Another year has passed and we are nearing to the beginning of the Webit Congress 2012. This conference focused on new trends in technology and on-line marketing is about to take place on 10-11 October 2012 in Istanbul. The organizers estimate a turn out of 6,000 visitors from over 60 countries and key speakers from companies like Google, Microsoft, Adobe or IBM will be present. This year also features a StartUp Challenge designed to attract young professionals.
Entrepreneurial challenge
Start-ups from all over the CEE region can submit their applications and 21 of them will go to Istanbul and try to impress about about 200 investors with their pitch. If this is your cup of tea, check out the challenge at the official web site. “We expect 400+ applications to the SatrtUp Challenge from EMEA and rest of the world,” said Plamen Russev, Founder of Webit Congress. Webit 2012 is trying to allure more start-ups. Compared to the last year, the quota is about twice as many entrepreneurs present.
Topics
The programme follows a pretty broad thrall but there are some interesting topics to be found. Some of them have caught my eye already.
- Social marketing and the art of storytelling
- Hackers & Invention
- Branding as a process and a dialogue
- Best practices and cases in E-commerce for retailers
- M2M (machine to machine)
Even though the programme is not finished yet, you can see the rough draft of what the organizers have in store for the attendees.
Connections
Networking opportunities look also very promising. About 6,000 people will be at the event. Think about these numbers! Webit Congress is divided into six stages, so most of the visitors will be already pre-selected according to their topic of interest. Plus, there will always be an opportunity to network with the speakers like Sandy Carter (VP of Business and Social Evangelism of IBM), Alina Kessel (CEO of DDB Tribal), Tristan Nitot (Founder and President of Mozilla Europe) or Patrick Hoffstetter (Chief Digital Officer of Renault). Some coverage-hungry start-ups should be delighted to attend, for reporters from The Next Web or Forbes are about to visit the event. If you want to get noticed, here is your chance.
In summation, the Webit 2012 is looking good so far – good speakers, attractive venue, interesting topics. Add to that thrilling parties and the good networking options and you are in the clear. There is one thing missing, though. Why the hell isn’t anyone from the Czech Republic among the speakers?
