Knowledge sharing at Web 2.0 'unconferences'

Recently I had an opportunity to chat with Justin Lee over some cappuccino at the Festival Walk Starbucks. Justin is one of the founders of the Entrepreneur27 (E27) branch in Singapore and was in Hong Kong for a visit.

Entrepreneur27 was founded in Silicon Valley in 2005 as an organization to create opportunities for young college students, professionals and entrepreneurs in the tech industry, to share and exchange ideas and startup experiences in the form of forums and conferences. All the events are free!

Interestingly, the "27" in Entrepreneur27 stands for "under 27." According to the Entrepreneur27 Web site, "after extensive research and studying trends, we found that most successful entrepreneurs have been under 27". (I guess those aged 27 and above, have other organization to cater to their networking needs.)

The Singapore E27 branch started in early-2006, soon after the Silicon Valley organization was established. In Singapore, it focuses on Web 2.0 "unconferences".

If you haven't heard, unconferences are the new trend in knowledge sharing. Business 2.0 Magazine explains: "[At] traditional conferences, the most productive moments often occur in the corridor between meetings; at unconferences, attendees like to say, it's all corridor." (E27 has a nice survivor's guide on unconferences.)

Previous E27 unconferences in Singapore provided Web 2.0 startups in this region opportunities to share and demonstrate what they have been doing, as well as create networks and gain exposure to tech investors. The Singapore unconferences are also free! Free food and a chance to participate and share with some of the most creative minds working in Web 2.0! What a deal.

So if your are lucky enough to be under 27, check out one of their upcoming Web 2.0 events. Justin tells me that he is hoping to find ways to get the Hong Kong Web 2.0 crowd to join in the events as well.