What makes iWeek special

Share This September 6th, 2007 rpm

iWeek is widely seen as one of premier Internet events on the yearly conference calendar. But what makes it a special event?

Conferences are often rated according to the speaker line-up, the venue and even the catering. There are however generally fairly good speakers for many conferences, and the usual suspects generally show up for most conferences dealing with the Internet and broadband.

iWeek 2007 assembled a very interesting set of speakers, but it did not necessarily stand out when compared to other conferences in the same arena. It is in fact very difficult to stand out since conference attendees generally want to hear from prominent players in the field which means that the same guys are often asked to address delegates.

So unless you can get Vint Cerf, Bill Gates or Sergey Brin to show their face you will basically look like most other conferences out there.

But iWeek is special. And the reasons are not based on the delegates, the venue or even the food, but rather on the people attending the conference and the way the conference is run.

The main difference between ISPA’s iWeek and most other conferences is that iWeek is free. This has the interesting effect that the event attracts mostly people who are really interested in the issues which are discussed and are generally as knowledgeable as the speakers themselves.

The high caliber of delegates not only makes for an interesting conference but also very informed discussions at lunch and during the tea breaks. It is truly a pleasure to rub shoulders with various guys who were key players when the Internet started in the early nineties.

Apart from the informed user base, iWeek is one of the only – if not the only – conference which provide all delegates with free, fast access to the Internet throughout the conference.

As can be expected a large portion of the delegates sit with their connected laptops open throughout the conference, not only keeping them connected to their businesses but also alleviating the boredom which may set in if a topic is not particularly relevant to a certain segment of the audience.

ISPA further makes certain that anyone with an Internet connection can share in the conference by uploading all presentations beforehand and has a webcast of all presentations.

The combination of all these factors truly makes iWeek a premier event on the yearly conference circuit.

Well done to Greg Massel, Ant Brooks, Alan Levin, William Stucke, Theo Kramer, Calvin Browne, Elaine Zinn, Reliable Sources PR and the other behind-the-scenes guys who made this great event possible.

Entry Filed under: General