The Next Web, an online publication that has been garnering accolades in Europe since its debut there in 2006, might be one of Silicon Alley’s newer entrants, but for its third New York conference this November, the group hopes to build on its chief differentiating point: a curated approach that emphasizes high production values, a slate of start-ups offering products rather than promises, and speakers who aren’t allowed to turn their time at the microphone into a sales presentation.
“We’ve always really focused on speakers that have a value-adding talk,” said Wytze de Haan, director of events at the Next Web. In some cases, this even means bypassing a C.E.O. for an executive that’s better positioned to give the roughly 1,500 attendees valuable insight.
“You won’t always see the highest rank of a person,” de Haan said. But while prestige might not matter, presentation does: de Haan says an integral part of the Next Web’s success is a unified, polished look for its start-up exhibitors.
“What we do here in Europe is we spend a lot of the budget into the production,” he said. “We put a lot of value into printing designs and a great backdrop.” Extra add-ons, like a made-to-order coffee break (aka “tech fuel”) and in-booth cocktail lounges deliver a jolt of the unexpected—just like the Next Web likes it.
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