Hot Press is just back from the Web Summit in the Dublin RDS where all forms of tekkie life are gathered for the next two-days.
It was immediately noticeable how international a gathering it was with people from literally all five continents furiously networking away.
While the main room was given over to established names like Google and Paypal, the second pavilion was crammed with smaller outfits, many of them start-ups hoping to secure seed money or extra investment.
We also made it to the Food Summit in neighbouring Herbert Park where Darina Allen – not the first person you’d expect to be at a web summit – was treating delegates to some artisan Irish nibbles.
Our main quarry there was SoundCloud co-founder Eric Wahlforss who’d just stepped off the red-eye from New York. Giving a rare print interview, he talked musical and tekkie heroes, Pirate Bay, Dublin’s burgeoning reputation as a silicone city, 50 Cent, why he prefers politicians to keep their noses out of it, Berlin and much, much more. Read his thoughts in the next issue of Hot Press out on Thursday November 7.
Register at [link]www.websummit.net/watch-live/gateway.html[/link] to cop a live Web Summit eyeful.