Web Summit is an annual tech-conference help in Lisbon, Portugal. Experts from every industry will come together for Web Summit. Share ideas with others in your field, meet your future business partner, or seek advice from people who’ve done it all before.
I’ve been lucky enough to get two free tickets to experience this event by myself in 2019. It was my first time at such a huge event so it took a bit of time to understand to make the best use of this opportunity. I’ll summarize what I’ve learned on how to do Web Summit best.
Get your ticket at the airport
There is a Web Summit booth directly at the airport where you can get your badge and check-in. Everything is well organized and you’ll be ready to go for the first day without having the wait in the giant check-in queue on the venue itself.
Planning is important
I severely underestimated the size of Web Summit. It’s huge. There is sooo much stuff going on that it’s almost impossible to keep track of everything you want to see. Set yourself times for just strolling around and dedicate time to things that are important to you.
Dedicate a few minutes to go through all emails you’ve received to make sure you’re not missing out on an important opportunity.
Also, plan your lunch break properly! There are a lot of great places nearby but they’re pretty full during the usual break time. For a less stressful lunch, I’d recommend going 1-2 hours after the official lunch break times if your schedule allows it.
Use the app!
The Web Summit app is quite useful, and I’d strongly advise you to check it out ahead of time to learn about all of your options. You can see all of the attendees, presenters, companies, and other information. You may view the timetables for the various stages, themes, and make your own personal schedule, which is quite useful because you may feel a little disoriented on event days. You can already connect with other participants, communicate with them, and schedule a meeting.
The app sends you push notifications to keep you up to date during the event, and you can easily scan the QR codes of individuals you've been conversing with to stay connected, which is fantastic! You won't need to exchange business cards or worry about losing them because you'll have all of your information on your smartphone (nevertheless also bring business cards).
I hope you enjoyed Web Summit this year as much as I did and I’ll hope to see more of you there next year.