One of the small moments of genius at Le Web 08 was the way the conference closed. It's so easy for conferences to end on a down note, with a bit of a damp squib as the audience drift away into the night. No so this year's affair, which actually managed to go out with a bang.
Finishing the conference with the live recording of two podcasts - Wine Library TV and the Gillmor Gang - gave a huge lift to the final hours. Gary Vaynerchuk is a hugely charismatic and passionate guy, and his talk preaching strong personality, love for your topic, openness to others and media channel ubiquity was both compelling and inspiring. And it was only improved by seeing him working live with a wine maker to record the show.
Equally, the Gillmor Gang recording saw a bunch of intelligent, knowledgeable guys (but all guys, sadly) really getting their teeth into some of the issues that had come out of the conference. There wasn't a whole lot of Love in what was said, bar the brave efforts of Hugh MacLeod and Loïc himself. Bit it was witty, entertaining and informative.
I'm glad I didn't leave early. It was well worth seeing.
