In my search for what there is to see at this year’s Web Summit I came across this website that suits me because I am a total history dork weather it be the disastrous 4th Crusade or the Aztecs, to the trenches of World War 1 and all the way up to the Cold War, I simply love history. Of course the big events are important but the smaller simpler things are in many ways just as important and that’s why I absolutely love Historypin. In many ways modern technology has created a gap between us yet this website is helping bridge that gap not only between its users but also the living and the dead. Historypin is a community made up of people, groups and organisations working together to unearth and pin as much history as possible from all over the world from within archives, in attics and saved up in wise old heads. Basically it’s taking all the old photographs that we have saved up and using them to build a database like none other on Earth. This is the common man’s (and women’s) history and it’s being drawn together in this amazing way that truly shows some of humanities better tendencies.

Just looking at the website I can see they already have a few ideas on how to use it:

Schools

This is something that I would have loved in school, it would have been perfect for all my coursework or just for the fun of learning.

• Improve communication, social and inter-personal skills.
• Get families and carers more involved in the life of students and the school.
• Build positive links between your school and the local community.
• Engage students in curriculum subjects such as History, Computing, Geography, Citizenship and English with an exciting digital tool.
• Run natural and meaningful inter-generational sessions and events.
• Turn your students into local archivists.

Local Projects

A great idea to help bring communities together, I have seen similar things done in Belfast but this is on a global scale so it’s quite impressive.

• Run natural and meaningful inter-generational sessions and events
• Help your group share their personal history and memories and feel valued
• Get families and local residents more involved with your organisation
• Build positive links between your organisation and the local community groups, schools, libraries, archives and museums
• Improve the communication, social and inter-personal skills of your group
• Turn your group into local archivists

Libraries and Museums

• New audiences – Historypin gets millions of page views and thousands of app downloads so will generate a stream of new interest in your content.
• Breathing new life into your collection – Your content will become part of a rich, multi-layered archive, where users can add their own stories and memories.
• Free Historypin App (iPhone, Android and Windows Phone 7) – All content uploaded to Historypin appears on the app, allowing users to explore your content in situ and generating more interest and participation around your collections.
• Educational – Your content will enable students and teachers to explore your content and use it across all levels of academic study.
• Community impact – Historypin Local Projects take Historypin into communities, bringing different cultures and generations together around your content to learn and share.
• Free tools for your archive – our free Bulk Uploader allows you to easily upload large amounts of content and our Embed Tool allows you to embed your Historypin Profile on your own site.
• Promotional opportunities – We will work with you to generate excitement around your content, through extra promotion on the site and our social media profiles.
• Crowd-sourcing meta-data – We are developing the capability to invite our users to improve the meta data of content meaning archive’s content can become increasing complete and accurate.
• Geo-tagging Games – We are developing features which will enable archives to open up their collections to the crowd to locate and pin their content.
• Not-for-profit and copyright safe – Historypin is a not-for-profit project with social aims and we do not take any ownership of copyright when you share your content

This really does show the best that the human species has to offer by showing off our past, it may not always be great but this being built by people for people and in the end that’s truly beautiful.

If you want to keep up to date with the WebSummit then follow me on Twitter @DavidACromie

What is Web Summit?
Within four years Web Summit has become one of the world’s most influential and international tech events. This year Web Summit 2015 will showcase over 500 world-renowned speakers, 10 stages including the Digital Marketing, Internet of Things, Enterprise, and Builders Summits, 2,000 worldwide startups invited to exhibit their ideas, 200+ satellite events, 1,000 experienced investors, and 800 of the best tech journalists. From 3-5 November 2016, Dublin will once again become the international tech capital.

Where Does Web Summit take place?
Web Summit takes place in various venues across the city of Dublin, Ireland. The main conference venue is the Royal Dublin Society (RDS), Ballsbridge, Dublin 4, Ireland.

Who Attends Web Summit?
Last year, 22,119 attendees came from all over the globe including business leaders from Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Box and over 60% of the Fortune 500. This year, 30,000+ people interested in new ideas that are changing our daily lives will meet and learn from the people shaping the future of the world, faster and further than any generation in history.

How Do I Get Tickets?

Tickets for Web Summit 2015 are SOLD OUT.