BlockSummit - The ultimate blockchain showcase event, bridging Web2 businesses & governments with Web3 innovations!
We’ve noticed that flagship events for specific blockchain ecosystems, like Polkadot's Decoded, often struggle with attendance despite significant effort and expense. Most Web3 conferences are very tech-focused. What if we hosted a “business” blockchain event that brings together multiple industries for collective learning and growth?
Imagine an event focused on practical business use cases instead of complex technology analysis. We will invite Web2 IT providers, enterprises, and government organizations to explore how blockchain can benefit them. This approach broadens the appeal and highlights the tangible benefits of blockchain in various sectors.
The BlockSummit vision is about awareness as the first step toward achieving long-term adoption and industry-driven insights. It places the community at the heart of the event. We can demonstrate blockchain's transformative potential by focusing on real-world applications and success stories. This event will be a collaborative effort, uniting enthusiasts from various industries. This inclusive approach will create a richer and more diverse learning experience for everyone.
We can manage costs more effectively by targeting a smaller, more focused audience and ensuring a high-impact event without a hefty price tag. Leveraging community involvement will build a more engaged audience, enhancing the summit's overall impact.
Here's our proposal: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IAbwM1LWYYXb9Ydk_ftpfPQxxXDFOyI3SQXzyRdj4Y8/edit?usp=sharing
Before moving forward, we must ensure community support to determine if BlockSummit is viable. Our goal is not to recreate Decoded but to test what we can achieve as a community with a non-technical event and a more modest budget. The input from the community will be invaluable in shaping BlockSummit into an event that truly meets the needs and aspirations of the blockchain community. Once we have community backing, we can take the necessary next steps.
Does the idea inspire you? Are you eager to make a difference? Leave a comment here or reach out to [email protected], and we will arrange a call with all interested BlockSummit friends to collaborate and bring this vision to life.
Comments (4)
Hey Mario & Christian, Firstly, thanks so much for being super proactive in response to the wealth of feedback collected by various sources following the delivery of Decoded 2024. Secondly, I know there are a number of people / teams exploring ways forward, with Distractive posting a very thorough review of their findings (today). I am also acutely aware that there are a number of experienced events planners and marketers in the ecosystem and we all have a different take, so please take my questions below as constructive as they are intended :) Date: Mid-January strikes a couple of concerns for me. 1. Being a cold and miserable month in Europe and 2. Being the same month as theee very notable global conferences which are utilising which attract the most influential and powerful of the Web2 community, as well as Web3 community, both of which we would be shooting for with this event (CFC St. Moritz, World Economic Forum (the exact same dates as you have suggested), Satoshi Roundtable). The first week of January is absorbed by Christmas and NY and these three events are each week plus have the advantage of being in exclusive ski resorts & Dubai. Location: You have said TBC, but likely in Belgium, which seems a strange choice in the winter as I said above - I don’t think many people will want to make a trip out to Europe if not to ski - and it is also the same country as Decoded so people may want to experience somewhere different and in the spirit of diversification, we should be moving to different locations in this exploratory phase unless we are following other events… Which leads me to my final point which combines both of the above - we are supposed to be seeking out opportunities to host events where there is already going to be a heavy footfall to increase attendance and also as part of our enhanced mission to ‘make friends’ as per Fabi’s Decoded keynote. This event would silo us even further than this year I believe as not only would we be hosting an event in a country we have been to, with no other relevant events happening, we are also putting ourselves in direct competition with the biggest global conference of the year and somewhere we should be aiming to have presence at next year and if not in the future. As a general point for all events, big and small, I have seen very little evidence of plans on how we increase the number of attendees, specifically in the categories that we are targeting - investors, enterprise, government, whatever it may be. At Decoded, I invited some investors directly who did come, but it was a short notice solo mission so was not as fruitful as it could have been. I have some strategy ideas and experience and would love to help on this side or spark something like this to add into this proposal or any other. Digital marketing does not provide the targeted attendance that we want and establish the intricate relationships that we need - good old talking still does that one (in tandem ofc, not going in on digital marketing!). I really hope this taken in the right spirit as requested. It’s all a WIP at this point :)
Hi Mario & Chris, I do admire your energy and drive to make the Polkadot ecosystem better and grow but I need to voice my concern with this proposal. After the disastrous Decoded at Brussels, I think the appetite for a new event will be a huge up hill struggle. I would prefer to see a number of smaller events globally that can evidence a return on investment. Each providing a thorough post event analysis, then ramp up the scale of any events that were over subscribed or proved that there was a clear positive outcome. I'm afraid I have to vote Naye to this proposal but would urge you to scale it down and prove the concept first. All the best Richard