Summer events season is in full swing and while live events are currently on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, event organizers are still working behind the scenes to bring the conference experience to your computer screen. Web Summit’s Collision Conference successfully pivoted its in-person event to a first-time virtual experience called Collision from Home—all in just three short months!
More than 32,000 attendees from 140 countries tuned into Collision from Home on June 23-25. The virtual tech conference featured a hybrid, two-screen experience with a mobile app and web app.
The experience:
The mobile app was available for download a week before the event, which allowed attendees to start planning their conference experience, from networking meetings to scheduling talks and workshops. The event’s web app is where the virtual doors opened for attendees to watch content, have face-to-face meetings, or join workshops, masterclasses, or lounges.
Collision MIngle
Collision Breakout Rooms
The stages:
This new virtual setting allows for more attendees to watch each session, as some sessions had up to 5,000 viewers. In lieu of tracks and stages, Collision From Home presented five channels for attendees to watch or listen to content:
Channel 1 was available to all viewers for free on Collision’s homepage and gave the public a sneak peek at what was behind the paywall.
Channels 2 and 3 were the main content channels, featuring panels and talks covering an array of topics in the tech industry.
Radio Collision was an audio-only experience, similar to listening to a podcast.
The Classic Talks channel displayed some of Web Summit’s best content from past conferences, such as Stephen Hawking’s talk on the future promise of AI and Seth Rogen’s session on his new cannabis venture.
More than 600 speakers took the virtual stage, including six cred speaking clients. During the sessions, attendees participated by chiming in via the chatbox or selecting emoji reactions, such as a thumbs-up, applause or heart.
Collision Stages
Some speaker highlights from Collision from Home:
Carey Jenkins, CEO at Substantial, shared her insights on a panel around best practices in UI and UX and how emotion, ethics, and AI can co-habit to create perfect user experiences. The panel was moderated by Katie Deighton, Senior Editor at The Drum. Ilan Twig, Co-founder & CTO at TripActions, and Zach Onisko, CEO at Dribbble, also joined the conversation.
Healthline Media CEO David Kopp joined Patrice Harris, President at the American Medical Associate, and Curtis Brainard, Managing Editor at the Scientific American, for a discussion on fighting an infodemic and the importance of having access to accurate health information during a pandemic.
Matt Hulett, President at Rosetta Stone, participated in a panel discussion on how complex learning and education across disciplines are being revolutionized by new technology tools. The talk was moderated by Takara Small, Tech Columnist at CBC Radio, and the other Rhonda Lenton, President and Vice Chancellor at York University, and Arne Schepker, CEO at Babbel, were also on the panel.
Ashvin Kumar, Co-Founder and CEO at Tophatter, discussed pushing the retail boundaries on a super fireside chat with Fernando Madeira, President at IPSY, and moderated by Cale Guthrie Weissman, Editor at Modern Retail.
Sami Inkinen, Co-founder and CEO at Virta Health, joined a fireside chat on the prospects of a disease-free world with Mickey Kertesz, Co-founder CEO at Karius, and Elizabeth O'Day, Founder and CEO at Olaris.
SC Moatti, Managing Partner at Mighty Capital, discussed past investment trends for a post-pandemic world on the brink of an economic downturn during a super fireside chat with David Chao, Co-founder and General Partner at DCM, and moderated by Maureen Farrell, IPO and Capital Markets Reporter at The Wall Street Journal.
Interested in speaking at virtual events like Collison from Home? Get in touch!