Web Summit quits Dublin

steddyeddy

Muahahaha wrote: »

Endas office said it was worth €108m to the economy per year, over 10 years it would have generated over €1bn. Its wrong to say its not a big event, it is one of the biggest of its kind

1 billion over ten is nothing relative to other contributors to the Irish economy especially considering the trouble this guy's causing. As I said the pharm industry make major contributions here and don't ask for nearly as much in return.

grundie

smash wrote: »

But grundie, 30,000 people over a few days is not a big event.

I know, but for every extra thousand attendees we have to add more hotel rooms, more buses/taxis and the roads get a bit more clogged.

Instead of building more capacity and incurring debts to allow for bigger conferences that may not come, we should instead make the most of what we've got.

MrMorooka

Eoin wrote: »

But that's not the case everywhere else. Because of their size, the centres often in the outskirts of the city, if not even further out - and you've to get a shuttle or taxi just like here.

Well, in fairness, the Lisbon venue is two stops on a metro from the airport.

sabat

awec wrote: »

He repeated in his emails that he "wasn't looking for a penny".

Thats a bit disingenuous of him, he may not have wanted the government to throw money at him but he wanted various organisations and public bodies to give him things for free.

It's not so much disingenuous as a total lie. According to the latest Phoenix they've received over €900k from various state bodies such as the IDA, Science Ireland, Dublin Tourism etc. Is there any fundamental difference between this event and an Amway conference or overseas property exhibition from 2006? I just see a bunch of naive kids too young to remember 1997-2000 convinced they're going to make an overnight fortune.

Tobyglen

All this guy wants is more marketing and free advertising for his company and he's got it.
He seems a very unlikeable guy-expecting people to work for him for free or on low wages and treating them poorly.


The Web summit isn't looked at favorably at all by many people who have attended. Quick google shows this

http://tech.eu/features/6203/no-web-summit-for-me/

I hope someone copycats what he did because he's really only an events organiser and it add something to the economy-mostly hospitality.

smash

Muahahaha wrote: »

Endas office said it was worth €108m to the economy per year, over 10 years it would have generated over €1bn. Its wrong to say its not a big event, it is one of the biggest of its kind

That's only if there's an average spend of €3,600 per attendee which I assume there isn't, unless you factor in the costs of a web summit ticket, which doesn't go in to the Irish economy, it mostly goes in to Paddy's pocket.

brooke 2

Muahahaha wrote: »

Endas office said it was worth €108m to the economy per year, over 10 years it would have generated over €1bn. Its wrong to say its not a big event, it is one of the biggest of its kind

I would imagine someone picked that number out of his you-know-what!

SeaFields

I don't know much about the web summit but reading this thread and reading/listening to the various media commentary over the last couple of days on the subject is like two completely and totally separate events!

brooke 2

SeaFields wrote: »

I don't know much about the web summit but reading this thread and reading/listening to the various media commentary over the last couple of days on the subject is like two completely and totally separate events!

I have already made that observation! Paddy seems to have some sympathy from certain sections of the media - but not too many, from what I see.

You should have a peep at politics.ie! Especially post 216!! Sorry, Boards!!

Some seem to think there is a good reason the government is keeping Cosgrave at arm's
length. Pat Kenny tore strips off Adrian Weckler on Newstalk today.

darkpagandeath

This sounds just like one of them Life coach scam jobs...

PARlance

smash wrote: »

That's only if there's an average spend of €3,600 per attendee which I assume there isn't, unless you factor in the costs of a web summit ticket, which doesn't go in to the Irish economy, it mostly goes in to Paddy's pocket.

It doesn't matter where the event is held, ticket money goes to Dublin unless he moves the company elsewhere. So ticket/sponsorship shouldn't be included in the "value".

sully2010

brooke 2 wrote: »

I have already made that observation! Paddy seems to have some sympathy from certain sections of the media - but not too many, from what I see.

You should have a peep at politics.ie! Especially post 216!! Sorry, Boards!!

Some seem to think there is a good reason the government is keeping Cosgrave at arm's
length. Pat Kenny tore strips off Adrian Wenkler on Newstalk today.

No fan of Pat Kenny but Adrian Weckler is nothing more than a suck up to Cosgrave and his type and I'm glad hes been put in his place. He is only interested in getting his free pass to the web summit so he can suck c**k with all the tech guys he truly wishes he was, instead he's a tech journalist who writes nothing but rubbish and for some reason thinks hes gods gift. Weckler, piss off to Portugal with your bum chum Paddy!

Wonder why he never writes about the start ups who are ripped off by the web summit year after year.

smash

Will the government of Lisbon be supplying translators for the Portuguese startups to talk to investors? I can't imagine many Irish startups forking out thousands in flights, accommodation and ticket prices to go to Lisbon.

Because wasn't that the thing about web summit... It's publicity hype was all based around Irish startups.

steddyeddy

True Smash. Also surely one of the benefits of having it in Dublin is that Google and Facebook are based here.

Cienciano

Muahahaha wrote: »

Endas office said it was worth €108m to the economy per year, over 10 years it would have generated over €1bn. Its wrong to say its not a big event, it is one of the biggest of its kind

Would like a source or breakdown of that figure

smash

Cienciano wrote: »

Would like a source or breakdown of that figure

I think everyone would at this stage.

smash

Mr.S wrote: »

Flights to Lisbon are pretty cheap in November!

They go up when there's an expected influx. Supply vs demand etc.

namloc1980

It's quite clear that Paddy had decided to leave Ireland and the release of the email exchange is just a smokescreen to try to deflect any negative criticism onto the Government. His insistence that he didn't want a penny while at the same time presenting a list of demands to be paid for by taxpayers is very jarring. Also his pressuring for a plan for 2016 a full 15 months before the event also indicates they had already decided to go. His 4 asks of the Government were also red herrings:

1. A traffic plan: This is up to the organiser to develop and liaise with the council to implement. Paddy wanted someone else to do it.
2. Transport plan: same as above.
3. WiFi issues in RDS: nothing to do with Government as this is an issue with the supplier of the WiFi and the RDS.
4. Hotel Prices: again nothing to do with Government.

namloc1980

It's quite clear that Paddy had decided to leave Ireland and the release of the email exchange is just a smokescreen to try to deflect any negative criticism onto the Government. His insistence that he didn't want a penny while at the same time presenting a list of demands to be paid for by taxpayers is very jarring. Also his pressuring for a plan for 2016 a full 15 months before the event also indicates they had already decided to go. His 4 asks of the Government were also red herrings:

1. A traffic plan: This is up to the organiser to develop and liaise with the council to implement. Paddy wanted someone else to do it.
2. Transport plan: same as above.
3. WiFi issues in RDS: nothing to do with Government as this is an issue with the supplier of the WiFi and the RDS.
4. Hotel Prices: again nothing to do with Government.

Graham

Mr.S wrote: »

Flights to Lisbon are pretty cheap in November!

Flights to Lisbon may usually be cheap in November, I can't see that being the case if 30,000 people are planning to fly in for the same few days.

I can't help but think Lisbon as a location is a mistake. Web Summit may have extracted significant concessions from the local government but I would be amazed if the attendance and/or revenue matches Dublin. I predict lots of emails offering special offers on tickets this time next year.

Calahonda52

steddyeddy wrote: »

As I said the pharm industry make major contributions here and don't ask for nearly as much in return.

Are u up to speed on Reference drug pricing here in Ireland and the gouging that goes on based on big pharma being here.
Thought not

Bio Mech

ClovenHoof wrote: »

That's not true. Not true at all in 2015.

You are a classic example why this country is heading in the wrong direction.

It is true. You know it is. That's all there is to be said on that. I am right you are wrong. So very wrong.

Graham

Mr.S wrote: »

30k won't be flying in from Ireland / Dublin though.

I didn't suggest they would.

Mr.S wrote: »

Most of the people at Web Summit in the past 2/3 years are non Irish!

Lots of US/UK traffic I'd imagine.

What separates Dublin is vast number of UK/London to Dublin flights.

640 London <-> Dublin flights per week along with the option of the ferry and a multitude of US connections.

Dublin has approximately 35,000 direct US->IE passenger movements per week
Lisbon has approximately 4,500 direct US -> PT passenger movements per week

Lisbon will be very handy for anyone flying from Brazil though.

rob316

Uh dis dam gubermint

smash

From the Irish times:

Why does the Web Summit have demands and grievances few other events seem to have? Which requests are legitimate, which not, and why?

The now very public dispute between the Government - specifically, the Department of the Taoiseach - and the soon-to-be-departing Web Summit event is turning into a rhetorical car crash that only injures both parties.
No-one comes off looking good: the Government, lazy and semi-engaged; the Web Summit, blustering and self-important. The truth is somewhere in between the extremes of presentation.

flouncer

obviously its worth the business. as such
- all luas/dart services should only serve the south side
- all bus services should be redirected to serve the south side
- all taxis should be diverted to the south side
- any hotels that are north side should move south and open their doors free of charge
- everybody on the south side with wifi should remove their security settings
- homeless people should be moved north side to remove them from sight
- anyone who looks like they cant afford the entry fee (said EUR750) should be apprehended and moved north side
- residents who bring down the tone of the web summit should be moved north side for the days of the summit
- the airport should be moved south side for these days
- dunlaoghaire pier should be opened up for private plane landings
- denis o'brien court case should be held in the central auditorium
Cant see anything wrong with Paddys demands? :-)

flouncer

obviously its worth the business. as such
- all luas/dart services should only serve the south side
- all bus services should be redirected to serve the south side
- all taxis should be diverted to the south side
- any hotels that are north side should move south and open their doors free of charge
- everybody on the south side with wifi should remove their security settings
- homeless people should be moved north side to remove them from sight
- anyone who looks like they cant afford the entry fee (said EUR750) should be apprehended and moved north side
- residents who bring down the tone of the web summit should be moved north side for the days of the summit
- the airport should be moved south side for these days
- dunlaoghaire pier should be opened up for private plane landings
- denis o'brien court case should be held in the central auditorium
Cant see anything wrong with Paddys demands? :-)

KungFuhrer

smash wrote: »

Will the government of Lisbon be supplying translators for the Portuguese startups to talk to investors? I can't imagine many Irish startups forking out thousands in flights, accommodation and ticket prices to go to Lisbon.

Because wasn't that the thing about web summit... It's publicity hype was all based around Irish startups.

Virtually all of the participants can speak English in these kind of events, so I doubt that will be a problem just because they're moving country.

Btw, apparently the Portuguese are well able to speak to, and even sway, investors - check who were last year's startup competition winners

Annasopra

grundie wrote: »

I don't think this helps Mr Cosgraves case.

He's asking people at ministerial level to help him with stuff that he really should be dealing with himself.

Traffic issues? Speak to the Guards just like the FAI, GAA would do when planning a big game.

Public transport issues? Speak to CIE or private operators and be willing splash the cash to lay on extra services.

WiFi issues? Nothing to do with the government.

Hotels? Do what any other big conference organiser would do and negotiate competitive prices at specially selected hotels. Refuse to list any hotel on the summit website if they refuse to agree not to raise prices for the conference.

I read it as "I have all these problems that I really should be dealing with, but I want you to wave a magic wand and make them go away"

A standard ticket for the websummit is 725. He's complaing about hotel prices!!!!!!

Annasopra

stoneill wrote: »

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

Nothing too excessive? You're having a laugh

fiachr_a

If the Special Olympics was held in the RDS, buses would get police escorts and roads would be closed off. They wouldn't cut off the water either. There would be awards give out to the volunteers who did a great job organising the event. That's Ireland in a nutshell.

smash

fiachr_a wrote: »

If the Special Olympics was held in the RDS, buses would get police escorts and roads would be closed off. They wouldn't cut off the water either. There would be awards give out to the volunteers who did a great job organising the event. That's Ireland in a nutshell.

What's that got to do with web summit?

Cienciano

The guy organising it seems like a complete knobend. He wants the city to organise everything for him.
But some people seem to think he wants any excuse to pull out of dublin. I disagree, I think he wants to keep it here, but he thinks he's going to shame DCC into keeping it here, Lisbon was a threat. One he didn't want to do. But the council didn't bend over for him so he had to follow through and move to Lisbon. Delighted for him.

_Tombstone_

smash wrote: »

What's that got to do with web summit?

Not a thing. Jesus Christ. And its Ireland in a nut shell aswell.

Snickers Man

sully2010 wrote: »

No fan of Pat Kenny but Adrian Weckler is nothing more than a suck up to Cosgrave and his type and I'm glad hes been put in his place. He is only interested in getting his free pass to the web summit so he can suck c**k with all the tech guys he truly wishes he was, instead he's a tech journalist who writes nothing but rubbish and for some reason thinks hes gods gift. Weckler, piss off to Portugal with your bum chum Paddy!
.

Listened to that interview on play back and also noticed a Twitter storm caused by Daire Hickey, a minority shareholder in Web Summit, reacting angrily to the Irish Times report on "support" by government bodies.

Weckler's line, and the one strongly implied by Hickey's denouncement of "wildly inaccurate, pathetic journalism and government spin" is that the government is being disingenuous by saying that the amount of money spent by Enterprise Ireland and IDA on the Web summit was "funding" and that what the state bodies were actually doing was buying stand space to promote their businesses like any normal client of the event.

Well OK. By that logic, then surely IDA and EI will invest a similar amount of money in the Portugese Web Summit as they have annually in the Dublin event. If it's a hard-nosed, business-led self interested investment in promoting their message and expertise the audience is all that matters, not the venue. Right?

Which is closer to the truth? We'll know when the FOI requests for how much IDA and EI spent on the Lisbon event are made and replied to.

Let's keep an open mind.

grundie

Cienciano wrote: »

The guy organising it seems like a complete knobend. He wants the city to organise everything for him.
But some people seem to think he wants any excuse to pull out of dublin. I disagree, I think he wants to keep it here, but he thinks he's going to shame DCC into keeping it here, Lisbon was a threat. One he didn't want to do. But the council didn't bend over for him so he had to follow through and move to Lisbon. Delighted for him.

That makes sense, especially now since he has to move his whole team and business operation over to Lisbon for a few weeks in the run up to the event. Even if the Lisbon authorities are paying for it all, its still a big hassle to be away from home for so long.

smash

Cienciano wrote: »

The guy organising it seems like a complete knobend. He wants the city to organise everything for him.
But some people seem to think he wants any excuse to pull out of dublin. I disagree, I think he wants to keep it here, but he thinks he's going to shame DCC into keeping it here, Lisbon was a threat. One he didn't want to do. But the council didn't bend over for him so he had to follow through and move to Lisbon. Delighted for him.

He's following the money. Lisbon are giving him a million to have it there. The leaking of the emails etc was just in the hope that people would think he was left with no choice.

strandroad

Cienciano wrote: »

The guy organising it seems like a complete knobend. He wants the city to organise everything for him.
But some people seem to think he wants any excuse to pull out of dublin. I disagree, I think he wants to keep it here, but he thinks he's going to shame DCC into keeping it here, Lisbon was a threat. One he didn't want to do. But the council didn't bend over for him so he had to follow through and move to Lisbon. Delighted for him.

Lisbon venue has the capacity of 70 or 80 thousand, RDS looked almost maxed out at 25 or so last year and it's the largest in Dublin. No way they would stay and lose out on the momentum.

The Corinthian

mhge wrote: »

Lisbon venue has the capacity of 70 or 80 thousand, RDS looked almost maxed out at 25 or so last year and it's the largest in Dublin. No way they would stay and lose out on the momentum.

True, but apparently that's not the reason he gave for the move.

jimmycrackcorm

The Corinthian wrote:

True, but apparently that's not the reason he gave for the move.

Yes, he was having a dig. Whatever about the reasons, I don't know what he expected the government to do about Wi-Fi and hotel prices.

strandroad

The Corinthian wrote: »

True, but apparently that's not the reason he gave for the move.

To be honest I don't believe him, much of what he says is demonstrably untrue. Perhaps they wanted to stay another year but I don't think so. They were in talks with at least three European cities so it was not just Lisbon.

CatFromHue

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

Yes, he was having a dig. Whatever about the reasons, I don't know what he expected the government to do about Wi-Fi and hotel prices.

I'm still not sure what he wanted the govt to do about any of his requests, well other than pay for them all.

He should have been talking to the council and there was a meeting arranged with them for the end of May.

Leaking the emails with the govt looks like he can pin the blame on them but I do wonder if the council actually did come up with a plan but he'd have to fork out for the extra Gardai, like other organisations do when there's a big match on, and he wouldn't pay.

He was telling porkies on the radio the other day when he said that the 400K option for the Wifi in the RDS was the best option available but obviously if there's an upgrade of 1m then that's the best option available, he just wouldn't pay it!

Carlo Ancelotti

Stilk doesnt look good trying to host a web event with ****ty broadband at the location

jimmynokia

http://www.thejournal.ie/readme/web-summit-opinion-2393188-Oct2015/

Surely Enda Kenny and his government have better things to do, like fixing the economy and solving the homeless crisis, rather than get dragged into a silly squabble with an entrepreneur whose ego seems to have lost the run of itself.:D

VinLieger

Carlo Ancelotti wrote: »

Stilk doesnt look good trying to host a web event with ****ty broadband at the location

Which was his choice, he was given wifi package options and went for the cheapest one

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

This little trumped up *-$# wanted everybody to jump to his tune, pay for all the facilities HE wanted, discommode everybody else in the city, bring political pressure on issues that the government should not be involved with...all so he can cream profits in excess of 600k. We may be green but we are not that stupid. Let's see how happy he is after a spell in Portugal.

ted1

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

Yes, he was having a dig. Whatever about the reasons, I don't know what he expected the government to do about Wi-Fi and hotel prices.

But he is full of crap.
The reason is that attendees were getting bored of paying thousands for a ticket and seen the same city and sights every year , they simply needed a change of scenary.

With the price charged per ticket the organiser should have hired private busses and limos to transport visitors as regards Hotel prices , that's simply supply and demand, same as any if the cities hosting the World Cup and once again with the price of the tickets he can't complain about others charging high prices

Sheeps

VinLieger wrote: »

Which was his choice, he was given wifi package options and went for the cheapest one

That's incorrect. The cheapest option was BT which was free because they wanted to advertise at the summit, and was not allowed by the RDS because they wanted to sell him the infrastructure they had in place. They were left with no option other than the built in infrastructure which was not up to standard.

You have your facts wrong.

BattleReady

Not sure if this has been mentioned but I noticed sponsored ads from them on facebook asking people to read the emails between them and government. Seems pretty desperate. They were also getting lacerated on the comments section on an article on tech.eu. some guy just spamming responses in support of them. Looked pretty desperate also.

PARlance

Zeke Victorious Sparrow wrote: »

This little trumped up *-$# wanted everybody to jump to his tune, pay for all the facilities HE wanted, discommode everybody else in the city, bring political pressure on issues that the government should not be involved with...all so he can cream profits in excess of 600k. We may be green but we are not that stupid. Let's see how happy he is after a spell in Portugal.

I'm going to predict that by Yr 3 it will be a shadow of the event it is now.
Many of the attendees were here on jollies from bigger companies, they were over here for a fairly new and exciting event (that may lack substance), but they were also here for the craic and the p*ss ups... that won't be the same elsewhere, and when the novelty runs out it'll crash fairly quickly.

Isn't one of the principles of the Web that you don't need a Summit.