MiniBar – Thanks For Coming

Tagged with p2p, RoR, web 3.0, or other interwebby memes the first MiniBar took place in the East End’sTruman Brewery. And despite it pouring down 120+ came, drank, discussed, listened and enjoyed themselves. See our FlickrPhoto Set (thanks Jo!).

The variety of discussions was amazing, because people met others outside their usual social spheres.

Depending on where you were in the room you could listen to what is next on the web 2.0 (not quite 3.0) radar, guys hooking up to organize a free culture festival, debating the next Drupal developments, to how the last.fm user interface could be enhanced. Or how OFCOM (the UK media regulator) could me more in touch with what is going on the web.

Paul, the founder of Tape it of the Internet (Tioti), who will speak at the next MiniBar on the the 15th of December said: ” Great event! Met some great people I had wanted to and some great peeps who wanted to meet me. Good venue, good vibe, good buzz”.

John Buckman of Magnatune and BookMooch fame gave a fabulous speech giving fascinating details of how BookMooch grew in just a couple of month to a community of over ten thousand used book sharers from around the world. Interesting where also his insights on how Creative Commons can stimulate the music business.

On Magnatune you can get music from upcoming artists and if you are for example an independent filmmaker you can get the music for free, use it in you film for fee, because it is under a non-commercial Creative Commons license, but once the film gets distribution you negotiate with Magnatune a price. This is a great example of how open business approaches lower the barriers for entry into the market. Without having huge upfront investment you can make a film, get music, but once it becomes a money making product you pay. This means: more music, more films, more diversity.

Mike Butcher of TechCrunch UK put it succinctly: “It was a fascinating mix of developers, open source advocates and – I would say – future Web entrepreneurs.!” And Palvinder Chahil of Panther Express I had a great evening, relaxed but informative. I very much look forward to the next one”.