Friday, December 29, 2006






It had been nearly 20 years since Caroline and I went to Egypt. This Christmas we went again, now with our little man too. He (and we) loved the Nile cruise. All the shots can be found here.

Next to the activities over there I had the opportunity to go through hours of podcasts and magazines and read The Tipping Point and The Long Tail. Unfortunately we could not find a later return flight otherwise I could have enjoyed Egypt even more and go through more podcasts, magazines and books. Now I'll have to do that in the comfort of our own home....

Monday, December 18, 2006


In Amsterdam we started a project today to make it easier to find people in the creative industries. The picnicnetwork is one of the networks that will be interconnected with for example the network of the Amsterdam International Fashion Week. James Veenhoff, the Marketing Director of the Fashion Week is sporting his new Koyono Blackcoat, tres fashionable indeed....

Wednesday, December 13, 2006







When I went to LesBlogs in March of 2005, it was to meet people that I followed or connected to in the wonderful on-line world of blogging.

Coming form a corporate background, lesBlogs was a fascinating event and experience to me, meeting up with 250 other ‘egocasters’ that published ideas either in (video) blogs or podcasts and had opinions about everything….
Virtual all of the attendees were active producers themselves and only very few were there to understand more about without being actively involved themselves. (We where still at the point that we had to explain to the outside world what blogging was. It was a ‘geek’ thing, considered to be very niche at the time…)

Key issue at the event was electricity to power up all the laptops in the room as everybody was blogging or commenting all the time …. I had never seen so much digital material being produced and discussed online before.

Many of the people attending would not have believed that the pace of web2.0 developments (we did not have that term then by the way, we were still talking mainly technology such as ‘blog’…) would be as high as it has become….

Within 24 months from LesBlogs, new media (let’s give that ‘container’ name to the output of the ‘egocasters’) have grown big and Leweb3 showed that in most insightful ways. Let me share some examples:
• At Leweb3 there were almost as many journalists from mainstream media as attendees at LesBlogs….
• I do not think that there were many (if any delegates) that came without a capturing device.
• At many instances mainstream media were interviewing/being interviewed by new media at the same time…
• Some of the new media have become in quality as good as the mainstream media as for example the video-reporting by Vpod or the podcasts of Nicole Simon
• Many of the attendees of LesBlogs have moved on at high speed and are now in the full attention of mainstream media and have achieved a lot, people like Loïc LeMeur, Tarik Krim, Rodrigo Sepulveda, Jason Calacanis, Gabe McIntyre, Mena Trott and many of the others on the LesBlogs photostream
• Peres and French presidential candidates showing up to explain their viewpoints (Peres was the overall visionairy hero and Bayrou was the clear winner of the presidential candidates. Not from a political standpoint, I have no idea what the candidates stand for, but from his openness in discussion with the crowd)….

My own tipping point panel at LeWeb3 (am I allowed a little inflated ego?) was about whether communities are replacing the media. The conclusion was that we are probably experiencing communities that are creating media and media that are becoming communities or at the minimum adding community aspects. In short the lines are blurring… rapidly, to come to new formats hat will be more interesting for all.

To me LeWeb3 was a ‘sign of the times’ and a ‘tipping point’ that we are in a ‘converging’ media/community/technology era and the individual and communal elements are moving fast, but not always fully aligned.
To experience just that, was already very useful and insightful to me.

But there were so many more things expected and unexpected going on all the time.
After the two days (that felt like a rollercoaster with men in suits, kilts, orange shirts and women with furry hats, great dinners with fellow Dutchmen and people from all over the world, parties, companies with business models and buttons (like Fleck) and those post stickers, but before business concepts (like IPmedialabs), ….)
I look back very satisfied at my stay in Paris, where I found many new and old friends, got new insights and saw the convergence and growth in front of me.

There was negative feedback too. Some of that criticism I can understand, but I think it depends on mainly on the starting point/expectations/involvement how the perception of LeWeb3 will be.
If you like a hot rollercoaster ride with many surprises, French culture and food, great company, fun, the openness to express whatever opinion and an open space for egocasting, then accept the mix of what’s on offer…

LeWeb3 will never be like LesBlogs again, and that is simple fact to me. All elements are moving too fast for that and there is no return path.
(Although I did not expect that lesBlogs would transform as fast as it has by the way.)

For the next edition of LeWeb it will be challenging to create a rollercoaster of the same impact again (US presidential candidates?).

I am therefore very interested to see what Loïc will create for us the next time, the feedback will probably only challenge him further in his drive to make things happen….

If you want adventure without risk, go to Disneyland, you can find one near Paris too. If you want a little more excitement give the chef the opportunity to experiment in the ‘cuisine’…

Tuesday, December 12, 2006


Day two of Leweb3 had an interesting line up that proved for me to be a sign of the times. Whereas only 18 months ago a small group of people met with no coverage from traditional media, now it became a terrific mix of both new and old media, where the blending was very visible and you could feel and see it happen. It is always great to be a such an happening where something profound takes place, especially with so much communication around it. It will be fascinating to see what the state of affairs will be in two years from now as these web2.0 years are full of activity...
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A great second day at Leweb3 where I hosted a panel on whether communities are replacing the media. On the Panel were Stefanie Booth, Scott Rafer and Yossi Vardi. After the conference it was of with IPmedialabs and Fleck to the big Netvibes party....

Monday, December 11, 2006



Start of Leweb3, a great train journey, followed by the Dutch/Belgian blogger dinner and finalised by the speaker dinner. A great start, but eating out late is something to get used to :)

The full picture set can be found here.

Saturday, December 09, 2006




While the grown-ups were discussing boring stuff like IPmedialabs, Fleck and Leweb3 the kids were enjoying themselves with the fish.....

Friday, December 08, 2006


Ace designer Adriaan Verstijnen has done it again. I asked him to create a logo for IPMEDIALABS the digital hang-out for pictures, podcasts and so on. He came up with a great design which had to be translated in analogue too - i.e. stickers... If you want one, see me at LeWeb3 or ping me.

Thursday, December 07, 2006






With the weather not ideal for scootering around (which I did do in the heavy rain), a number of interesting meetings were on my itinerary. Meetings concerning both investing through DCIF and consulting through Interimic, finished with a good session at UPC.

Wednesday, December 06, 2006



Luigi Crescenzi sent me the most wonderful complement to my M8, a handmade black leather half case and accompanying strap. This complements the retrofut look combining the best of both analogue and digital worlds. Whilst I am always sourcing from the digital frontiers, I do like my classics. I wonder whether I should start sporting my Panerai again?

Sunday, December 03, 2006


Today Roderick went to his first concert in the Concert building around the corner. He enjoyed it, but sitting still was a challenge.....

Saturday, December 02, 2006




The three friends were all dressed in their parkas with the hoods up with the rain pouring down. They reminded me of the creatures in Star Wars....

Friday, December 01, 2006




Tonight the official opening by the Dutch Queen of the instituut for Beeld en Geluid took place. A special place with lots of history and future.




An interesting day at Brightlive where not only lots of interesting gadgets where presented, but where it became a hotspot of those interested in gadgets and new technology. As ambassador of Koyono, I showed of the Blackcoat and the Branie belt. Great accessories/tools for those in the hightech arena :)
Diederik of Twones won the Blackcoat!
I also shot a lot of pictures with the M8, as always, you can find them here...