Leeds 2.0

leeds 2.0rebooting the city’s web & tech scene {2007-2010}

Monday, 8 March 2010

hello :)

emerging technologies think-tank: UK+NZ+US

previously scouting silicon valley & boston/MIT

orange design+

o’reilly etel 2006+2007

eComm 2008, 2009 & eComm europe

rebuilding leeds’ tech culture after the crash


opencoffee

june 2007; emailed everyone we knew with a time & place (*bux, albion st!)

who’s interesting & what’re they working on?

openness & diversity = surfaces serendipity

entrepreneurs + investors + designers + developers + geeks + bloggers

alcohol vs. caffeine? morning vs evening?

eventbrite, twitter, facebook, blogs

34 editions, around 1000 attendees...


bring together opencoffee, geekup

leeds’ first unconference

attendees create the programme

free. open. participatory. democratic

weekend of talks, games, parties, food, entertainment

120-150 attendees; 30-40 sessions


barcamp leeds

costs necessitated sponsors...

apple, adobe, sun, rockstar, yahoo!, microsoft, orange

gift bags, prizes, live links

executed in just 28 days!

ticketing tells you a lot about human psychology...


random, opportunistic...

8 events, 2 weeks

showing off leeds’ contributions to web culture

fred wilson (twitter, 4square) scheduled against beijing’08!

2 core events; 6 fringe events


needed to address low female turnout

somewhat controversial...

men allowed as ‘dates’ only :)

great food, chic locations (the loft, city inn, living room)

showcase 2x exceptional women

6 editions; 12 speakers, driving up attendance elsewhere


january 2009, an afterthought...

most popular!

5 minutes, 20 slides, 15 secs/slide

18 speakers in 3 hours

6 weeks submissions & review

professional a/v recording, live stream

global ignite week (50 cities, 10’000)


may 2009, month-long

12 events; 3x ‘tentpole’ events...

innovation north showcase

formal conference: carsonified’s future of web apps

crossover into arts, “digital britain” debate, photography

international attention...


TEDxLeeds

highly curated, edited

3x speakers: tech, entertainment & design

4x TED talk screenings

set in newly opened rose bowl (bleugh!)

part of 5 city tour


modelled on south-by-southwest

partnering with live at leeds, thought bubble

inaugural 2-day conference

live studio audience recording of apps & hats


what i’ve learned...

form advisory boards to get the best content & insight

use off-the-shelf or free tools to market, ticket & manage...

eventbrite, eventwax, expectnation, wordpress, facebook, twitter, uStream, openconferenceware

free, open & unmoderated formats are fun, but unpredictable...

...paid, curated & edited events are less exciting, but quality can be higher

small companies can be bigger sponsors than corporates

leeds has terrible conference venues & fussy caterers!


thank you :)

email [email protected]

twitter @imran

web www.imranali.name


Leeds 2.0

Technology

Transcript of Leeds 2.0