We’ve been analyzing the social media buzz surrounding the LeWeb conferences: Who are the hottest speakers, startups, and influencers attending? What are the top trending topics? What are the most active regions?

Now, for this year’s LeWeb, we upped the ante and brought mobile into the mix. The plan was to build an instantly accessible, real-time analytics iPad App for the LeWeb founder Loïc Le Meur. No need to build slides; more mobile; more cloud; and totally social.  We wanted to allow Loïc to be able to access the latest numbers at any time during the conference.

So then the question became “who could create this app?”  One challenge was the time frame, we had about three weeks until LeWeb 2012 in Paris. So, we reached out to INSSET University in St-Quentin, north of Paris in Picardie, which is offering a new MA degree “Cloud Computing Master Degree”. This course has been created in partnership with the startup Sylpheo and Salesforce.com, and is the first of its kind in France. It’s a big innovation in education and a great initiative. There, we found three students: Quentin Somazzi, Pierre Fraise, and Charles Drappier. All three are just about to finish their Cloud Computing MA. We offered the following challenge: “Can you build an instantly accessible, real time analytics iPad App for Loïc Le Meur leveraging both Salesforce Marketing Cloud and Salesforce Heroku Platforms? You have three weeks.”

And they did.

During the conference’s opening remarks, Loïc and Geraldine Le Meur were already using the analytics app to showcase key statistics on stage. The LeWeb Analytics App is 100% mobile, uses HTML5 for the front-end, Heroku for back-end, and Salesforce Marketing Cloud to monitor the social conversations surrounding the event.

The three students not only had to design the app, but also learn new technologies, including the Salesforce platform. We provided them with necessary resources and support from our teams in France, Dublin, Chicago, and San Francisco. The students used Chatter to manage communications around the app development with the technical experts of Salesforce in France and the USA. Last week, the team went to San Francisco where they met the Heroku team, showcased the app, and fine-tuned their code with some of our top developers and platform wizards.

 

Quentin, Pierre, and Charles will be on stage today with Loïc Le Meur, to talk about the project and their experiences working with the Salesforce platform team. If you are at LeWeb, you can stop by at our stand in the Pullmann building and test the app yourself. You’ll find us right near the entrance. Or you can watch the live stream  of the presentations, where Loïc will be using the App.

Big thanks to our trio of students on this endeavor.  This is a great example of encouraging young, creative people to never be afraid to approach companies when they have a great idea and need some support.