So, it seems that there were a *lot* of discussions and negative feedbacks about the conference leweb3, which took place in Paris – France on December 11-12, 2006.

I would like to give you and share with you my explicit feedback, specially because some people (sajonara.de as an example…) have used my “posting-silence” as a negative argument against this conference. Which is quite strange, because I was simply too busy to post (cf. my last post), nothing to do with leweb3.

Some thoughts about the conference

• Organization: first, I find that Loic did a great job by bringing some many people to this conference (participants, partners, speakers, investors), and the general organization with some many people (about 1’300) was definitely great.
• Food: the food was just…excellent! This is normally not the case, so let’s point it out!
• Quality: as usual, the quality of the presentations varied a lot, which is quite often the case.
• Broader scope: the great variety of the themes presented was to my point of view very positive, specially because it was “not just for geeks”, but much more “just for citizens”. I am a geek, there is enough conferences for geeks, so it is good and valuable to have *one* conference where we can talk about other stuff.
• Networking: the networking and meeting possibilities were just great! Worth a visit just for this part.
• Focus: as usual, not enough time for the different panels. Really a pity, because there were a lot of good discussions and exchanges that have been started. So, here, more focus could bring a better quality.
• Program: it seems that some people were not happy because of the program (mismatch expectation / reality). The program was clearly published step-by-step. So no possible surprise on this side. On the other side, I have reserved my place *before* any program was published. Room for improvement: publish a (draft) program before opening the registration.
• Energy: great positive energy, kick-your-ass atmosphere, open and challenging exchange.
• Think tank: Shimon Peres (hope, our role in the world) and Hans Rosling (misunderstanding of the current status of the world) were *absolutely* great. Both kicked my little and narrow-minded brain. I will come back separately to these presentations.
• Blogosphere: again, I personally find that the blogosphere is almost a closed-box where too many people are just repeating and amplifying some thoughts from just a little number of Key Opinion Leaders. Specially at the beginning of turbulences. No distance, no tolerance, too easy criticism. And also: violence, arrogance, rudeness. Not very interesting. Pfffuuuu.
• Politics: the 3 presentations (including the one of Shimon Peres) represented about 1.5 hour of the 2 days. If you don’t agree, you can leave the conference (nobody did that, the room was full). So, to my mind, no big discussion. And if you don’t like politics – i.e. if you want to live outside the city – why aren’t you just leaving our world (what about ascetic?).
• Elevation: personally, I am very happy to have participated to leweb3. I will surely come to leweb4. And I am very grateful to Loic for having integrated Hans Rosling and Shimon Peres in the conference, they have elevated me/us and opened my/our mind!