#ThrowbackThursday: C2 Montréal's Most Innovative Moments Over the Years

At the 2019 conference, held inside Grandé Studios, the Alter Ego lab asked attendees to break away from how they perceive themselves, with the goal of making bolder decisions. The three-step experience was held in a mirrored, infinity-style space. Attendees were invited to connect with their alternate persona; develop the character’s identity by drawing on the mirror; and finally, embody their new alter ego.

The Forum-Solotech stage held conversations including one that featured astronaut David Saint-Jacques, livestreamed from the International Space Station. Saint-Jacques appeared on screens above Canadian Space Agency astronaut Dave Williams and AI expert Shagun Maheshwari. See more: 16 Creative Highlights From a Revamped C2 Montréal

At C2 Montréal's 2018 edition, attendees wore Klik name badges from Montreal-based technology company PixMob. In addition to displaying guest credentials in a large, easy-to-read format, the badges connected them to the Klik technology—an audience engagement solution that can be used for ticketing and registration, data and analytics, event communication, and much more. The LED wearable can light up in 16-million different colors in response to remote control commands. In addition to badges, the Klik technology can be used in wristbands and in buttons on lanyards; event organizers can rent or buy the wearables. See more: 13 Stylish—and Functional—Ideas for Name Badges

The 2018 event took on a literal meaning with the theme Transformative Collisions. As soon as attendees walked into the Arsenal, they could be thrown off balance by walking over a rotating platform.

Each year, the conference introduces new lab experiences. In 2018, one of the most eye-catching experiences was the Primal lab, which invited attendees to wear festive, Dr. Seuss-style augmented-reality helmets to see a colorful house interior come to life as a surreal jungle. Genifere Legrand, C2 Montréal’s chief creative officer, said the goal of this lab was to make people reconnect with their senses. "With this element, people have their eyes, ears, smell, taste, and touch stimulated," she said. "That triggers the conversation for them of how they can bring the five senses back into the workplace." See more: 17 Ways C2 Montréal Got Attendees Out of Their Comfort Zones

In 2017, a sold-out crowd of 6,500 people from 60 countries gathered in the Canadian city in May for three days of education, networking, entertainment, and more, all intended to bridge the worlds of commerce and creativity. In between hearing from more than 100 speakers and attending their choice of 77 workshops and masterclasses, attendees could visit six Labs, unconventional hands-on activities intended to trigger creative problem-solving. Shown here, a 360-degree projection surface surrounded the “big top”-style tent.

In the Sky Lab, groups of five people discussed business challenges while sitting in chairs suspended 20 feet off the ground surrounded by a cylindrical projection surface. “There is deep research in every experience we do. We work with behavioral analysts and psychologists and consultants to understand the basis of human interaction—one of which is when you play with people’s senses you actually disrupt their sense of normalcy, and you actually trigger a part of their brain that forces them to think outside the box and to become more creative and innovative,” said Martin Enault, chief operating officer of C2 Montréal. See more: Most Innovative Meetings 2017: #1 C2 Montréal

More than 6,000 people from around the world gathered at Arsenal for the fifth installment of C2 Montréal in 2016. Along with a program that included speakers such as Martha Stewart, David Suzuki, executives from AirBnB and Intel, and researchers from MIT and Oxford, organizers also created inventive opportunities for networking and entertainment. To create an intimate environment for sharing ideas, organizers invited guests to meet while walking together under an umbrella, while a machine overhead sprinkled them with moisture.

To accommodate the increased attendance, organizers expanded the event's layout to include a large area outside the main venue, where about a dozen food trucks served meals throughout the three-day event. The outdoor village had a variety of art installations including some that were interactive. At one, four guests could pedal stationary bikes at the same time to produce music. See more: See How C2 Montréal Used Umbrellas for Networking

At the 2015 edition of the conference, the underlying goal of the event was to explore the relationship between commerce and creativity and how that can impact the business world, so organizers fostered that concept by creating opportunities to break down barriers between participants. The “Cloud of Fog” was a 40-foot tentlike structure filled with fog. Groups of seven attendees stood inside and participated in a moderator-led discussion, but they could not see one another. As the session progressed, the participants would take small steps forward, until the end when they were all gathered in the middle and close enough to see one another. Richard St-Pierre, president of C2 Montréal, said by removing the ability for participants to see one another, the experience “completely disconnected the person from the persona. Once everybody was out, you would see those groups coming back again to share coffee and such." See more: How C2 Montréal Challenged Attendees to Take Risks