I was taught that if I can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all. This applies to my official blogger position at Le Web 09 thusfar.
I can be constructive about this.
One of the reasons I left Silicon Valley area this summer and moved to Montreal is because of the growing sadness I felt for the ‘web’ industry living there. First, let me say this: I was surrounded by some fan-frickin-tastic people. People with heart and soul who were excited about the future of technology, are building the future of technology and daily take personal risks to change the world for the better. But I was also surrounded by a group made up of people who weren’t incredibly positive, who threw their power positions around to feed their own egos (and keep their power) and were more focused on being famous/recognized/etc than they were on making the web a better place.
And the group of negative people got me down. Daily. I did my best to ignore them and do good work, but the truth is that my faith was being shaken by the fact that the worse their behaviour, the more they were rewarded and, it seemed, nobody could speak up to stop it. Anyone that did would be locked out of the cartel that exists. Whether it was a woman I know who refused to go on a date with a prominent blogger and was told that because of this, she would never have her startup reviewed; or the person who questioned the bias of another blogger who was then locked out of every future event that blogger was connected to. And the power grew and people grew more afraid to speak out.
That didn’t feel like the community I fell in love with so many years ago. It felt a great deal like the world we were supposed to be changing. In essence, the worst parts of the offline world – with it’s hierarchies, gatekeepers and power mongers – were becoming firmly entrenched in the new media that was supposed to circumvent this behaviour and create a new frontier. I was losing faith. And that is the last thing I want to do. There is so much hope left in the world. I still believe the good guys/gals will finish first.
But here at Le Web 09, I feel like I’m staring that ugliness right in the eye. The program is mostly made up of the members and sycophants of the cartel mentioned above. It’s only the morning of the first day and a big part of it has been filled with egos and posturing. I was really hoping that Le Web would actually be about ‘The Web’ – where it’s going, where it should go, how do we drive it in positive directions, the diversity of issues that we are still facing that are creating challenges for web-citizens, really ground breaking technology, visionary people and how we can all get involved in this change – but it isn’t. It is about a small group of friends and how they use/benefit from the web: Le Clique.
I will continue to stick around because there ARE a few bright spots coming up: danah boyd, Kevin Marks, Violet Blue and a handful of others who are sure to talk about brave new worlds and not use their time onstage to kiss up to the cartel. And I will report on their talks as well as others that I hope will really change my mind and restore my faith.
Your frustration and pain is clear. I am certain there are many individuals in every company and industry that have feelings in common with you and can say the same about the people they work with. (including me) I have been in a sales environment my entire life,(40 years) see many jump ship to another company, only to learn “the grass isn’t any greener on the other side of the fence, nor is it any easier to cut”. You must always follow your own compass, change your direction when necessary for the level of success you desire, and look for the lesson in what you see in others.
Keep your chin up. I am sure there are many who see things the way you do but are scared to voice their opinions.
Many people do not know how to handle success, forget where they are coming from, and why they started to do what they are doing. They lost their way. And, the sad thing is they are so blinded, that they don’t even realize it.
Avil
This kind of writing is why I crush on you hard.
Sadly cliques exist everywhere. What’s even sadder are the ones in smaller communities/regions that seem to work even harder to keep things insular. Some folks want to be the big fish even in the smallest of ponds. I’m with you – share and we’re all worth more. Believe me, there are plenty of like-thinkers out there, we’re just not going to the clique’s conferences, we’re busy walking the walk.
This is a heartfelt post Miss Hunt. I deeply appreciate the fact that you post it on the first day of LeWeb. Hopefully, it will have its little influence on what you will hear in the next days. Keep on writing so honestly — which is most probably what you do all the time but it’s my first time here
Like Alice says, cliques are everywhere. Frustrating and depressing as they may be. Perhaps we have our own cliques too without even realising it?
Over the past year I have made a serious and conscious effort to re-evaluate where I want to be. As a result I’m meeting all sorts of wonderful people. Though I’m a geek (apparently), I am increasingly finding myself surrounded by non-geeks – this makes it a very interesting life where I am learning all sorts of new things. It’s nice to mix ‘n’ match.
I’m watching remotely and can see it clearly. Whilst I would have love to have come across and catch up with old friends and make new ones, so far, there’s nothing in the discussions that feels like it is moving things on, tackling issues. The announcements that have come are good and I can see a lot of ecosystem changes coming out of them, but they don’t need a conference to announce them. Here’s hoping for something different
I believe you have hit the heart of issues to come and hurdles to cross.
The fact is, its mostly the ones that don’t posture, are humble, and can share intelligence with others that make out world of web a better place. We deal with these folks all the time, and this is the very reason I left Corporate America – to make a difference.
It’s sometimes lonely out here forging ahead with new ideas, thought provoking ways we can make a positive difference in the experience of the web, and many try to game it. They won’t last and can’t keep up in the end, due to this type of behavior. Sad but true.
Thanks for getting “Naked” as I call it, about your feelings and letting us know what is really on your mind, as more people need to share how they really see things to make a difference.
Dean Holmes
More than 10 years, I thought this stuff too.
I saw lotta people around me dealing with cashflow, ROI, Business Angels and VCs, and nothing about human being, uses, ecology and goodLifeStyle.
I’m working with IT & tech. managers, only because I think IT is a solution for a better life, and seems we can share knowledge each other for an urban permaculture.
Lotta to do for, less than 1/1000 ppl know what Urban Connected Permaculture is.
Lotta to teach about this, thanks Tara for this little rant
Good for you for speaking out. Sad how the power hungry people are working their way into all aspects of business. Who would of thought that geeks/nerds are capable of this. Hopefully you can find the good in Le Web and restituez votre foi en technologie
Cheer up!
Sure there are some ego down there, but stay positive. There’re still a lot of entrepreneurs that try to change Interent to make it better everyday. That’s why internet is evolving so fast.
I wish I could attend to LeWeb too.
I can only sympathise. I went to LeWeb a couple of years ago and came away frustrated. I felt like I’d been to watch a TV show being recored about a subject I cared passionately about where many given a pulpit on stage knew not so much less than the audience, but less than most anyone in the audience. I was amazed at the time given to talking about a chair or attention given to some silly flickr mashup when Doc Searls and David Isenberg were both given the hook. Maybe if the conference didn’t use the word “Web” I could relax more. As it was I came away feel bad about myself and how my frustrated railing against the inner-circle could only have been taken as little more than petty jealousy.
But then I met some great people in the corridors, partook the posh grub, had some great conversations which together reassured me I wasn’t going mad and made up for the disappointment of the show. I didn’t feel too guilty for ignoring the parade of vacuous panels.
So enjoy the great people who attend Le Web, I’m jealous of you being there for that! Concentrate on what you do best, continue to write, make things, get excited and ignore the self-seekers’ agenda. And maybe next year go to d.construct or reboot, better european events. It’s only a passing phase, this current hand waving elite, one which the real Web will no doubt render obsolete.
Chin up!
Hi Tara,
Bummer I’m missing you whilst you’re on this side of the Atlantic
Had meant to go to LeWeb but perhaps glad now I didn’t?
Your post reminded me of this classic Guardian review of LeWeb 2008. Have you seen it before?..
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/dec/10/startups-internet
Herb
p.s. Will you be in Long Beach in Feb?
I’m cool with fact that some people in this scene of ours are negative / some positive; and some stand out often by their own design / while others toil more discreetly. The thing that raises my eyebrows about this post is that to me Tara generally seems more a member of the prior camps than the latter ones, and I follow what she’s up to because those are things about her that interest me. The karaoke tour is one of several examples I’m aware of her publicly, with explicit promotion, leveraging her renown. And much of what she has to say (including of course this post) is compelling because of how skeptical it is about various parties’ designs.
I haven’t been out in the Bay Area for a couple of years but even three or four years ago it was starting to resemble the high school cafeteria we all remember with dread.
It sounds like Montreal has been good for your soul. I’m similarly enjoying being out in the boonies (if you count suburban NY as boonies) and talking with nice people doing interesting things in places like Redding CT or Providence RI.
One has to be careful though, because I suspect there may be others who view you as part of a clique and wonder what it takes to get to your stature.
Circles of influence, power and prestige are seemingly unavoidable and we can start expanding the circle by being conscious of how we treat our most immediate neighbors.
To-date, I am grateful how the social media community has extended its welcome to me and I endeavor to do the same to those who are figuring out their own place (i.e. older individuals who may deem the social web to be just for the “younger” set.)
I understand what you are saying. Our world is made up of all sorts of people. A significant aspect of the world that we inhabit is that we are socialized to seek, nay chase, success .. and there are (at least) two competing definitions of success. (At least) one of them requires running hard, braying loud, linking arms and voices with others on the same path, and then daring others to break in.
But everyone, I think, somewhere runs into the messy wicked challenges life likes to offer us. That’s when we find out who we are and how we decide to approach the rest of our (personal and professional) lives.
great to meet you. I think Gary did a good job of telling them hes not coming back unless theres some interaction and less buzz word throwing and backslapping. Hey! the keynote was a woman, Rania and she spoke brilliantly. It is Europe dont forget, It’s not the only industry. I try to focus on the people I care about. I do appreciate you writing so incisively about this. Change will come.
Hope to see you on that side of the pond soon.
Donna
Back at the first LeWeb conference in 2006, I remember Loïc calling it an “unconference”. Yes, an unconference, like BarCamp. This was before he decided to invite Shimon Peres up on stage, followed by a string of French politicians.
I blogged it furiously back then – http://tommorris.org/blog/2006/12/12
Thank you for breaking the silence this year and risking being thought of as “negative” for pointing out that LeWeb is Le Clique.
Aha, this is the post I was waiting for. I thought Leweb 09 was fantastic; Loic and Geraldine did a great job. And as a total outsider I was braced to suffer from the pervasive elitism. But coming out of those two rich and rewarding days I see more clearly something that had been cloudy for me until then. This is their web, not mine. It’s the web of millionaires who rise above the crowd, of giant corporations, of cliques and elites who wield influence and power. Let them do their thing; it was a great show. But let’s organize another show for the other web, the web of small companies that stay small, of unsung bloggers, of the army of anonymous contributors to wikis and open software projects. We could call it “l’autre web” or some such (maybe the “alterweb”), and feature speakers like Richard Stallman, Mitch Kapor, Howard Rheingold, Kevin Kelly, Kathy Sierra and Doc Searls. Any takers?
Hey Tara –
Long time no talk
I hope you’re well. I wanted to just say it’s really refreshing to hear you say the above. There are a lot of conferences etc that feel at least a little like what you’ve described above. SXSW, while fun and exciting (and yes, I’m going again this year) has many of these attributes. And it even comes out in the panel-picking process. I’ve got a pretty active role in an organization that focuses on digital activism (digiactive.org), and I contacted the two panels that were set up to discuss the topic to see if I might be able to participate (rather than try and nominate yet another one)…. well, I got one response back that was… very literally…. “thanks, but we have Clay Shirkey.” (I use this example out of complete respect for Clay).
Not only does it end up being a downer, but you also end up hearing the SAME VOICES over and over (and over). In my opinion, people should be actively trying to spice it up!
Anyway, I’m glad someone of your stature spoke up. All-in-all, the good thing about these events is that, while there may be egos, there are also plenty of really great down-to-earth-and-just-as-smart-if-not-smarter individuals to spend time with and learn from.
Hope you’re enjoying Montreal, I’m across the big lake in Central New York and we’re getting some snow…. I’ll bet you guys are skiing up there already.
Cheers,
kate
@Michael Slattery: it already exists, it’s the “Paris Web” conference, the conference for people who *make* the web with an obsession on quality and accessibility. It has been going very successfully since 2006 (even so we never talk about money, investors, entrepreneurs and egos
and we’ll do our 5th edition in 2010.