I heard from many folks that NILS is perhaps the best industry gatherings in Japan, and I agree with it. Most of the attendees were CXOs from prominent Japanese IT companies; Keynote speakers were also very well-chosen and I certainly learned lots from them. Hat tip to all organizers including Mr Masashi Kobayashi.
But on the other hand, it was rather clear that the participants were divided into two groups, the Japanese group and non-Japanese group (the latter being the minority and kinda forming a league of their own). I know NILS is first and foremost a Japanese industry gathering, but I still wish the next NILS would be more international, or at least more pan-Asian with more participants from Korea, China, Singapore, and India.
The internet connection was bad (which I should blame no one but the hotel, by the way). It might be that blogging-as-you-go is not a very common practice in Japanese conferences, but having to take notes offline and later blogging with the note was certainly not 2.0 enough :)
The networking session was terrific. The cocktail party-like setup over some wonderful food was the best part of the conference and I did get to meet many wonderful people. I even had a very deep talk with my friend Benjamin about our life's goal etc - which isn't very common in many other conferences.
Work-wise, NILS led me to think about what I have to do very soon - a) making our service more global (We're #1 in Korea, but that's all for now, so I gotta work more on the globalization), b) integrating more social features to our service; c) harnessing the power of communities more effectively (Thanks, Tariq). I can't write them all down, but I'm taking some nice "food for thought" from this conference with me.
Overall I had some fun time in Sapporo, including going to clubs completely out of fashion in button-down shirts and khakis. I am already looking forward to the next NILS.
But on the other hand, it was rather clear that the participants were divided into two groups, the Japanese group and non-Japanese group (the latter being the minority and kinda forming a league of their own). I know NILS is first and foremost a Japanese industry gathering, but I still wish the next NILS would be more international, or at least more pan-Asian with more participants from Korea, China, Singapore, and India.
The internet connection was bad (which I should blame no one but the hotel, by the way). It might be that blogging-as-you-go is not a very common practice in Japanese conferences, but having to take notes offline and later blogging with the note was certainly not 2.0 enough :)
The networking session was terrific. The cocktail party-like setup over some wonderful food was the best part of the conference and I did get to meet many wonderful people. I even had a very deep talk with my friend Benjamin about our life's goal etc - which isn't very common in many other conferences.
Work-wise, NILS led me to think about what I have to do very soon - a) making our service more global (We're #1 in Korea, but that's all for now, so I gotta work more on the globalization), b) integrating more social features to our service; c) harnessing the power of communities more effectively (Thanks, Tariq). I can't write them all down, but I'm taking some nice "food for thought" from this conference with me.
Overall I had some fun time in Sapporo, including going to clubs completely out of fashion in button-down shirts and khakis. I am already looking forward to the next NILS.
Picture courtesy of Aki Ohashi
