TiEcon 2005 off to a positive start

New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman announced the latest version of globalisation (3.0).

Google Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt extolled the virtues of Google's slogan -- 'Don't be evil.'

And about 3,000 people obligingly greeted 10 of their neighbours when they were told to.

All in all, TiEcon 2005, the two-day event that began on May 13 targeting entrepreneurs worldwide, was off to a positive start.

Friedman discussed his book, wherein he discusses the economic changes wrought by the Internet and the resultant spawning of supply chains that spanned the planet.

To a receptive audience, he spoke of the fall of companies with vertical structures of command and the arrival of a new version of globalisation that made you compete not only with your neighbours but also with people across the globe.

Schmidt discussed the need for firms to roll with the punches, describing how Google dropped three financial plans that did not work for it.

Friedman came with warnings and the need to wake up, while Schmidt spoke of the beauty of innovation and the joy of discovery.

The panel discussions on the first day covered topics from the needs of venture capitals to emerging markets to people involved in social entrepreneurship in India. Many of the attendees gave the panel discussions a miss, concentrating particularly on networking of the human kind.

If the welcome address ended with a crash of portentous cymbals, the presentations of the day ended with a keynote address by a pilot and entrepreneur, punctuated by clips from air shows set to racy music.

The reception that followed may have been tame by comparison but, given by the avid discussions going on between networking entrepreneurs of every kind, they did not mind in the least.