‘Engineering Serendipity’ Or Talking Gibberish?

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Dublin Web Summit Founder Paddy Cosgrave

You MUST decide.

Explaining the growth of the Dublin Web Summit, Paddy Cosgrave writes:

It’s taken us 4 years to scale Web Summit from 400 attendees to 20,000 and a bunch of physicists have played a big part.
Back in 2010, 3 international journalists showed up, this year it will exceed 1,200. Investors is up from 4 to over 800. Exhibitors from 3 to over 2,000.
With each passing year an increasing number of people ask how has it grown so fast? When I share the answer it’s almost never what people expect, so here it is:

Our growth has been largely propelled by data science. Or more correctly, in my view, network science. While conference companies hire event managers, we hire physicists with PHDs in areas like complex systems and network analysis. They then apply that knowledge and understanding to the task of creating and optimising real life networks. After all a conference is a network, albeit a momentary one. We love stuff like Gephi, NetworkX and Datasift, and algorithms like eigenvector centrality, Force Atlas and Fruchterman-Reingold.

…In other words, we “engineer serendipity” at the scale of 20,000 attendees. Put another way, the people at your table or on your pub crawl at Web Summit are neither a random collection of attendees nor a manually curated group of attendees, but rather the product of algorithms

Um.

*glazed look*

*giggle*

Engineering Serendipity: The Story of Web Summit’s Growth (Paddy Cosgrave, Dublin Web Summitt blog)

(Mark Stedman/Photocall Ireland)

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94 thoughts on “‘Engineering Serendipity’ Or Talking Gibberish?

    1. rotide

      Their confrences run smmothly with 3 insurance analysysts speaking.

      This is something a bit different and it always runs smoothly.

  1. louislefronde

    So if I put all the variables for a dickhead into an algorithm the answer will be Paddy Cosgrove?

  2. Caroline

    Another plus is that a physicist with a PhD can be paid considerably less than an event manager, so you really do make your own luck.

  3. rotide

    How predictable.

    One of the truly great things to happen in Ireland in the last 10 years. A really inspiring global event that brings the world to our doorstep and has massive benefits for the country.

    Belittled by BS commenters as for Dickheads and Pseud’s.

    Keep fighting the irrelevant fights people.

    1. offMooof

      What is it about the event which is inspirational? Which people in the world are coming to our doorstep? And what are the benefits for the country?
      Its just that you did a lot of typing there I’d hate to miss the point.

          1. rotide

            Unlike the people expressing jealous rage here, I don’t work in a related field and I have never met the man.

            I can however recognise hard earned success and a truly international event.

            Maybe if it featured abortion, gay rights, womens issues, anti-major party bias, water charges or bicycles it would be lauded by the sheeple here.

            Actually it probably does feature a few of those things.

          2. Mick Flavin

            Can I ask you a question Rotide?
            I think your presence in the comment section of BS is great. You offer a counterpoint to the prevailing view on many subjects and you do it without being (too!) abusive…
            But do you not feel that you’re just banging your head off a brick wall? Do you not get jaded by it all? How do you keep going?

            I read the comments more than I post, and I feel like I’ve seen the same arguments between the same posters over and over. I could equally have aimed this at one of your regular opponents, so I’d be interested on anyone’s opinion on this.

            Tldr: Why errybody so angry, repetitively angry?

          1. rotide

            As I said above, I dont know anyone involved. Im not even in the field

            Besides, I’m too busy being a paid shill for the Israelis and the church and FG and I’ve lost count of the rest.

          1. rotide

            I wouldn’t employ it too much untill you someone who knows what they’re talking about to refine that algorithm for you. You have an undefined variable there.

    2. AhHereLeaveItOut

      Be that as it may, you can’t deny the tone of condescending smugness in that blogpost, which is what I believe has enraged the simple-minded masses, rather than their ire being related to the merits of the event itself.

      *Sits back in his chair, pushes glasses up his nose*

      1. rotide

        Actually Yeah, that is fair enough.

        But its a businessman promoting his own event. Of course there’s going to be smoke blown and smugness.

  4. Beagle

    I once met that guy Paddy at a ‘networking’ event (shudder) and yes I can confirm that he is an arrogant, ignorant, smarmy douche bag of the highest degree.

    1. Mrs Stapleton

      Yup. I’ve met him a couple of times too, and every meeting reminds me afresh why he has such a poor reputation as an employer.

    2. Gdo

      I’m sure that five minute conversation gave you a good impression of all aspects of his personality, not to mention your pre-concieved notions.

          1. Clampers Outside!

            If it takes more than a five minute one to one conversation to weigh up someone you’ve a radar or two misfiring…. he’s talking about personality, not finding out if he understands inflation theory as an integral part of the big bang.

          2. Gdo

            Maybe my scarcsm would have been clearer if I’d written, “good point, well made”, or “yet another snap judgement made with no evidence whatsoever”

          3. rotide

            Clampers, you can judge people on a simple 5 minute conversation?

            You are a far better person than I in that case and your talents are wasted here when you could be headhunting people on wall street.

  5. Mrs Stapleton

    Pseudo-scientific nonsense to make the event sound more complex than it really is.

    It’s a conference. There are 21 year olds with marketing degrees who do this sort of thing for a living.

    The only difference between a normal conference and this, is Web Summit’s absolute obsession with money.

  6. Maxi

    Oh Paddy……

    I actually find it both sad and hillarious that Paddy is still getting away with this carry-on. From his days with Rock the Vote to Web Summit, he has been unsurpassable when it comes to selling high grade BS and getting away with it. Truly, a future government minister in a FF/FG cabinet

  7. Mani

    This kid of horesh1t makes me despair at the lack of quality bullying at a primary and secondary school level.

      1. Dubh Linn

        So speculating about the defective manhood of a misogynist is not ok in your book but hoping that a kid got bullied for being a bit nerdy is perfectly ok?

        What a strange moral bogland you inhabit Clampers.

  8. Loony Loo

    Bull.

    The first Web Summit had the founders of Twtitter Youtube and other internet monoliths. I wonder have they ever been in the same room since?

    The second one had Bono.

    This one has Eva Longeria, Conor Mcgreggor and Rio Ferdinard. He has made tech cool, made the Web Summit the only show in town, and fair play to him. If I threw a party and got the coolest kids in town to come, it would be packed too.

    It is successful because of who Paddy knows and will accept his invite.

    Although if he said that, then he wouldnt get free press. So what he did say probably ties more in to his marketing saavy, and hence well done him.

      1. Clampers Outside!

        I’m on the side that promotes the idea of a World Wealth Tax and the ending of tax havens everywhere…. I guess that means I’m on the good side, not Bono’s.

        I know you didn’t ask me, just thought I’d get in anyway.

    1. scottser

      rio ferdinand the tech king, who’s just been banned for 3 games and fined by the FA for using inappropriate language on twitter.

      1. Loony Loo

        Yeah, he brings in high profile celebs loosely connected with tech, who do the job of promoting his summit. Genius in fairness.

        I didnt say they had a clue in fairness.

      1. Loony Loo

        He made a tech conference cool.

        I’ve been to loads. Many are terminally dull, and his is broadly entertaining.

        The scruffy masses (public) knows and talks about this summit, before and when it’s in town. If you don’t agree that he made tech cool, maybe you would accept he creates a huge buzz around a polarizing tech conference?

  9. tim

    Awesome – this guy’s got a college education + salesman bollox; a powerful combination. Dublin Web Summit is obviously not the world’s biggest event, but it does put us somewhat on the map in a high-tech space. As someone who lives abroad and travels a lot, I can tell you that the unfortunate reality is that many people can’t come up with more than Bono and Guinness when talking about Ireland (yes, I’m aware that both will probably also feature during the summit, but anyway).

    As to what it brings: it puts the eyeballs of some of the tech world’s important decision makers on our small country. It more than likely gives local Irish entrepreneurs confidence and contacts. If you just want to stick with boring, tangible benefits, well then 20,000 attendees should be good for 10 – 15,000,000 € over 2.5 days in hotel, restaurant and shopping bills?

    1. Medium Sized C

      “Dublin Web Summit is obviously not the world’s biggest event, but it does put us somewhat on the map in a high-tech space. ”

      Google, Facebook, Intel, IBM, Analog devices, HP, Microsoft. These are all high tech companies who were putting us on the map before the first web summit.

  10. Jack Ascinine

    For whatever shite he’s rattling on about, and however big a prick that he might be, the numbers don’t lie. I’ve watched this event move from a small one building venue to a packed RDS with serious headliners speaking at the event. I don’t particularly like the guy but credit where credit is due. Most cringeworthy moment was seeing this guy in Wired magazine in some top 100 list. That, he don’t rate.

    1. Jordofthejungle

      About as good as a compliment you’ll get from an Irishman, tinged as it is with just a hint of begrudgery.

      It won’t be long until the Web Summit receives an offer for the concept its founders will not refuse. I would not be surprised were talks ongoing to this end already and indeed if this is the ultimate goal of the Web Summit founders. Certainly a huge success story and no doubt Paddy, Daire and Co. certainly won’t retire despite the rather handsome sums coming their way.

      1. well

        “It won’t be long until the Web Summit receives an offer for the concept its founders will not refuse. ”

        pump and dump?

  11. Gdo

    So much begrudgery here… what has he done to offend everyone so much besides creating a very successful event, advertisment for Dublin, and revenue for local business!?

    He must have done something, right?

      1. Gdo

        With Bono I can understand where people are coming from – he’s a hypocrite.

        I have no idea who Harbo is…

  12. dp

    So he is like everyone else , talking about data science but not actually doing it !
    Also wondering if they staffed any of these people until just recently.

  13. Quisling

    Web Summit is a house of cards. It had the potential to be a proper international event and put Ireland’s professionalism on the map in terms of innovation, business, tourism, and so on. However their reliance on low paid (read inexperienced) staff, and volunteers means that it’s only by the grace of the gods that it hasn’t collapsed yet. I saw with my own eyes a few of the things that went wrong last year, and for the record it was not Web Summit staff who made them right . P*ss off the wrong people and word will travel fast. ‘Engineering serendipity’ is all very well, but no matter how sexy the algorithm, it won’t fix a crisis when it happens on the ground (and any international conference will have its share of these).
    If this was an organisation delivering a major event to international delegates, meeting or exceeding the exacting standards they’re used to, I would shout it from the rooftops. But it’s not.

  14. Samizdat

    Paddy is talking out of his fundament here but that’s the kind of thing that impresses the people who attend this thing so why not? I have no interest in the Web Summit but it’s clearly a massive success and that comes down to the hard work and talent of the people involved. If modern business is about selling waffle to each other, then you better cherish the waffle merchants. More power to them. Gnom gnom gnom

  15. Thomas O'Duffy

    The Web Summit is an incredible positive force for the whole Irish economy, that puts Ireland on the map. This is a huge accomplishment for a small island nation with less than 2% of the European population. Not only that, but going from 10,000 to 20,000 attendees in a year is *staggering* by any conventional business metric, where a large conference in Ireland might sport 300 attendees.

    Rightfully, network science, smart marketing, relationship capital and deep insight is at the heart of it’s growth, from a recognition networking is invaluable for tech entrepreneurs, to contexts where tech entrepreneurs of all seniorities are drawn to the conference primarily because they get to meet each other, because in the intersection and overlap of great minds, much value emerges.

    Their formula is selling out conferences in other parts of the World too making them a global player in a very contested space. There are emerging fields of social graph analysis / social fractals that data scientists can draw insights from, especially when paired with marketing automation and digital body language measured at scale. That kind of data can inform timing and pricing and promotional decisions, the cumulative impact of which, multiplies success, and the clear perception of which can inspire activities that build positive sentiment and social endorsement.

    Personally, my experiences at the web summit have been consistently full of serendipity… leading to meeting people and learning things that may never have happened without the summit. I’m grateful for that.

  16. Frilly Keane, Anyone?

    Don’t know him
    Wouldn’t have heard of him if I didn’t plug in here
    Or this Web Sumtit

    But here’s the thing
    He’s done well. Fair play t’im.

    If ya don’t like him
    Dont work for him
    Don’t do business w’im
    Don’t go out w’im

    Unless his business behaviour is shady or non compliant in some way. Leave him alone

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