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Our CEO, Johan Elias, visited the TNW Conference 2019.
At Hybrid, innovation and knowledge development are at the core of what we do. That’s why our CEO was in Amsterdam this past weekend for TNW Conference 2019, a leading tech festival with an inspiring lineup of industry-leading speakers. It was the ideal event for gathering the latest insights from the industry. Here, he shares his experience at the festival organized by The Next Web.
My day started with my first-ever Uber ride, followed by a five-star rating from driver Shenny. Interesting experience! Upon arrival, the queue wasn’t too bad, and within five minutes I had my badge in hand. Once inside, I was immediately approached to join a VR game. Fun, but unfortunately, I was too late to attend Guy Kawasaki’s opening keynote.
I was, however, on time for Mark Randall, VP of Creativity at Adobe. According to him and his panel, the Adobe Kickbox is the ideal tool for leading and shaping innovation workshops in a fun and engaging way.
Instead of Kawasaki, it was Gillian Tans, CEO of booking.com. She’s been at the helm of this tech company for 17 years, and today she’s focused on her major mission: getting more women in leadership positions in the tech sector. While she made a well-known point, she did so in a way that sticks and will resonate with the real stakeholders. Despite the progress made, she was very clear about her disappointment and the hands of her clock (5 minutes to 12).
At noon, I attended the workshop by Bart van de Wiele, Senior Solution Consultant at Adobe. I’m not familiar with the subject matter, but it was clear that this man is passionate about it, and he truly knows how to extract the most from the Adobe Suite. I was amazed at how quickly a great customer experience can be created!
After the workshop, it was time to eat. There was no shortage of options, from fries to weed burgers, but I went for a salad. During lunch, I chatted with Ravi, an Indian entrepreneur with a cryptocurrency startup. For him, it wasn’t a successful conference. The expo area itself was a bit out of the way, and his booth got lost in the crowd. For some reason, there was also less interest in startups than at events like Web Summit in Lisbon, he told me. I couldn’t help but agree when, after lunch, I entered the expo myself.
During my visit to the expo, I noted the following platforms, focusing on my role as CEO and Hybrid’s focus on people:
- Mindance.de
- Mediamodifier.com
- Yanu.ai
- Accordium.com
- Uncover.com
- Utrigg.com
- Oupio.com
- Hookle.app
- Outsite.co
- Companymatch.me
- Goapp.pet
- Wiserstate
A great conversation was had with Stijn Beauprez from Outsite.co, a very interesting and attractive coliving concept, the perfect spot for millennials who can work remotely. I can’t stop thinking about the concept… Hybrid should definitely get involved with this!
After the expo, I continued my visit to Michael Martin, Global Head of Digital Products at Nike. When I arrived at the mainstage, the seats were all taken, and it was time to stand. Michael talked about the power of transformative digital products and how they can strengthen relationships with consumers. It’s incredible what’s behind Nike’s apps and how they use the data they generate to take personalization to the next level. Soon, your personalized Nike sneakers will be delivered to your home before you’ve even seen them!
Finally, I attended Catherine Price’s session: “How to Break Up with Your Phone.” It’s a seven-day detox to get back to a balanced relationship with your smartphone. Of course, that balance is hard to maintain when your phone is the first thing you touch in the morning and the last thing before you sleep. It was an interesting session, but also a bit confronting, as I apparently belong to the heavier cases…
Conclusion: TNW Conference is definitely a great event, but personally, one day is enough for me. Web Summit still holds a slight edge!
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