From a sitting room in “Ranners”

To the technically unfriendly RDS, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4.

Summit founder Paddy Cosgrave writes:

Today we are excited to announce the next chapter in the Web Summit story. In 2016 Web Summit will move to Lisbon.

Lisbon is a great city with a thriving startup community. What’s more, it has great transport and hotel infrastructure and a state-of-the-art venue with capacity for more than 80,000 attendees.

Tell my wifi I love her.

FIGHT!

Update:

A response from Dublin Chamber of Commerce this afternoon:

The decision by Web Summit to leave Dublin should serve as a wake-up call to the Government about the importance of increasing investment in infrastructure. It’s also a reminder of how Dublin is competing with other international cities for business 

Oh, it’s on!

The Next Chapter (Web Summit Blog)

Previously: Who Took The Web From The Web Summit?

Web Summit Loss a Wake-Up Call for Spend-Shy Government (Dublin Chamber of Commerce)

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64 thoughts on “Man O’War

    1. Grouse

      Like, he is a moany twit or whatever, but I’m not sure the presses are being stopped just because he’s a moany twit. He’s also moving an enormous tech industry conference out of a city that sells itself on its tech industry.

      1. Demon

        And 90,000 or so bed nights for hotels, meals for restaurants and cafes, return visits and tours for the west, south and north of Ireland, business for Irish tech companies, job opps for Irish techies…

  1. Dubloony

    Lisbon – beautiful city, high unemployment, going after tech startups in a big way. Lots of hotel space. Affordable.

    1. 15 cents

      it also has wifi no doubt .. its an absolute joke that they had it in the RDS for so long and couldnt provide decent wifi. but refused to move it to another dublin location.

  2. Martin

    people will focus on the wifi not being able to handle this event, rather than the frankly awful transport for the area, and indeed most of the southside.

    1. Stephanenny

      Lisbon is the least accessible city I have ever seen. Anyone planning to attend with any kind of physical disability is in trouble.

      1. collynomial

        Presumably they’d hold it in the Expo area, you know, an area build for Expositions, rather than, say the Barrio Alto.

  3. Mochuisle

    On the foot of the Dart Underground canning no doubt ;)
    At least the Portuguese spent their Euro dollars on a brand spanking new transport system for their capital city…..plus, the Tram Summit should be interesting.
    At the same time, when I read that whole justification PR splurge, I can’t help just thinking “cheaper than Dublin”

    1. Mr. T.

      “On the foot of the Dart Underground canning no doubt”

      Nope. Just cheaper in Lisbon which means more profit. The whole thing will bloat and pop in a few years but he’ll have made his money by then.

      1. Dubloony

        Its already seriously bloated. Most of the donkey work is done by unpaid “interns”, all hoping to land a dream job by hustling at it (a useful skill in its own right).

  4. Owen

    Has a date been set for this yet? I see tickets are on sale at mental prices, and prices going up periodically, but no date. Seems odd.

  5. Mr. T.

    Just proof that the whole ‘digital’ thing is a moveable feast and has no loyalty to anywhere.

    Web is just the modern equivalent of the invention of printing and telephony and people are getting over it very quickly.

    Most jobs in ‘Digital’ will cease to exist in a few years and they will be absorbed back into the wider economy and become part of people’s repertoire of skills with the help of pre-coded back-end malarky.

      1. Mr. T.

        I occupy a higher intellectual space than you. You wouldn’t be able to comprehend it, like trying to imagine a colour you’ve never seen.

  6. Jim Jim

    Proving what everyone’s been saying since day one. Paddy is a selfish prick! After all the support his own country gave him to realise his dream and this is how he repays it. Ireland’s No.1 biggest arsehole.

  7. Declan

    Anyone ask how much money the Portuguese are giving Paddy?

    I seriously doubt he moved city just because of the wifi (which since it was an ongoing problem you’d think he’d make sure it worked rather than blame some other group). Let alone transport and hotel infrastructure?

  8. Christopher

    Obviously not getting enough government free money, I mean ASSISTANCE, so they are moving to a cheaper location. Websummit is a load of rubbish but at least it might wake Noonan et al up the fact that you may be delighted that property prices are going up in the capital as it helps out landlords, NAMA and the banks but you are destroying any semblance of international competitiveness that Ireland might have regained in the bust. Maybe this will be a canary in the coal mine.

  9. louislefronde

    It’s simple, the Portuguese offered more money to host what is just a glorified conference. Of course, it might prove to be a big mistake in the long run for Paddy’s pals. If you leave a space in the market, other people who are better resourced can and will move in. Mind you, there is nothing to stop other cities in Europe (with more money and better facilities) to thumb their noses at the summit organisers and running competing events.

    Put simple, conference organising is not rocket science.

  10. Hashtag McMór

    Cue Jane Ruffino in Business Post: Websummit, diversity, women in tech, court case, gender, my startup failed and I don’t even live in Ireland or actually work in tech, just around it (er, no). PFO.

    1. Chode

      That’s about the height of it. As soon as anyone mentioned a replacement conference to stand in place of The Web Summit, Twitter exploded with fragile minds reminding anyone that if they do they must consider diversity, gender and won’t someone PLEASE think of the children.

        1. Hashtag McMór

          Don’t forget the TV sector. There’s a detector van trundling around Silicon Docks sensing them out for interviews on RTE and in the Irish Times? #theyworkinaccounts #cantprogramme

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