Tag: summit

  • Attendee List Announced for the 3rd Annual Location Business Summit

    The attendee list for the 3rd annual Location Business Summit has just been announced. 120+ senior-level location and mobile business professionals are meeting in Amsterdam (May 22-23rd) to analyse business strategies, discuss the SoLoMo revolution and identify the winning revenue streams for 2012. 

    View it here: https://bit.ly/AttendeeList

    At present, the location industry giants have a firm grip on the market space. However, with the influx of start-ups and innovative companies coming to the fore, a key thought on their minds is how to establish a successful strategy for survival. This is clearly an issue which needs addressing, alongside whether or not LBS service providers are really answering the needs of advertisers and brands.

    Business models and revenue streams might be the most important issue right now, but at The Location Business Summit, over 120 senior executives will be examining all of the trends which are set to revolutionise the mobile and location industry.  From indoor location to social location and mobile marketing, they’ll be revealing how to monetize location and provide a crucial strategy to win the campaigns of global brands.

    VP of North America and Europe for TheWhereBusiness, Naomi Hands commented, ‘This year we have seen a huge shift in focus towards geo-targeted marketing and location based advertising. With a massive uptake in global brands utilising these services in their marketing efforts, without a doubt this is the year that we should be excited about.’

    The high level of attendees include CEO’s, CMO’s, Head of Mobile and Directors of Marketing for some of the world leading companies putting their effort into LBS and Mobile strategies.
    Companies include the likes of Google, TripAdvisor, Nokia, TomTom, Sygic, PayPal, Orange, Everything Everywhere, T-Mobile, YOOSE, AKQA, Ogilvy and many many more.

    Naomi also commented ‘This year the LBS Summit is here to bring together likeminded professionals in the perfect, intimate environment for making those business deals happen. With support from the MMA, OGC, LBMA and many more industry associations; it’s one that’s not to be missed’.

    The attendee list has been announced and you can access it here: https://bit.ly/AttendeeList

    Contact
    Naomi Hands
    VP North America & Europe
    TheWhereBusiness
    Tel: +44 (0) 207 375 7513
    Toll Free: +1 800 814 3456 ext. 7513
    [email protected]
    https://bit.ly/AttendeeList

    About TheWhereBusiness:
    TheWhereBusiness publishes news and events for those involved in the navigation and location ecosystem. Through high-end B2B conferences, we connect people across the industry, provide market leading intelligence and enable companies to capitalise on emerging business opportunities in location-based services, navigation, geo-web, tracking and mobile advertising; basically, anything that involves location, context or maps! Through continuous independent research with hundreds of companies and dedicated journalists, our news portal keeps you one step ahead of an industry in flux, and our events provide key networking forums for the industry.

  • Interview with Robert Lang of TechTour Web & Mobility Summit

    The European Tech Tour Association launched the first vertical Summit in 2006 (Semiconductor Summit) in a series of vertical events that will gather the best emerging European companies in a given industry sector.

    This initiative sprouted from the need to identify and showcase European technology start-ups in a vertical industry segment to professionals investing or working within this industry. The concept is to structure a best of best startup track along side an innovative industry specific initiative.

    Based on the words from the website, it appears that the growth of the TechTour has been both expected, but the rate at which it’s grown has been surprising. The concept of being able to highlight some of the most innovating, ground breaking ideas in the industry on various topics has worked well for the last four years and has no signs of going weak.

    The Event Itself

    TechTour is nonprofit organization that puts on many events and they either have a country focus or they are industry focus, but both welcome investors, startups, and innovators to come together. Each of them repeat themselves every 3 or 4 years providing a cycle between each event and summit.

    Robert Lang

    More specifically, the Web & Mobility Summit, which takes place on November 18-19, 2009. It is during these events that we pull together a committee from the industry, venture capitalists, and business angels.

    As companies are encouraged to apply, they are responsible for reviewing all the companies in order to determine which will ultimately present. Not all companies will apply. Some companies have enough money to grow their business, so don’t feel the need to present before venture capitalists.

    After selection is completed, the committee will have approximately 200 companies in the database and from there will break down to 25-30 companies that will ultimately be invited to present at the summit. In attendance will be approximately 100 to 150 delegates mainly from the investor side and private equity industry. Some are just looking for innovation and what’s happening in a specific sector.

    “All the CEO’s will have 20 minutes to present their company and in turn the delegates will walkway with a USB stick of the presentations. The pre-selection process involves one screener and one reviewer, so in the end each company has been looked at twice by a qualified group of people,” says Robert Lang, President of the TechTour Web & Mobility Summit.

    This tight screening ensures the highest quality and most thorough review of all companies presenting. Each CEO has roughly 30 min. time to present and a summarized version is provided in a nice binder. It’s also available on a USB stick that screeners will be able to carry wherever they go. Naturally you still get to meet everyone and carry great conversation.

    Selection of Topics

    Summits have a “topic” or industry focus – the geographic Tech Tours are based on a range of industries from the region.

    “As you go from country to country you get different topics, different verticals, and there’s a lot of interest in all sorts of topics,” says Robert.

    In some cases, without a specific focus on a sector, the event becomes too broad and risks not being appealing for someone in the US for example. But if a vertical is selected for example, Clean Technology, then chances are you’ll draw many more people from all over to hear what’s happening in that specific industry.

    When asked how long it had been since a Web & Mobility Summit, Robert says, “The last mobility summit was in 2007, but now we’re doing it again.”

    The Takeaway

    When it comes to participation, Robert comments that man ask the question, “why should I apply?” If you were a company that had a chance to present before 100 VC’s, it acts as a strong introduction for the company, especially if you’ve been pre-screened and preselected. The companies that apply would be looking for expansion capital, startup capital, or go beyond seed money.

    There are other companies that do not make it past the selection committee. Still, these companies will get exposure just from the selection committee alone. So while some companies may not have been a good candidate for the event, the screeners will remember particular companies and keep an eye on them or they themselves might provide capital if they feel the company is strong enough.

    With regards to the kinds of deals this companies can make, Robert Lang says, “Lots can happen behind the scenes from those that didn’t make it but still seem a viable opportunity.”

    In the end, Robert says that every company involved should hopefully takeaway the opportunity for an investor to be interested enough to help the company break through.

    Partner Assistance

    Because it’s a nonprofit, each event lives off delegate fees and their sponsors. Since it’s moving around to many countries, VC’s are regular supporters who will do at least one tech tour a year. There are many other sponsors who become partners by offering meeting rooms and other amenities that help make it a success. Mostly it’s companies looking for innovation that help sponsor these events.

    “There’s quite a mixture of partners, but the identification of being with the TechTour is becoming substantial on it’s own and there are benefits to be had by participating,” Robert says confidently when asked about the direct benefits to the partners.

    The VP and President of the events are selected differently every year as the tour moves providing experience and an opportunity to be a part of this event. It also attracts new faces based on those individuals personal networks and the reach of the conference can grow exponentially.

    Robert Lang is happy to have sponsors and states, “If we didn’t have sponsors we could not run the event.”

    2009 Expectations

    Robert notes that in this time of crisis, he’s looking forward to seeing well trained, well disciplined companies who have not gotten any funding for a while that are going to be more fine tuned and well developed. Many are looking forward to the dinner in the Olympic museum over looking Lake Geneva. It’s important to note that the combo of doing great business and dealings mixed with fine dining and mingling at a great venue is a sure fire way to keep the interest.

    “If events are not interesting people leave and aren’t inspired to be there, but this event is sure to keep people motivated and engaged,” Robert Lang comments.

    To get more information on how you can be a part of this event, either as an investor or as a presenter, or even if you’re just looking forward to attending, be sure to visit the site for more information.

  • Web & Mobility Summit – Debate the Hot Issues and Network with VCs, Business Angels and Europe’s Top 25 Start-ups

    ADVERTORIAL

    The top three hot issues being debated on the web and mobility scene today are:

    • The European venture capital funding model under revision – how will that effect web and mobility start ups?
    • Constantly evolving media channels.
    • Advertising revenues and payment for content.

    The second Web and Mobility Summit, (Montreux, 18-19 November) will attack those issues with a series of panels and keynotes, while the 25 top European web and mobility start-ups will be there to present to VCs and business angels. A hand-picked delegation of industry leaders, service providers and academics will also attend.

    Register now!

    The 25 selected Start-ups, to be announced at the Summit itself, will come from some of the strongholds of the European scene, such as mobile social networks, mobile publishing, adserving and gaming, as well as Ecommerce, E-business, payment and billing.

    The Start-Up Selection Process

    Companies based or incubated in Europe, Israel and Russia are eligible to participate in the Summit. They submit a full company profile and their latest business plan as well as a draft presentation. Each submission is then reviewed by two members of the selection committee, comprised of 20 senior-level business leaders from various backgrounds including venture capital, technology, research and economic promotion.

    Summit President

    The Web & Mobility Summit President (also CEO of Result), Robert Lang commented, “Europe has been a powerhouse of ideas and concepts for a very long time, but many ideas have been slowed down by small home markets or lack of entrepreneurial spirit. In the field of mobility particularly, there are still many hidden gems in Europe who work in one market and are just waiting to be released worldwide.”

    Summit Organisers

    European Tech Tour
    (ETT), is an independent, not-for-profit organisation which recognises that continued prosperity in Europe lies in its ability to transform today’s innovative projects into tomorrow’s global technology leaders. Its goal is to promote European entrepreneurship and provide a platform for entrepreneurs and investors to meet, ideally leading to funding or facilitation of high technology companies looking to expand internationally.

    The Association organizes four country specific tours per year to identify the best emerging companies in a geographical region, as well as two vertical industry events to capture the most innovative European companies in a specific industry segment, such as Semiconductor, Cleantech, Medtech and Web & Mobility.