Stream08

Last week I was lucky enough to spend a few days in Athens at Stream08, the annual WPP geek camp / un-conference. The idea is this: Get a mix of WPP people, add a few industry leaders form outside the group, throw in some random but clever people to spice it up, ban discussing or promoting your business directly, provide lots of stimulating entertainment and you have Stream.

It’s based on an un-conference structure so essentially I had no idea not what to expect, to be honest I wasn’t expecting much, but walked away feeling very luck indeed. I think it has to be the best gathering of its kind I have ever attended.

Highlights for me were a talk by Sung Park of UMagination Labs on how to innovate, a very frank and personal chat with Jeff Pulver about how fear, greed and disruption can be used to change an industry (and make a lot of money in the process), having a few drinks with Gordon Torr of The Unfactory, meeting Yosi Vardi (ICQ and a million others), watching a Lego Mindstorms robot that could do the rubicks cube in four minutes or so, being taught magic by Lior Manor, how to be a DJ by Darek Mazzone and finally, just having a few days to hang out with very smart, nice people.