Web Summit quits Dublin

OwlsZat

He comes across as a prize bellend. If he was half as smart as he thinks he is he'd have found solutions to these HUGE issues. Sounds like the move to Lisbon suited him, I'd be interested to see how his personal accounts go over the next few months tbh!

VinLieger

keith16 wrote: »

He certainly has a point IMO. The government are happy to ride the bandwagon he brought into town but offered nothing of real substance in return.

What were they meant to offer? Fix hotel prices? Has Enda some networking ceritification so he can fix the wifi that we all are unaware of? Shut down several major streets? Grant free and exclusive access to council buildings? All for nothing? Paddy can say he wasnt looking for money as much as he wants but all that costs a hell of a lot of money so actually indirectly he was looking for a hell of a lot of money because as evidenced by the wifi debacle hes apparently a cheap b*stard

tayto lover

seamus wrote: »

In short, Mr. Cosgrave asked the council for list of things, not least he wanted three major commercial streets in the city centre closed for his private pub crawl, garda escorts for his presenters, shuttle busses for his attendees, and exclusive use of city centre council buildings. For free. While he charged his attendees €1,000 per head just to attend what is a relatively small event in real terms.

When he got no satisfaction from the council, he decided to email the Taoiseach threatening to move the web summit elsewhere, but obviously unable to claim that it was a monetary issue, he instead asked the leader of the country to devise a traffic plan for his event, talk to the hotels and arrange favourable rates, and put on a few extra busses for him. Oh, and also fix the WiFi in the RDS.

The leader of the country, having more important things to do than handhold some entitled spa through their own event management took some time to respond but eventually told him to go and sort it out himself.

Paddy then stamped his feet and threw a tantrum and released a pile of emails that proved that in fact he was the one being unreasonable, not the government. And that the only reason he went to Lisbon is because the Portuguese were clearly dumb enough to throw €1m at him and give into his diva-esque demands.

How do you know all this Seamus? You on the inside?

ThisRegard

tayto lover wrote: »

How do you know all this Seamus? You on the inside?

Seriously? Have you not read the documentation Mr Stamp his Feet released in a fit of petulance?

jimmynokia

tayto lover wrote: »

How do you know all this Seamus? You on the inside?

He's spot on regardless. Couldn't of put it better myself.

VinLieger

tayto lover wrote: »

How do you know all this Seamus? You on the inside?

Now Tayto we all get you hate the government and Enda but seriously read through whats been released, if they had done this stuff you would probably have been the first one complaining about waste of resources etc

tayto lover

VinLieger wrote: »

Now Tayto we all get you hate the government and Enda but seriously read through whats been released, if they had done this stuff you would probably have been the first one complaining about waste of resources etc

I'm not hating anyone now. I'm just curious.

ThisRegard

VinLieger wrote: »

Now Tayto we all get you hate the government and Enda but seriously read through whats been released, if they had done this stuff you would probably have been the first one complaining about waste of resources etc

I thought the very same. Enda could personally hand over a cheque for eleventy million and he'd still find something to complain about.

VinLieger

tayto lover wrote: »

I'm not hating anyone now. I'm just curious.

Fair enough, have a read through what was released and maybe listen to some of the pretty woeful interviews he gave earlier this evening, he doesnt come across well at all

keith16

ThisRegard wrote: »

He got plenty over the years.

And WTF have the government got to do with his **** up last year regarding the WiFi?

VinLieger wrote: »

What were they meant to offer? Fix hotel prices? Has Enda some networking ceritification so he can fix the wifi that we all are unaware of? Shut down several major streets? Grant free and exclusive access to council buildings? All for nothing? Paddy can say he wasnt looking for money as much as he wants but all that costs a hell of a lot of money so actually indirectly he was looking for a hell of a lot of money because as evidenced by the wifi debacle hes apparently a cheap b*stard

I think people are being quite selective in their criticism here. What about his point in relation to jobs? Did the IDA have a presence at the event over the years?

The guy was making noise, maybe not always the right noises admittedly, but the government and their agencies certainly had a role to play in making a great event a world class event.

Now that event has sadly rolled out of town and there is no arguing against the impact on the local economy.

futonic

The web tech company I work for bought 6 tickets last year and 8 this year in part due to my lobbying. We weren't presenting or selling, just did it to put on the green jersey support the event and give a few of the lads a couple of fun days offsite and maybe learn a couple of things... but mostly to support the event, as an Irish tech firm. Feel a little betrayed. Mr Cosgrove is reflecting badly on us all and bad mouthing Irl inc. He should have worked out any problems he had. Could have moved to the convention centre if traffic and wifi were so bad in the rds.

Pity its gone. I enjoyed the excitement of it all, but I think its Paddys choice and no one else's fault. Part of me ( the negative part, which I'm not proud of!!), hopes he falls flat on his face in Portugal, comes back and says sorry.

ThisRegard

keith16 wrote: »

I think people are being quite selective in their criticism here. What about his point in relation to jobs? Did the IDA have a presence at the event over the years?

The guy was making noise, maybe not always the right noises admittedly, but the government and their agencies certainly had a role to play in making a great event a world class event.

Now that event has sadly rolled out of town and there is no arguing against the impact on the local economy.

I'd be surprised if many jobs were created by the conference, it was basically a talking shop. What was the point he made about them?

VinLieger

keith16 wrote: »

I think people are being quite selective in their criticism here. What about his point in relation to jobs? Did the IDA have a presence at the event over the years?

The guy was making noise, maybe not always the right noises admittedly, but the government and their agencies certainly had a role to play in making a great event a world class event.

Now that event has sadly rolled out of town and there is no arguing against the impact on the local economy.

Even this year there is nowhere large enough to hold it. We simply dont have the capacity anymore unfortunately so it was always going to move on and this is an attempt to move blame away from the web summit company and protect Paddy's image which we are learning he is very attached to apparently

ballsymchugh

4. Access to the event space within Herbert Park and, in addition, to the (non-event space) Playing Fields located closest to Anglesea Rd. We would look to build marquees on these and reinstate the ground after insofar as we reasonably can

for some reason, this bit really p1ssed me off. reinstate the ground after insofar as we reasonably can. that means picking up the tents and leaving it to sort itself out over the winter. should be returning the ground to the exact way it was, not just making a half arsed effort to do so.

flouncer

Having experience of paddy, he employs college students at minimum wage, treats them like dirt and puts on his misunderstood face to the public. Good riddance to him and his likes. Without doubt he tried to blackmail the government but politically they cant call hime a twat. He is just the lowest of the low. Don't come back paddy

ThisRegard

There's plenty people on twitter congratulating him in fairness, for managing to unite so many people in support of the Department of An Taoiseach.

randy hickey

I'd like to take this opportunity to announce that I'm setting up The Real/Continuity Web Summit.

I have no qualifications or background in the IT sector, but I CAN count money and send emails, and am therefore just as qualified as the former competition.


Please send me all your monies.











If you don't, I'll be moving my summit to Lisburn.




This post may be released to the media at a time of my choosing.

For Forks Sake

I'm just reading some more on Twitter, did that gobsh1te really ask for 30,000 Leap cards (presumably also loaded with credit)???

Canadel

This can't be right, AH always taught me that it was only dole scroungers and those on welfare who exuded such a massive sense of entitlement.

strandroad

For Forks Sake wrote: »

I'm just reading some more on Twitter, did that gobsh1te really ask for 30,000 Leap cards (presumably also loaded with credit)???

He did. Read the full list of "asks" for maximum hilarity!

https://files.websummit.net/correspondence.pdf

For Forks Sake

mhge wrote: »

He did. Read the full list of "asks" for maximum hilarity!

https://files.websummit.net/correspondence.pdf

I missed that earlier, presumably because I was too busy laughing at the notion of a man who charges €750 a ticket for a glorified TED Talk, asking the elected leader of the country to impose a cap on hotel prices.

FalconGirl

The Govt dropped the ball on this one to be fair. Some of Cosgraves demands are outrageous but an agreement should have been reached. This event is a loss to Dublin.

SligoBrewer

FalconGirl wrote: »

The Govt dropped the ball on this one to be fair. Some of Cosgraves demands are outrageous but an agreement should have been reached. This event is a loss to Dublin.

Easy to drop the ball when you are dealing with a petulant child who is a pain in the arse.

FalconGirl

SligoBrewer wrote: »

Easy to drop the ball when you are dealing with a petulant child who is a pain in the arse.

Obviously he is a pain in the arse, but the value of this event to the national economy and local businesses trumps that!

PARlance

FalconGirl wrote: »

Obviously he is a pain in the arse, but the value of this event to the national economy and local businesses trumps that!

I think the guy that valued it at 100 million is the same guy that calculates the street values of drug seizures.

flouncer

FalconGirl wrote: »

Obviously he is a pain in the arse, but the value of this event to the national economy and local businesses trumps that!

Nobody can argue that point. It will cost Dublin business. It was hugely important to Dublin. It was hugely important to the face of Ireland. That said nobody is ABOVE it all. Paddy considers himself above everybody. Maybe he will be a success but I don't subscribe to his cheap business practices. So even our government agreed on that. Paddy, because he is successful, is not allowed to walk all over everybody. Yes, it is a loss to Dublin, but I would rather businesses who pay a fair wage, have values rather than this type of self effacing smuck in my economy.

Eoin

Even if it really was worth 100m to the economy (which I still think is a bit optimistic, given that's more than SalesForce say their annual "Dreamforce" event with > 100K attendees is worth to the San Fran economy), it's not as if there won't be any other events to fill at least some of the gap. And they might even be events worth going to.

Dawn Rider

Do you think he read O'Learys book of business and charm and got carried away?

As Michael seems to have calmed down a bit he thought there was room to flex his muscles?

brooke 2

PARlance wrote: »

I think the guy that valued it at 100 million is the same guy that calculates the street values of drug seizures.

It might even have been David Drumm!

We know from whence he plucks his figures!!

brooke 2

For Forks Sake wrote: »

I missed that earlier, presumably because I was too busy laughing at the notion of a man who charges €750 a ticket for a glorified TED Talk, asking the elected leader of the country to impose a cap on hotel prices.

The part which really amused me was his 'ask' that the streets around Fade Street be closed off at night for their 'night summit'!!! :)

Who is this Paddy Cosgrave anyway who seemed to have access to Enda Kenny from the very beginning? Someone texted into Vincent Browne tonight asking how an organiser of a Web Summit could contact our Taoiseach directly, while the Refuge for Abused Women has been seeking a meeting with Minister James Reilly for the past two years, without success. Enda said this evening that he has been helping Paddy Cosgrove since he was in Opposition - things seem to have come easily to Paddy - in the beginning, at any rate. Guess he was 'found out'!!

Tarzana2

flouncer wrote: »

have values rather than this type of self effacing smuck in my economy.

Self-effacing? That he is not! :pac:

From the email correspondence:

Public Transport: A clear plan for increasing the frequency of public transport to the level
needed, combined with traffic calming measures, similar to thos
e for soccer and rugby
matches, or the Horse Show. Leaving international attendees stranded at the RDS with
no hope of public transport or taxis, caused incredible frustration for attendees in 2014.
Thankfully it didn’t rain.

HOW did he type the bolded bit with a straight face? :pac: :pac: :pac:

JustTheOne

RTE news only showed the emails from paddy asking for a reply.

Leaving out all his demands.

Made the government look incompetent.

Totally one sided and people think RTE are government controlled by Denis o brien or some nonsense like that.


Here's his demands. Jesus wept this chap is deluded.

http://www.lookleftonline.org/2015/10/websummits-bizarre-ransom-demands/


Anglesea Road closed to allow attendees free access between venues for the days of the event. As per the RDS Horse Show.

Dedicated shuttle buses provided by Dublin Bus for Web Summit attendees at peak times in the morning and evenings, to and from the RDS/City Centre, circulating to key hotels. Agree appropriate bus branding.

Temporary Dublin bike stations.
Access to the event space within Herbert Park and, in addition, to the (non-event space) Playing Fields located closest to Anglesea Rd. We would look to build marquees on these and reinstate the ground after insofar as we reasonably can.

Grant road closures for Dame Court, South William Street and Fade Street for parts of our Night Summit. Waive associated fees.

Grant us suspension of parking permission on the above roads for the duration of the road closures. Waive associated fees.

Entrance to city venues – complimentary rental of venues such as City Hall and Wood Quay. Venues within the City.
City Centre branding for Web Summit for two weeks leading up to event and during
Outside direct responsibility

Access to Garda Escort services for specific VIPs at specified times during the event. Estimated 10 such VIPs during the event. Movement, not security.

Airport registration of all attendees. Large space required for two/three days before the event and during the event.

Hotel agreement – suggested voluntary anti-gouging code limiting differential from usual pricing scales.

Leap Cards for all attendees for their stay in the City

stoneill

I know nothing about event planning, less about governing and feck all about marketing.
But I do know that to let an event that is worth €100,000,000 to the local economy go to another country
without doing everything possible to keep it in Ireland is nothing short of criminal.

JustTheOne

stoneill wrote: »

I know nothing about event planning, less about governing and feck all about marketing.
But I do know that to let an event that is worth €100,000,000 to the local economy go to another country
without doing everything possible to keep it in Ireland is nothing short of criminal.

Criminal ay?

So people should go to jail for this?

Government bashing knows no bounds anymore.

stoneill

JustTheOne wrote: »

Criminal ay?

So people should go to jail for this?

Government bashing knows no bounds anymore.

Indeed - if that is what it takes to stop senior public servants, TDs ministers or others who through action or inaction waste tax payers money or miss opportunities that will benefit the economy. This was an opportunity to recoup some money - it would have at least balanced what was wasted on e-voting, eirecode and half of what was paid to consultants for IW for instance.

In the real world if you missed a similar opportunity you would be on the harsh end of "realignment" meeting then out on your ear.

namloc1980

stoneill wrote: »

I know nothing about event planning, less about governing and feck all about marketing.
But I do know that to let an event that is worth €100,000,000 to the local economy go to another country
without doing everything possible to keep it in Ireland is nothing short of criminal.

It's there any evidence for this €100m claim that's being banded about. Also did you read Mr Cosgrave's list of demands?

stoneill

namloc1980 wrote: »

It's there any evidence for this €100m claim that's being banded about. Also did you read Mr Cosgrave's list of demands?

Yes -nothing too excessive that I haven't seen at other major conferences around the world. Lisbon could do it no probs.

Graham

stoneill wrote: »

Yes -nothing too excessive that I haven't seen at other major conferences around the world. Lisbon could do it no probs.

And the evidence of the €100million?

JustTheOne

stoneill wrote: »

Indeed - if that is what it takes to stop senior public servants, TDs ministers or others who through action or inaction waste tax payers money or miss opportunities that will benefit the economy. This was an opportunity to recoup some money - it would have at least balanced what was wasted on e-voting, eirecode and half of what was paid to consultants for IW for instance.

In the real world if you missed a similar opportunity you would be on the harsh end of "realignment" meeting then out on your ear.

So all the other steps that have been taken to benefit the economy should be ignored and just send them to jail?

Wow.

namloc1980

stoneill wrote: »

Yes -nothing too excessive that I haven't seen at other major conferences around the world. Lisbon could do it no probs.

Ah cool. Please give us all this free stuff (to be paid for by the taxpayers obviously) while we charge €1k per ticket for this event.

Garda escorts for VIPs not too excessive! Lol!!

JustTheOne

stoneill wrote: »

Yes -nothing too excessive that I haven't seen at other major conferences around the world. Lisbon could do it no probs.

So you have seen all these demands been met all around the world too?

TallGlass

Sure whats to stop someone starting up a similar event in Dublin? Lisbon might not suit alot of people. Considering Dublin is close to the US and most tech company's are here or there, it might be the reason it was so popular there.

What's good here might not be so good over there. Besides, its just a conference when you think about it, these things die off in popularity.

Calina

stoneill wrote: »

I know nothing about event planning, less about governing and feck all about marketing.
But I do know that to let an event that is worth €100,000,000 to the local economy go to another country
without doing everything possible to keep it in Ireland is nothing short of criminal.

stoneill wrote: »

Yes -nothing too excessive that I haven't seen at other major conferences around the world. Lisbon could do it no probs.

You know nothing about event planning but you know what WebSummit were demanding was nothing too excessive?

suicide_circus

TallGlass wrote: »

Sure whats to stop someone starting up a similar event in Dublin? Lisbon might not suit alot of people. Considering Dublin is close to the US and most tech company's are here or there, it might be the reason it was so popular there.

What's good here might not be so good over there. Besides, its just a conference when you think about it, these things die off in popularity.

The Web Plummet?

TallGlass

suicide_circus wrote: »

The Web Plummet?

What ever you want, even call it Suicide Circus if you wanted :cool:

suicide_circus

TallGlass wrote: »

What ever you want, even call it Suicide Circus if you wanted :cool:

That might be frowned on

markpb

Graham wrote:

And the evidence of the €100million?

Came from the Taoiseach apparently.

TallGlass

markpb wrote: »

Came from the Taoiseach apparently.

Sure he wouldn't even know how much the TV licence fee is

nc6000

Why wasn't this on in the Convention Centre anyway? Is that not what it's for.

ThisRegard

stoneill wrote: »

I know nothing about event planning, less about governing and feck all about marketing.
But I do know that to let an event that is worth €100,000,000 to the local economy go to another country
without doing everything possible to keep it in Irelaund is nothing short of criminal.

Add Criminal Law to that list of Don't knows.