There could have been more media coverage, but those media that did cover our event did so excellently. For example, Rain (no, not the Korean singer), our invited Chinese media reporter from 163.com, did a phenomenal job. She did some back-to-back interviews and has already posted them on 163's Open Web Asia-dedicated website.
163.com Open Web Asia page
Of course, we were not perfect and we know the major areas of improvement. As Jason Calacanis advised us later on, we should have reviewed speakers' slide decks in advance and phoned them to discuss how to make the slides better. Next year, we will probably have to hold it as a 2-day conference (vs. this year's one day event) and break sessions into parallel tracks, so that not everyone has to sit through all sessions whose topics vary widely from gaming to moblie payment. Also, we'll have to have less talks so that the audience doesn't get bombarded with too much content in a single session. Oh, and definitely, there should have been more startups represented. And so on, so forth. If you have anything to add, please visit our survey site and do a very quick survey (takes less than 30 seconds.)
But right now, I'm just glad the event is over and was a success. From the outset, I was calling Open Web Asia "The Le Web of Asia" as a very quick way to convey what our conference is all about. At that time, I never imagined the very creator of Le Web, Loic Le Meur, would be present at Open Web Asia. Turns out not only was he there, but we also beat Le Web in terms of the initial turnout! (Le Web had 250 people in its first year, Loic said). Not so bad for a first year conference, I guess. Already looking forward to Open Web Asia '09? I betcha. Yet again, I would like to thank all participatns, speakers, and--last but not least--our beloved organizers.
