The Daily Networker

What do you find when you search Twitter to discover what has so inspired someone that they use the phrase;

“This is Amazing”?…

1) Wallpaper which changes colour according to the heat.  Willy Wonka would have loved this

2) Photo shows Phoenix descending to the Martian surface underneath its parachute.  Read the words below the shot.

3) R2D2 translator; Admittedly seconds rather than hours of fun…

4) A moving story of a man who took a polaroid every day, until the day he died

5) Meanwhile, a woman comes back to life in Ohio

6) A GCSE exam paper had some of the answers carefully hidden…on the back.

7) A scary walk along a mountain path is one for the producers of Indiana Jones

Want to make a Long Bet?  Try making a 25 year prediction on this site.

Idea for TV or Radio show;  Use this concept to underpin a new show in which “Amazing” things are uncovered and discussed in a weekly, half hour format.

Supremely energised after my Speed Networking event last night at Adam Street.  The excellent Emma Mulqueeny has done a stunning job of writing it up here, which I’m grateful for. If I had given proper thought to the fact that I had invited a professional poker player to speak just before a Church of England Vicar, I would have dusted off my Guys and Dolls song sheets.  That would, I fear, have rocked the boat, and so I blew my whistle instead. 

You may have noticed, reader, that Daily Networker floated off into space recently, which in technical terms meant that it disappeared off the face of the web, and in boating terms means that it simply floated out to sea.  Thanks then to the wizardry of Ewan for manning the Lifeboats and ensuring that we are now back on air, water or ether, depending on your preference.

Luck being a Lady, normal service should now be resumed. 

I have filtered these for your interest;

UK Catalyst Awards (These awards for pro-social technology launch this evening…more about them soon)

Shine, the Unconference for Social Entrepreneurs (Jess Tyrell, one of the producers, is amazing and I’m a massive fan of Unltd)

Pangea Day (this is the output of one of the TED prizes – can’t believe it’s only just properly shown up on my radar)

DrinkTank (hats off to the team at Huddle for organising this, which meets again on the 14th May).

GeeKyoto 2008 [fixing the broken world] (co-organised by the excellent Ben Hammersley)

Thought for the day;

We’ll all have heard the analogy about ‘turning an oil tanker’, when speaking with a large organisation, whether in the public or private sector. A colleague mentioned yesterday that a friend’s father used to command oil tankers for a living. The time that it takes actually takes to perform this manoeuvre; Half and Hour.

Five days in the United States. Twenty UK web entrepreneurs. The mission: to showcase talent, explore opportunity, learn, reflect and meet great people…

I’m keen to start this post, not with my own feedback, but with that of some of the 20 companies who took part in WebMission08.

Of 20 feedback forms filled out so far, from a mixture of entrepreneurs and sponsors (which could be anonynmous if desired), 20 people said that Web Mission 08 was a success for them and their company. 100% said that they would recommend the WebMission experience to a colleague.

We asked them to list some positive outcomes from the trip and here are some of the responses;

”3 Very good investor leads”

“Great new partnerships”

“Better understanding of the customer base”

“Met some great companies and great people”

“2 proactive contacts from US VC”

“New information”

“A lot of useful advice from fellow entrepreneurs, i.e. Michael Birch”

”Fantastic level of Introductions to major companies like YouTube, Sun”

“Great press!”

“Generate ideas around how we can use social networking internally”

“Networking with other UK startups”

“Potential investment”

“Will encourage us to think BIG!”

“Partner meetings helped us understand how we can work with VC”

“Input to business plan”

I would encourage you to connect with any of the 20 companies who went, to hear their personal feedback. None of the trip could have happened without our sponsors, BT, HSBC, Heller Ehrman, UKTI, Etelos, Oracle, Sun, Make Your Mark and Ten UK. My co-organisers were the excellent Polecat team of Bron, James, Nikki and Alex, who I’d work with again at the drop of a hat. In fact, we’re already scheming about where and when the next WebMission might lead.

We’ll be having a meeting of the 20 companies and sponsors in a few weeks time to talk in more detail about the benefits of the trip, as well as things which could be built upon or improved.

Amongst all of the discussions, on and off line, there were certain mutterings that the entire escapade had been something of a ‘jolly’. To this I really ought to admit; In amongst brunching with Jim Buckmaster of Craigslist, between seeing pitches to a dozen US VCs, amid meeting with senior executives from Amazon, Facebook, Linkedin, Sun and SalesForce, visiting Google, Bebo and Oracle, attending materclass presentations from Deloitte, Heller Ehrman and Spark PR, and interviewing with the BBC, the Daily Telegraph, Real Business, Management Today, Startups.co.uk, Demo, VentureBeat and Business Week, not to mention spending quality time with some of the smartest and most characterful entrepreneurs in the UK…amidst all of that, I confess, I personally had an incredible time and a huge amount of fun.

Turning to shores closer to home; I’m not qualified to comment as to whether we have all of the ingredients for web success here in the UK. My entirely personal hunch is that YES, we do. Anyone who thinks that this means that we have NOTHING to learn from the rest of the world should apply for WebMission09 as soon as possible.

I’ll end with some words from one of the great US entrepreneurs, Henry Ford;

“Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at 20 or 80. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.”