The Basics: Originally planned for Toronto, the 2020 edition of the Collision Conference—the sister event of Portugal’s popular Web Summit—shifted to a virtual environment from June 23-25. The tech conference drew a whopping 32,000 attendees (up from 25,000 at last year’s in-person event) from 140 countries, plus five channels of programming and 634 speakers including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, NBA star Shaquille O’Neal, and executives from the likes of Microsoft, Google, Slack, and Twitter.
Steal-Worthy Innovations: It’s no surprise that a tech-savvy crowd created a cutting-edge virtual environment. The engineering team built a custom web platform designed to be a two-screen event; on their computers, attendees viewed panel discussions and fireside chats—while a custom app on their smartphones acted as more of a guide, leading them through the schedule, chat features, and more.
Organizers also took advantage of the virtual environment to engage with the next generation of leaders. New this year was the expansion of the INSPIRE program, which allows university students to join at no cost. Students applied using their school email addresses; in order to qualify for a free ticket, they had to refer a fellow student using a built-in referral program. Another new initiative this year focused on Toronto residents who had lost their jobs due to the pandemic; more than 1,000 job-seekers were given free access to Collision from Home.
The programs are in line with other smart steps the event has taken to promote inclusivity in a field known for its homogeneity, such as last year’s “Women in Tech” referral program. The initiative continued this year, and 45.2% of Collision attendees were female.
Lessons Learned: Of the virtual format, “You can’t replicate what’s happening in the offline world. Spotify reinvented consuming music online, but they didn’t replicate a music store experience. They’ve created an entirely new way to consume music in a pretty satisfying way,” explained Collision founder and CEO Paddy Cosgrave to Digital Trends in June. “So when it comes to conferences, to maximize meaningful connections is not about replicating every feature like meeting booths or roundtables we have at the physical events. We’re reimagining what a conference is online.”
Next: #4 PlanetIMEX
Back: #2 Go West
