Off to LIFT…
The Scoble family is traveling to Switzerland again this week. This time to go to Geneva (where the Web was invented) to attend the LIFT conference. Why do I go every year? They have the coolest T-shirts. :-)
I’ll bring you the European reaction about all the election stuff (Tuesday is probably going to decide who the nominees are).
You can use flight tracking software to watch us. We’ll be on the 2:10 p.m. United Airlines flight #0900 from SFO to FRA (Frankfurt). Then on the Lufthansa/United Flight 9018 which leaves Frankfurt at 11:45 a.m. tomorrow and arrives at 12:50 a.m. See ya on the other side!
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February 4th, 2008 at 11:57 am
“Tuesday is probably going to decide who the nominees are” - maybe on the Republican side, but I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a pollster or pundit who thinks that either Clinton or Obama will clinch the Democratic nomination tomorrow.
February 4th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
Enjoy the time, Robert. That’ll be a blast with the whole family.
February 4th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
You’re going to miss the parade tomorrow through the canyon of Heroes to honor the New York Giants!
February 4th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Aaron: good point, but I can definitely see some scenarios where even on the Democratic side of the house it’ll pretty much clinch it up. It’s down to Hillary vs. Obama now. If either gets significant wind out of Tuesday it’s pretty much over.
February 4th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Paul: now THAT would be something I’d want to put on Qik!
February 4th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Like the Europeans care about your elections. Hell we don’t even care up here in Canada.
February 4th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
Looking forward to welcoming you and your family to Geneva! Hope to see you around…
February 4th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
Wish you a save trip and maybe we run into each other at the conference. You should plan a trip to Milano as well - even though your son is still young, he could already start absorbing Italian culture ;-)
February 4th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Looking forward to seeing you in Geneva, I guess during the venture night panel.
February 4th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
Robert Scoble finally becomes the Truman Show. Does every minute of your life and its thoughts need to be documented on the web?
February 4th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Significant wind is not going to end the Democratic race tomorrow. A rout, might, but that’s not probable. Stay tuned.
February 4th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Are you going to get a “US Switzerland” season ticket?
February 4th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
See you at LIFT then…
February 4th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
Looks like a cool event. You bringing the D3 along for pix? Give my best to Maryam, and I hope you guys have a blast!
February 4th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
Hi,
I am currently working at CERN (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CERN , the place where the web was invented). If you are interested in visiting CERN and among other things seeing the first web server in the world I will be very happy to meet you and show you around :).
Best regards,
Artem.
PS You can contact me in gtalk as well (hartem)
February 4th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
The only reason to attend those conferences nowadays is for the person to person networking.
The same information is available over the Web via blogs, video sites and research papers.
What essentially is being done is an audience of thousands of people traveling thousands of miles and paying thousands of dollars to watch a group of people give an impersonal lecture or group debate, then take a few questions at the very end - where they give quick answers. How many times have they given this essentially same lecture.
If there are exhibits, you are getting a standard marketing overview by low level salespeople.
All of this information is available or will be available within hours on various social media and news organizations.
In a few decades, these sort of inefficiencies will probably no longer be in vogue. Hopefully technology will allow most of this to be accessed virtually in real time around the globe.
When you think of how frikin primitive this era is that we are living in compared to what our grandkids will experience.
February 4th, 2008 at 4:59 pm
Here’s hoping Obama wins… I cannot seem to brng myself to vote for anyone else at this point.
Things I hope to see in my lifetime:
1. Flat tax
2. Universal healthcare
3. Popular vote
4. Affordable housing
5. Return of union jobs and US manufacturing
6. EU-like free secondary education like so many countries have
7. Offshoring jobs when there are Americans available (no matter the cost) illegal. After all, a rising tide lifts all boats. The higher the salaries, the more taxes get put into the system to benefit all.
February 4th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
Two flights back and forth to Switzerland in the space of two weeks to cover conferences?
Was it not possible to stay Europeside in the intervening time?
You’re lucky you didnt bump into Al Gore at Davos.
February 4th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
no one cares what flight you are taking
February 5th, 2008 at 9:54 am
Hey Robert, I’ll be there too, happy to meet up: http://www.liftconference.com/person/robinwauters
February 5th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
When in Geneva take the McDonalds/Coke Test.
This is when you travel a lot and where ever you are in the world gauge the local economy by looking at the price of a Big Mac, and a a coke. They are higher in Geneva than anywhere else in the world.
February 5th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
Today will be too close to call for the Dems. Get ready for super delegates, time to get weird.
If it goes to super delegates hilary will win the nomination if left to the people it would be obama.
Unless Edwards endorses one or the other.
February 6th, 2008 at 12:54 am
d2: really? One person did. He picked us up at the airport. I expected to have to get a taxi. He said he showed up because of my blog post.
February 6th, 2008 at 3:41 am
Hi Roberts, there’s another issue we should discuss at the LIFT conference. There’s a discussion going on overhere why you have been invited to the World Economic Forum, and not a single Swiss Blogger. The WEF-Organizers argue, we dont have the same reach as US-Tech-Bloggers, thats why also next year we will be excluded. What do you think about this?
(At least we pay the taxes, that the World Economic Forum can take place in Davos every year…)
February 6th, 2008 at 5:09 am
[...] Einer der US Top-Blogger, Robert Scoble, ist schon wieder auf dem Weg in die Schweiz. Nach dem WEF in Davos wird er nun die LIFT in Genf beehren. Alle Details hier: Off to LIFT… [...]
February 6th, 2008 at 7:32 am
Hi Robert.
I would have picked you up from the airport as well if I had gotten to your post earlier (thanks to shareslide.net) If ever you need anything while in Geneva, seeing you are the admin here, send me an email and Ill get back to you!
David
February 6th, 2008 at 8:41 am
ugugu: the head of PR for the World Economic Forum is at LIFT so you can ask yourself. Only a handful of bloggers were at Davos that I know about, so most of the countries in the world weren’t rewarded this way, if that’s what really matters anyway.
February 6th, 2008 at 10:32 am
[...] can now track Scoble while he is in flight. Unfortunately, I still don’t think they’ve gotten Wi-Fi up and running, so you’ll have to [...]
February 6th, 2008 at 10:40 am
Glad we can now track you in-flight Robert. When will we be able to twitter you in-flight?
http://racetalk.wordpress.com/2008/02/06/pats-choke-microhoo-%e2%80%93-my-world-is-upside-down/
February 6th, 2008 at 7:47 pm
@17
1. B Hussein Obama will never give you a flat tax. He will give you a higher taxes
2. Why should I pay for your healthcare?
3. You do not want a popular vote. That means the east coast and California elect the president.
6. Why should I pay for your secondary education?
February 7th, 2008 at 7:42 am
I’d love to hear more from LIFT!
February 7th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
@30,
Healthcare is a basic human right, not a privlege. Everyone should be covered. The problem with healthcare is that it’s a for-profit industry. An insurance company should NEVER be in between a doctor and a patient. There should be no middleman to deny things I truly need, or because something is experimental.
A popular vote is the way it’s done almost everywhere in the world.
Almost every EU nation pays for people to get secondary education through the BA/BS level. On average, Europeans are better educated that their American counterparts. There are exceptions, but they are few. I know. I’ve spent a great many years in the EU. I’m always amazed that American kids are consistently behind their EU counterparts in math, sciences, language skills. Most Americans speak English poorly, and most cannot even use punctuation correctly. It’s disheartening.
Universities in the US charge far too much. Even McGill in Canada, one of their finest instittions charges a fraction of what the least expensive public US university does. Not fair. A young person should never have to enter into the world already behind the power curve of debt.
The US could easily ditch insurance companies despite their evil lobbying powers, and offer single payer insurance that is not for profit.
Insrance companies are scams to a large degree. Only a doctor should be able to determine what you need, with your consent, of course. Not an insurance company that potentially holds your life in the balance.
The greater good is always more important than profit. That is one reason the EU does so well in matters relating to medicine and education. England has a nasty healthcare system, but Scandinavia and most of the EU does just fine.
I recall a couple of years ago I was in the EU for pleasure. I forgot to bring my allergy medicine. No worries. I walked into a pharmacy and bought what, in the US, was over $30 with insurance and prescription only. In the EU I paid less than 3 euros with no prescription. Prescriptions are stupid. In the EU, one can buy all manner of medicines without prescriptions — the way it should be. The US is too draconian when it comes to matters concerning people’s ability to obtain what they need. In the US, it’s all about profit. That sucks.
February 7th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
On healtcare and education you didn’t answer my questions. I didn’t ask why you needed those things; I asked why I should pay for yours? Cuz if you aint paying for it,someone else is. What right do you have to their money.
As for the popular vote, just because other countries may do it is not a reason to change. We arent talking about other counties. We are talking about the US. So, why should the US do popular vote?
February 7th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
@33, If we do away with insurance companies and have the government or government-appointed agency handle healthcare, we ALL pay for it, so we ALL benefit. It’s not a matter of just YOU paying for it. If everyone chips in to helpe everyone else, we all win. A rising tide lifts all boats.
A popular vote is the fairest method for voting overall. The current US system is fairly rigged to support only two parties. We need a valid third party, such as Libertarian. A polular vote alows the people to choose directly who THEY want. After all, it’s “we the people”…
February 8th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
Hi Robert,
unfortunately I won’t be able to make it to LIFT, but are you going to visit Zürich? Just drop me a line if you are in the mood for a beer.
Martin
February 9th, 2008 at 12:10 am
Sorry, no Zurich for me this trip.
August 2nd, 2008 at 7:27 pm
[...] can now track Scoble while he is in flight. Unfortunately, I still don’t think they’ve gotten Wi-Fi up and running, so you’ll have to [...]