Hidai reflects on 3 conferences

Reflecting on 3 excellent conferences in the last 2 weeks, in Dublin & Lisbon, the investment in them, the huge value out of them (both the planned & completely unplanned), and the incredible power of human connections.

I used to attend conferences regularly and always loved them, but since the Covid disruption I never got back to the same level, so this year Orli and I took a strategic decision to change that.
And to make sure the decision will turn into action, and I won't be tempted to say later on "oh never mind, let's just stay at home and get some more work done", we (well Orli of course, as the boss and as the one who is not a fan of conferences) booked in advance the super-early-bird tickets of The Irish Startup Conference, The Lisbon AI Conference (both by Startup Network Europe, led by the energetic & prolific Adam Patrick Fulham) and Dublin Tech Summit (led by the lovely & impressive Siobhan Human) - and that's it, I was committed.

Now this means investment of some money, but more than that of time & energy, and the way I do it (and always recommend to anyone) to make the most of every event, I divide it to 3 stages - before (research of the agenda & speakers, people to meet), during (come early, sit in the first row, be present & switched on for all opportunities, stay as late as I can) & after the event (follow ups on LinkedIn, emails, meetings etc.).

Given that, the question is, was it worth it?
100% yes! and to break it down:

- Hear the latest from leading companies & people in the industry, to keep my finger on the pulse and always try to learn more

- Especially for AI as the latest big topic, to continue shape our own approach to it and help others navigate through the incredible buzz, separating real value from confusion & hype

- Same regarding funding (in its various forms - VCs, government etc.) which is always a relevant yet tricky topic

- As a speaker, learn from more experienced ones and challenge myself, see which formats are popular (e.g. less keynotes and more panels & fireside chats recently) and where I might fit & bring value

- Experience Lisbon in a business context, after hearing great things from multiple people, wanted to see for myself and expand my network there, and indeed I was very impressed by Unicorn Factory Lisboa and the people I met there

- And more than anything, meeting lots of great people, some for the first time, some first time in person, and some again to catch up, some planned and many more by chance (over coffee / lunch, following an intro, sitting next to each other, even waiting in the queue, and many more!) - all incredibly interesting and with so many exciting conversations & opportunities which have already started unfolding, or will start this week, or this month, or this year, or even later, who knows!?

This is the real magic which I love and which brings me so much energy, and can only happen when you put a lot of human beings in the same physical space.

Original post on LinkedIn