I can’t sit at a conference and not try to find a few lessons to bring back to my own gig. I was at Le Web 3, a conference that had some highs and now well publicized lows. Here are the few thoughts I gathered:

• 1000 people aren’t that bad
I always thought that going above 500 (the number of seats we have at LIFT this year) was a bad idea. It’s not that bad after all. 1000 people didn’t feel like too much, and you could pretty much bump into anybody you wanted to meet. I guess that, more than the number of attendees (below a conceivable level), continuous presence is more important than anything. That is why we ask the LIFT speakers to be with us for the whole conference and not leave right after their speech.

• Food is really important
Period. I am upgrading the traiteur order for LIFT as we speak.

• Flat is a two-sided concept
The world is flat we say. Lesser-known speakers should be treated like rock star speakers. When someone is on stage, let them finish their sentence even if a former prime minister enters the room. The big guys can wait 2 minutes. Respect is a bidirectional thing.

• Star speakers are a double-edged sword
Le Web and LIFT get a lot of attention these days as the “higher” spheres of business and politics start to acknowledge the influential nature of bloggers, innovators and entrepreneurs. Get a big name and the cameras move in! Yes, our ideas are getting mainstream coverage! But a potentially constructive situation might very well turn into a look-at-me-I-am-the-only-politician-speaking-to-this-cool-crowd-I-don’t-care-about.

• Conference organizer is a low profile job
And you better be ready to live with it. Many think my job consists in booking plane tickets and hotels, while I actually see myself as the editor in chief of some sort of giant brainstorm. It is frustrating, and I am not even talking about the easy critics you invariably get. So there is a temptation to strive for more visibility, to show up on stage and try to be on the pictures. The problem is that attendees don’t come to see me but the result of my work, and I have to live with it. I think a conference brings enough indirect returns that you should forget the direct ones.

Update: here is Shimon Peres video

Update 2: the blogosphere is on fire. These politicians are a double-edged sword: they bring a lot of attention, but they might end up stealing the soul of the show.

Some people are just flying over the pack. You are at a conference, sitting in the middle of great talks about your daily life and work. Then one guy steps on stage and blows you away.

Photo by Adam Smith

I am usually very skeptic toward politicians – they don’t have time to scratch below the surface of what technologies are doing for all of us – but some are not where they are by chance, and seem to have a special capacity to inspire, and make you will rejuvenated with words.

Peres did just that. He gave a high level view of what technologies, and more specifically the Internet, are doing to change the world. He is a great storyteller, mixing personal experiences and pearls of wisdom gathered around the globe. He just made all of us in the room feel like we can change the world with our keyboards. True or not, some people will probably find a new energy to pursue their projects and start making a difference.

Loic managed to create more than a cool event. Le Web 3 just turned into a special event. Being a fellow conference organizer, I feel very thankful for what is happening now. And thanks to Pascal for getting me a ticket!

I was at Barcamp last month to see how these 100% self-organized conferences work. It was a great experience, and I took some notes about this original format:

Barcamp was an amazing experience. I hope we can build on top of that and integrate this concept in LIFT.

SHiFT was a lot of fun, and Portugal is an amazing country: the climate is a daily pleasure, the restaurants are flawless, and Lisbon is an endless source of amazement. I hope to go back there very soon.

It was great to speak about cocomment and share a few of the lessons learned. That will hopefully save a few sleepless nights to the younger entrepreneurs.

I enjoyed seeing the usual suspects (Galipeau, Euan and co) and meet a few hot shots like Stowe Boyd and Suw Charman. Conferences are still the best way to see old pals and expand the horizon.

On my way back I thought about the fact the next event of this emerging lift – reboot – shift community is on me, and the pressure went up one notch. Maybe that’s why I am still blogging at 11pm on a Saturday night.

I will be speaking at two events in the coming weeks, first on a panel about Web 2.0 in Lausanne at the IMD alumni club (more info here, click on Guest to pass the ridiculous first screen), then in Lisbon at SHiFT, a conference I already told you about earlier this year, where I will share some of the lessons learned on the coComment project. I intend to talk about working with European surroundings and perspectives in the fast moving, no rule is the rule, expect everything web 2.0 environment.

Let’s have a coffee if you are attending any of these.

Update: I added a few more points to the end of the post. This list might grow as the discussion around this theme continues. Thanks for the comments!

I am speaking tonight on a panel with Pascal Rossini and Thierry Crouzet about the connectors, the generation that “silently, without demonstrating or asserting, is changing all the established codes”. An important and impassioning subject as it is a real revolution we are witnessing at the moment. And it is not only happening at LIFT or reboot, but in our daily life.

I wrote down a few ideas to clear up my mind before the talk, here they are:

Connectors brought some new rules:
• there aren’t six degrees of separation like before, but only one. All connectors are accessible via Google and email.
• the connector’s world is flat, old hierarchies are dead.
• the connector’s world is a meritocracy, everybody can stand out with creativity or work.
• english is everybody’s language, an interface between people around the globe
• relations are now bidirectional, unilateral communication – ignoring the other part’s feelings – is dead.
• machines (computers, mobile phones) are the number one socialization tool, and these offer some interesting and new possibilities (familiar strangers, meetic, urban seeder )

What are the consequences of this shift?
• Internet is the new silicon valley.
• meritocracy is a reality for enterprises, creators, artists, etc… Take coComment that goes in seven days from a Swiss chalet to Wired.
• network is the new job security (as hugh told me over lunch last week, great quote)
• our identities are more and more forged by our relations rather than by what we are
• a global culture is emerging, we have never had that much in common (google is the obvious example). At the same time, nationalism is re-emerging again a little bit everywhere…
• rules will completely change in the coming years, the third wave is here. This will notably impact our businesses that will have to rethink marketing, recruiting, work-life balance, work organization, management, etc…

Why is the revolution happening now?
• internet of course, it created an almost universal link between all of us.
• the education and information level has never been that high, and citizens increasingly want to have their say and become consumactors.

This sounds too good to be true, what’s wrong?
• the entry barrier to the world of connectors is relatively high. One billion people use the web out of six billions human beings. That’s a long way to go, and a decent education is still not a given in most countries.
• Nicolas Nova was telling me he was skeptical this model could self organize and scale. I tend to agree with him and think connectors are more an emerging elite rather than a phenomena coming to every single person on this planet.
• we tend to have more relations with people through computers. We communicate more with those that are away than with those in our immediate vicinity. Sociality is getting less and less human, and we’re losing a lot of richness and diversity in the process.

A few more points:
• Network is stronger than geographical positions.
• Confidence (and relationships) is this world’s most valuable intangible asset.
• The intention economy is here.
• Innovation will come from everywhere, especially from the bottom. Hierarchies are dangerous.
• ideas are snowballs. A leader is a person whose ideas will be picked up and relayed by others. You can’t lead by imposing ideas anymore.
• I fear for my privacy. Privacy and identity will be a major challenge for the connected world.
• The fact my life is archived – whether I like it or not – freaks me out.

J’ai rajouté quelques points � la fin de ce post.

Je participe ce soir � une table ronde avec Pascal Rossini et Thierry Crouzet sur le thème des connecteurs, cette génération qui “sans bruit, sans manifester, sans revendiquer, est en train de bouleverser tous les codes établis”. Sujet passionnant et important, c’est une véritable révolution � laquelle nous participons en ce moment, et elle ne se passe pas qu’� LIFT ou � reboot, mais donc la vie de tout un chacun.

J’ai noté quelques idées pour tout � l’heure, les voici en vrac:

Les connecteurs ont apporté de nouvelles règles:
• il n’y a plus 6 degrés de séparation comme avant, mais 1 seul. Tous les connecteurs sont accessibles via google et email
• le monde des connecteurs est plat, il n’y a plus vraiment de hiérarchie.
• le monde des connecteurs est une méritocratie, tout le monde peut sortir du lot par ses idées et son travail
• il n’y a plus de frontières, et la situation géographique n’est plus importante
• l’anglais est la langue universelle, en tous cas la langue d’interface entre des cultures différentes
• les relations sont désormais bidirectionnelles, le temps de la communication unilatérale et ignorante de ce que pense l’autre partie est révolu.
• les machines (ordinateurs, téléphones) sont l’outil de socialisation numéro un, et elles offrent quelques possibilités intéressantes et nouvelles (familiar strangers, meetic, urban seeder )

Pourquoi est-ce que tout ça se passe aujourd’hui?
• internet bien sûr, qui a permis de créer un lien quasi-universel entre tous.
• le niveau d’éducation et d’information s’élevant de plus en plus, chaque citoyen veut de plus en plus devenir acteur. C’est l’apparition des consomacteurs chers � Xavier Comtesse.

Quelles sont les conséquences de l’avènement des connecteurs?
• Internet est la nouvelle silicon valley.
• la méritocratie est une réalité pour les entreprises, les créateurs, les artistes. Exemple de coComment qui passe en sept jours d’un chalet suisse � Wired.
• le réseau est la sécurité de l’emploi (comme me l’a justement soufflé hugh)
• nos identités sont de plus en plus forgées par nos relations plutôt que par ce que nous sommes
• une culture globale émerge, nous n’avons jamais eu autant en commun (google par exemple) et pourtant on dirait que les nationalismes de tout bord ressortent en ce moment, est-ce paradoxal?
• les règles de vie vont complètement changer dans les années qui viennent. La troisième vague arrive! Cela va avoir un impact fondamental sur notre société, et plus spécifiquement sur les entreprises qui vont devoir repenser leur marketing (uni vers bidirectionnel), recrutement, organisation du travail, management, etc…

Quels sont les problèmes potentiels?
• la barrière � l’entrée de la peuplade des connecteurs est relativement haute. Il y a un milliard d’internautes pour 6 milliards d’être humain, et donc encore beaucoup de chemin � parcourir. Il faut éduquer, équiper, etc…
• Nicolas Nova me parlait de ses réserves face aux théories de Thierry Crouzet. Il pense que ce modèle ne peut pas se généraliser � tous, et j’ai tendance � être de cet avis. Je pense que les connecteurs formeront une espèce d’élite, mais jamais l’intégralité de la population.
• nous finissons par avoir plus de relations avec les personnes qui ne sont pas l� qu’avec celles qui sont physiquement présentes. C’est une forme de déshumanisation des relations humaines.

Quelques autres idées:
• Le réseau est devenu plus fort que la position géographique.
• La confiance (et plus généralement les relations au sens liens entre personnes) est l’actif intangible le plus important de ce nouveau monde.
• L’économie de l’intention arrive.
• L’innovation viendra de partout, surtout du bas. Les hiérarchies sont devenues dangereuses!
• Les idées sont des boules de neige. Un leader est une personne dont les idées sont reprises et amplifiées par la masse. On ne peut plus diriger en imposant.
• La protection de la vie privée et de l’identité sera l’un des problèmes majeurs du monde connecté.
• Le fait que ma vie en ligne soit archivée – que je le veuille ou non – me fait peur.