In just three weeks, one of Europe’s largest and youngest web conferences will kick off in Dublin. The Dublin Web Summit in quick figure – 3,000+ Attendees, 200 Speakers, 2 Days. They’ve got different tracks – Cloud, Developer, Digital Marketing – they’ve got Investors & Media people. They’ve got early-stage startups attending their new, exxlusive START event, which is meant to be similar to the sister event f.ounders, which attracts the most innovative startups together for a private event. Their startup competitions, which has over 1,000 applicants from 36 countries, will feature such great French startups as Kwaga, Clever Cloud, and Allmyapps. In short, there’s no limit to the reasons why startups should attend, but I thought I’d share with you a few reasons why you should attend:
1. An Entrepreneur’s event by an Entrepreneur
In September of 2011, Paddy Cosgrave – the founder of Web Summit, which puts on the Dublin Web Summit, the London Web Summit, f.ounders, START, and some local DWS events year-round in Dublin – spoke at the first ever Pirate Summit in Cologne, Germany. During the event, he talked about how, after the first edition of DWS, he was told by event organizers that it usually takes 3 years for events to become profitable – so he decided to do 3 events per year. Only 2 1/2 years later, DWS holds its own among a very limited list of well-reputed conferences in Europe which attract a global crowd.
2. A 2,000€ conference for only 500€
Not many conferences can call themselves a competitor to Loic Le Meur’s LeWeb in Paris, which recently expanded to London around the same time that the 1st ever London Web Summit took place – but Dublin Web Summit sure does. Not only does it attract the same level of international attention, but it offers tickets at 25% of the price, in a town where the cost of living is probably 50% of that of Paris. The speaker list speaks for itself, but let me list just a few people who would otherwise be unreachable in Europe – Robert Scoble, Kevin Rose, Hoot Suites’ Ryan Holmes, Lyst’s Chris Morton, Klout CEO Joe Fernandez – not to mention almost every top-level European blogger (WSJ’s Ben Rooney, I’m looking at you). Whether you want press, feedback, introductions, money, or just a good time – there’s no denying it, DWS will give you a great ROI on your investment
3. Breaking Stereotypes, 1 English Conference at a time
I got a sad phone call from DWS the other day, it went something like this: “Liam, what’s happening? Why aren’t French startups signing up for DWS as much as other countries?” And I had nothing to say. France is Europe’s #2 country in terms of investment behind the UK (and ahead of Germany), and yet, French startups won’t leave France for a world-class event? Sure, you’ve got BlaBlaCar COO Nicolas Brusson speaking at the event, or Jolicloud/Netvibes founder Tariq Krim, but where are the Teleportd‘s? Where are the MixoTVs? I know LeCamping startups just pitched in London this past week – their 3rd pitch in 10 days – but I haven’t seen one mention of LeCamping or its startups in DWS. Each French startup that attends isn’t just representing itself, it’s representing France – we gotta remind everyone which country invented the word “entrepreneur.”
4. It’s Free… well, at least for two of you.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. Dublin Web Summit is going to give away two tickets to Frenchies who are ready to represent France on a global level. All you’ve got to do is comment below, in English, with 100 words or less (tweetable) on why you should get to go to DWS. The two most voted comments by Friday at noon will each get a ticket to the event, and you can sit down and pitch me yourself, your startup, whatever on that day.
Remember, the best way to get the most voted is to share your comments with the world to get people to vote it up. @RudeBaguette will be tweeting some of our favorite comments throughout the week, so be sure to follow us to see your comment!