It's been 10 days now since we returned home after WedSummit
in Dublin, Ireland.
We certainly needed some of that time to recover, but we
have used the last few days to reflect an our whole experience from both skignz
being at a big exhibition/conference as an 'Alpha Company', through to what we
felt was good & bad from an event point of view?
Let's get the bad out of the way and focus on the positives.
These are only really nitty gritty things that we felt that we would like to
change:
#1. We only had our 'Alpha Stand' for one day, we would have
preferred at least two days. WebSummit is now that big with over 42k people
attending that after we had the stand on the first day, we didn't really have a
base or somewhere we can direct people to to come and talk to us.
#2. the opportunities to meet the investors was limited as
they chose who they wanted to see and only one of the ones we saw was worth the
meeting.
Most of the success we had meeting VC's was at other events and
through introductions from our own bank and other contacts.
#3. Using the chat on the app was great prior to the event but
once the event started, many people weren't replying in time, setting up
meetings became difficult due to clashes and delays, "if only there was a
way to identify them and would alert you when you were close, so at least you
can say hello and put a face to a name (If only hey ;-))."
Like we said above the above are nitty gritty stuff, that
can be taken on board by WebSummit as they progress, as all feedback is good
even if it's a little bit uncomfortable at the time, but as a growing brand and
organisation, listening to your customers is key to your future success.
Positives... for this we maybe have too many to mention but
feel it was not only the opportunity that WebSummit presents, the types of
people attending and the quality of your offering. for us though what was key
was the dynamic of the team we took with us, the approach as in early mornings
and late nights.
Engaging people during the day, with either preset meetings,
chatting to the next table over lunch or mixing with Many different people
during the 'Night Summits and Pub Crawls'.
David Murphy (Head of Sports Partnerships at skignz) thought
the Pub Crawl on the first night was excellent for him personally, as the four of us were
broken up into different places, making us engage people and not just go to
the opening event as a group.
By the time we all met up afterwards, we already
had a number of different people to speak to, interested parties for
partnerships and an overwhelming positive response to skignz itself.
He said after the second day that the night before was
fantastic as it helped him find his feet with regards to explaining skignz and
how it could work in a multitude of scenarios, so much so that on the Tuesday,
he felt he went straight in, was quick and efficient with his explanation and
demonstration of skignz to everyone who he spoke to, as well as finding ways to
relate to each of them personally.
This continued for the next 3 days for all of us. We have
met some wonderful people from all corners of the earth, some we may not do
business with but will certainly stay in contact with as we are sure we can
help each others companies going forward, even if we may not do business with
each other.
The key for us was that we never spoke to anyone who did not
see either a fit for skignz with them professionally or personally. Not many
startups or tech companies can say that. This is actually the overall response
we get from anyone who sees skignz for the first time.
From us placing skignz all over Dublin to help everyone at
WebSummit find their hotels, the venues, even the toilets, refreshments and
various stages; right through to the partner bars for the 'Pub Crawl's and Night Summits' to places of interest.
The corridor of sponsor skignz ran from the
train and taxi ranks right to the main gate of the RDS. But only those who knew
about skignz, had the app could see this information.
We spoke to a number of people who actually worked for
WebSummit and fed back what we were constantly hearing - "Why isn't this
part of the Web Summit offering? If we all had skignz it would be easier to
find people after using chat".
Lets hope the connections we have made and discussions held
throughout WebSummit and hopefully in the coming weeks, can make this a reality
not only for next year's WebSummit in Lisbon, Portugal, but also for the other events they
organise such as RISE, COLLISION & ONE.
We will obviously update you on our progress and also the other
similar tech events across the globe who have approached us to work with them.
Who knows, within the next 12-18 months every major tech/brand/mobile event
like WebSummit you attend, will be 'skignzed up' for your convenience and even
further enhance your overall experience.
In summary we had a very positive experience with WebSummit
but it's like anything, you get out of it what you put into it.
Plan, Plan and Plan some more, have a very clear idea of what you aim to achieve and what is
required, and execute your plan....
For Further information on WebSummit and their other associated events across the globe, please visit: https://websummit.net
And as always for further information on skignz then please visit us on the usual Social Media channels or drop us a line info@skignz.com
Being greeted by the rain in Manchester is
becoming commonplace, but skignz were there to attend the TECHSTARS Northern
Finals Awards evening.
The evening was a great event, with time for networking and
making some really positive contacts. 
The awards evening was held at the awesome and funky offices of UK Fast. Fantastic location hosted by a great group of people. Big thanks to them for hosting us.
