  • De meeste sprekers werden gefilmd en kon je live volgen. Die werden ook opgenomen: https://thenextweb.com/conference/live

 

You suck

  • De algemene, haast generieke talks van een aantal top-sprekers.
  • De té kleine Dome, die haast altijd volzet was. Telkens aanschuiven was vaak iets te veel van’t goede.
  • Het slechte weer op de 2de dag. Daar kunnen jullie bij TNW natuurlijk niets aan doen …
  • Veel te luide muziek op sommige netwerk momenten (netwerken = communicatie, dan moet je elkaar tenminste kunnen horen en begrijpen).

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