An impressive 22 thousand people came together in Dublin for three days of what is already the top Tech European Conference, if not the World’s.
I arrived yesterday on a full flight, where many were attendees of the Conference were already chatting about their expectations. For many of them,it is the first time at the Web Summit. I had been last year, so I knew what to expect. I registered yesterday to avoid queuing today. I decided to stick to the Central Stage, where the top CEOs and personalities would talk. If you’re at the conference, be sure to check out the other stages. I’m sure there will be many interesting events also.
I’ll highlight some of the talks I found more interesting.
The day kicked off with a very interesting conversation between Brendan Iribe (CEO Oculus VR) and Peter Rubin (Wired). We got to know what Oculus has been doing, and what to expect in the near future.
Jorge Sotto (co-founder Miroculus), told us of his research and technique for detecting cancer at a very early stage through a simple blood test.
John Collison (Co-founder of Stripe) talked about the payment infrastructure they’re building, competition and the future.
Phil Libin (CEO Evernote) explained why he’s 7 years in, in creating a 100-year-old company.
Eva Longoria talked about her philanthropic work and political activity, all the way since Clinton’s first campaign.
Pablos Holman taught us how to be a hacker. He talked about several hackers and their “conquests”.
The NASDAQ Opening Bell at 14h30 (9h30 in New York) was also a high moment, with the presence of Ireland’s Prime Minister as well as a vice-president from NASDAQ.
The Future of Online Media was discussed, with representatives from Flipboard and The Huffington Post.
A very engaging conversation with John Sculley (former Apple CEO) also took place, where he said that ‘Steve Jobs never forgave me’ among other insights on Apple and technology.
A very interesting conversation on privacy took place, with the contributions of Stewart Baker (former NSA) and Matthew Prince (founder of Clowdflare)
To finish the day, Drew Houston (CEO Dropbox) took the stage to touch on issues of file sharing, privacy and the tech world.
To sum up the first day I’d say:
- Impeccable organization
- Great talks
- Delicious Irish Food
- WiFi problems (though it’s the venue’s responsibility)
This event doesn’t disappoint. I’m sure the next two days will be as filled with quality content as today was. I can’t wait.
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