Although I just recently returned from Internet Week New York, I’m about to set foot on another exciting, new adventure. From July 5 to July 10, I’ll be traveling around London together with my Geeky friends. aka The Traveling Geeks. The TG’s are a small informal group of technology bloggers and influencers who like to travel to various regions around the world, collaborate with technology innovators and leaders on interesting projects and then share everything with the rest of the world via blogs, videos, podcasts and social networks.
On this trip, we’ll be on the hunt for innovative uses of new technologies in Great Britain, especially by lesser-known companies, and spotlight how those innovations may improve people’s lives. We’ll also compare the thought (more…)
Londoners may soon have something new to look while they travel around the city. A plan has been announced that would allow people to upload their own works of art to a website and have them displayed on the rooftops of bus shelters around the city.
The Bus.Tops project would see the tops of sixty four bus stop shelters around London removed and replaced by networked LCD screens, visible from both above and below. Anyone will be able to upload their artwork to the Bus.tops website and, providing it gets enough votes, have it displayed on the bus stop of their choice.
Photographs, paintings, cartoons; there are some great possibilities here. Even larger ideas would be possible too. How about a game of hockey played across London via the LCD screens? Bus.tops is encouraging this kind of thinking. If the scheme gets the go-ahead well-known artists would also be invited to submit work.
Bus.Tops is the brainchild of Alfie Dennen. No stranger to grand artistic statements, he spent the tail-end of last year asking people to upload photographs of themselves holding stones as part of the world’s biggest ‘Geoglyph‘. A collaboration with former BBC Creative Archive Director Paula Le Dieu, Bus.Tops aims to get Londoners to engage with their city in a refreshingly social way.
The proposal has been submitted to the London 2012/Arts Council fund Artists Taking the Lead, and would tie in with London hosting the Olympic Games in 2012.
Written on 5th June 2009
1 COMMENT Zee, Editor in Chief at The Next Web, Principal at WeDoCreative.
Being-Digital, a headline event for the tech and digital industry is being held on the 9th June at Centre Point in London.
I’ve been asked to join the “Digital Footprints and Personas” panel at the event and would love to see you there too.
The event is bringing together some of the best digital minds and demos, the focus is on debate and discussion; both upfront and via SMS and Twitter feedback.  The full day features discussion between innovative and influential senior executives, entrepreneurs, and investors from a diverse range of businesses affected by digital technology.
What’s really unique about Being-Digital is that there’s no powerpoint:
The debate will be lead by chosen authorities in their fields who are all accomplished speakers
They will be sharing personal insights into hottest digital topics
You will be able to set the questions and guide the discussion via SMS and Twitter
You’ll discover innovative new start-ups
You’ll be able to present your business to active angel investors
You’ll be able to absorb critical opinion shaping your digital strategy
Written on 27th April 2009
3 COMMENTS Zee, Editor in Chief at The Next Web, Principal at WeDoCreative.
Update: Alex Hoye also tweeted his way through the marathon with  mass of interesting tweets and twitpics. Thanks @amanda
Peter Wilkinson, a digital news producer at CNN.com in London, decided he would add a little spice to his London Marathon run by tweeting throughout.
Completing the course in 3 hours 30 minutes – under his four hour goal – Wilkinson tweeted frequently via text message. He was initially concerned texting and running would prove difficult, however he told CNN it was far easier than he had expected.
“My main problem is going to be not crashing into other people,” he said.
He hoped tweeting would “detract attention” from the race and felt that the extra attention may also be a good way to help the charity he supported, Amnesty International.
note. You can support Wilkinson and Amnesty International by donating here.
Written on 19th March 2009
12 COMMENTS Zee, Editor in Chief at The Next Web, Principal at WeDoCreative.
After spotting Google Street view on a UK Google map earlier today, I wondered how long the feature had been made available. However, after the awesome Google Operating System blog posted news of the update today – clearly it’s a very recent feature.
The restaurant just a few doors down from mine changed their name about 6 months ago, and the street view to my address at least shows the new restaurant name – therefore the Google van must have been by quite recently.
It’s unclear exactly which locations are available via Google Street View but Amsterdam, London, Liverppol, Birmingham, Glasgow, Belfast, Amsterdam and Rotterdam are all confirmed.
In case you’re unaware, to access street view, drag the small yellow man icon (on the slider to the left) onto any bright yellow highlighted street on your Google map.
After meeting some great people and hearing some good talks on stage, it was time for the startups to do their elevator pitches. I love startups and I love to hear them pitch! A good pitch should be brief and to the point but without losing sight of your companies message and with a hint of mystery.
It was moderated today by Sien Luyten, Founder & Managing Partner Oraura.
The jury and audience selected 3 startups from the group of 20 finalists :
The overall winner was Mendeley, based in London. They described themselves as the “Last.fm for research”. The startup essentially aims to enable academics to manage and sharing their research paper inventory and at the same time discover like- minded people and papers thanks to a recommendation and matching algorithm.
The People’s Choice Award went to Myngle, based in The Netherlands, pitched itself as a ‘new way to learn languages’. Myngle was founded by ex-eBay employees and operates a platform for online language education where teachers and students can virtually connect and determine if there’s a match for an online course to start between the parties (from both sides).
Written on 24th February 2009
2 COMMENTS Patrick de Laive, Internet entrepreneur and co-founder of The Next Web Conference. Twitter: @patrick
We love to meet entrepreneurs, startups and other web influentials around the globe. Last year we went to several cities during our Open Office Road Trip to get to know the local startups better. This year we’re visiting many places again to mingle in the startup scene.
Why we like to meet as many startups as possible:
1. for (future) content on this blog. We like to cover the companies and the people behind them.
2. to spread some The Next Web love
3. to inform about the opportunities our conference has for international oriented startups (check: Rising Sun Startup Rally)
4. to get a pulse of what is happening in the different European startup hubs
5. to make introductions between people and companies across Europe
6. because it is fun.
Last week I was havingfunwithMikeButcher in Barcelona. I asked him which local event I should visit. He advised me to go to DrinkTank in London tomorrow.
DrinkTank is an invite-only event for members of the tech community in London (no consultants allowed). There’s no demos, no ‘educational’ talks and no hard sales. Just high quality attendees and a relaxed atmosphere, organized by the guys behind huddle.net. I mailed the organizers and booked the cheapest flight out there. Some 130 entrepreneurs are meeting there and I’m one of them.
I believe that high quality events form a very important role for the tech scene across Europe. The European tech scene is getting more and more professional, we’re building more and more great services. First class events (Le Web, SIME, The Next Web, Plugg, but also for instance DrinkTank) play a big role when it comes to making new contacts, finding new investment opportunities and getting deals done.
I’m looking forward to meet interesting companies from the UK tomorrow. If you want to meet me, feel free to get in contact via twitter
More cities will follow in the next month. If you know of a must attend event in your city, feel free to add it in the comments. If it fits our schedule and worthwhile visiting you might meet us there.
As an iPhone user there’s always one thing that keeps on amazing me. Their App Store. There are so many things Apple did exactly right when they created this new mobile store. And by doing all these things, they showed the world how mobile phones will undisputedly become more than an instrument to stay in touch.
Future of mobile connectivity
At first, Apple has showed the world where the future of mobile connectivity lies. Which is a blessing for people in the mobile marketing industry. As a mobile marketeer, evangelizing is an important part of your job, you basically have to convince every single soul of the purpose of your existence. Last year the iPhone has become an important and very convincing actor in that story. Where many people always assumed that all Internet activity on phones had to happen in a browser, like on PC’s, this is not how mobile Internet will evolve. You have to think of a browser as an application that uses the mobile internet connection. It’s about connectivity. (more…)
The British tech scene is one of the most vibrant around. Although some companies, like Last.fm, have been facing difficulties – I keep seeing positive news coming from the United Kingdom. Here’s how I stay in touch with the geeky ladies and gents across the Canal.
1. Zee’s news flashes and updates
My co-editor Zee M. Kane reports from London daily about the ups and downs of his fellow Internet entrepreneurs. The concept of day and night seems irrelevant to him. Whenever something interesting happens – like a revolutionary new Twitter feature – he’s there to immortalize it on The Next Web.
Ain’t no party like a party with Mike Butcher. Other than that, this former New Media Age magazine and The Industry Standard Europe editor never hesitates to provide some deep insights on the start-up activity of the Brits. If he must, Butcher even goes on Sky News. Whatever it takes to spread the tech word, Butcher will do it.
It buzzed around in the Le Web venue. Supposedly, there was this cool British girl asking A-listers cheeky questions (She even dared to refer to Arrington’s buttocks – how brave is that?). Even my co-editor Boris was fascinated by this whirlwind blazing through one of Europe’s “hottest” conferences. Host Hermoine Way’s fame will probably go beyond Le Web, as her show is just plain fun to watch. Here’s episode three:
Written on 3rd December 2008
1 COMMENT Zee, Editor in Chief at The Next Web, Principal at WeDoCreative.
An interesting site has popped on the scene which has put a spin on the ‘City Guide’ by basing recommendations depending on how you feel! Currently in beta, the site focuses on three cities; iFeelLondon, iFeelToronto and iFeelNew York.
How it Works
Visit your city of choice, mine being iFeelLondon, and click on the left menu depending on how you feel, in my case Romantic. You are then greeted with a Google Map with pin points of various things people in London enjoy doing when they feel Romantic. To add your ideas to the map, you’ll need to request an invite which also requires a Google account as you’ll need one to access Google Maps.
Created by London based Andy Whitlock the site is definitely something I can imagine myself using, as long as the map entries are carefully monitored of course. In time I can envisage a maps being filtered further by romantic hotels, romantic restaurants, romantic benches to watch the world go by…and so on. As you can tell, i’m a romantic at heart.
Written on 3rd July 2009
0 COMMENTS 
Written on 9th June 2009
Londoners may soon have something new to look while they travel around the city. A plan has been announced that would allow people to upload their own works of art to a website and have them displayed on the rooftops of bus shelters around the city.
Photographs, paintings, cartoons; there are some great possibilities here. Even larger ideas would be possible too. How about a game of hockey played across London via the LCD screens? Bus.tops is encouraging this kind of thinking. If the scheme gets the go-ahead well-known artists would also be invited to submit work.
Written on 5th June 2009
Written on 12th March 2009
it was time for the startups to do their elevator pitches. I love startups and I love to hear them pitch! A good pitch should be brief and to the point but without losing sight of your companies message and with a hint of mystery.
Written on 24th February 2009
Last week I was 
Written on 19th January 2009
As an iPhone user there’s always one thing that keeps on amazing me. Their 
Written on 21st December 2008
The Next Web Blog is closely associated with The Next Web Conference which is held annually in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. At this event speakers from all over the world come together to talk about, and show off, the future of the Web. (More info 
