Live blogging PSFK London: Hugh MacLeod

Going into this session, I know that Hugh will shake things up. Many of the people here know nothing about him, and I think his ability to "walk the talk" will surprise more than a few. Always good to have him in the room ... or at the bar. ;-)

See: All your TechCrunch belong to Hugh for some background.



Wine 2.0
Hugh MacLeod: GapingVoid
How a small South African wine company shook up an industry with a web 2.0 approach.

Seminal moment for Hugh was when he read the Cluetrain. It demonstrated how the internet actually works. (Have you read the Cluetrain? If so, when was the last time you re-read it?)

Hugh talks about wine, but his point is much bigger: We live in an increasingly global economy with little to differentiate.

Key insight from Lego: Not what Lego does, it is what the child does.

So, how does this translate to wine? Wine drives connections. It drives conversations. It is a social phenomenon.


Complicity: What is in it for people?

Stormhoek as a social object vs the production paradigm: It isn't just about the wine.

Talks about Geek Dinners. People laugh when he mentions that people spontaneously organised geek dinners across the country.

Vallywag calls them the unofficial wine of Silicon Valley: Stormhoek is 7000 miles away from Silicon Valley. Napa Valley is around the corner.

Change the world or go home: Viral poster inside of Microsoft. So, we created a drinks party, social object thing.

Internal disruption is very powerful. So, it is important to understand what it is you want to disrupt before you start doing it.

"Can companies do this for products that suck?" asks one person from the room. Hugh: Let's be straight: It is a 5 quid bottle. So, this ain't really Chateau Lafitte, if ya know what I mean.


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