LBi at PICNIC

PICNIC is three inspiring days of ideas, fun and sensory stimulation in media technology, entertainment, art and science. It’s Europe’s premier gathering for social, technological and creative entrepreneurs. That’s too good for a global marketing and technology agency like LBi to miss, obviously, so for the second year running, LBi is sponsoring and participating fully in the Amsterdam event. Over the next three days we’ll be covering it live, both here and at our alter ego blog, LBiQ.net.

PICNIC is unique. When interviewing its founder, the insouciant Bas Verhardt, recently, I put it to him that rather than intending ‘to give something back to the city of Amsterdam and to the digital media industry’ (in which, both the location and the sector, he’d just made a handsome fortune), as he claimed, he’d actually set up PICNIC as a straightforward way of having an out-and-out blast for three days with thousands of the most creative and entrepreneurial people in the world.

He admitted this, although preferred that we print his version of his motivation too.

“There’s no contradiction between them either,” he was careful to point out. Also true, and also an important aspect of what happens at PICNIC. Although it’s a non-profit event, it’s packed with out-and-out business people.

This is particularly true of the PICNIC Green Challenge, the most beautifully straightforward way of sponsoring environmental entrepreneurialism: stage a competition to find the most effective carbon-negative business; give the winner half a million euros, no strings attached.

The fact that the vast majority are involved in the creative industries - filmmakers, musicians, advertising and marketing people, games designers, and lots - and lots - of digital media types - doesn’t alter the fact that they are by nature and profession moneymakers.

There are also large minorities in attandance who are counter-cultural and work tirelessly and often illegally to subvert The Capitalist System; but they mix pretty well with the people who make money out of that same economic construct. Quite often they even work for them, in between hacking their banking clients’ systems for further profit and pleasure. Allegedly.

Anyway, you get the picture, that’s the kind of event PICNIC is - a melting pot. People come to learn, teach, talk,exchange ideas, do deals and have a good time. This year, as last year, LBi is sponsoring the event, and we’ll be overthere - me and my esteemed, if somewhat identity-challenged colleague, LBi Editorial Director Duncan Arbour/MrKite/Eddie van Halen - blogging it for your greater delectation, hunting down the story and generally soaking up the rich and powerful vibe of creative businesspeople and subversive social revolutionaries larging it together in The ‘Dam

for three days.