“TOA 2015 is coming up fast: Why is this year’s the best edition yet?
With more than 140 satellite events and 4,000+ attendees, TOA15 certainly is the biggest edition. Whether it will be the best one only time will tell. But we have inspiring speakers, three full days of events and lots of interactive formats for the community to participate in, so I am hopeful!”
Is there a specific focus?
“Our mission is to connect, grow and inspire the human spirit through interdisciplinary knowledge exchange and collaboration. Building a platform for dialogue and collaboration around technology between different disciplines such as entrepreneurship, music, art or science is a very long-term mission and one that does not need yearly themes in my opinion.”
Which speakers are you especially proud to have on board?
“Next to the big multibillion dollar guys such as the founder/CxOs of Shazam, SoundCloud, Zalando, Rocket Internet, Delivery Hero, Adyen, Eventbrite or Twilio we also have new kids on the block such as the founders of Dubsmash or NavVis, lots of fascinating hardware guys, the founder of Hyperloop or the first accelerator in Gaza as well as leading artists and scientists. It’s often the small, unknown speakers who get best reviews in our surveys.”
Which role does mobile play for TOA?
“Together with Twilio we will have a mobile notification service for last-minute program points or changes. Other than that we actually would love to keep mobiles out of our conference (maybe a metal detector at the entrance?). We want to create an environment where people talk to each other for three days in serendipitous ways which is why we also do not have badges. But hey, we do tolerate mobile phones!”
Advice for your guests, maybe just not talking business: What are the key ingredients to getting most out of your three-day-event?
“Be open-minded and curious. Don’t just talk to people who you think will be most “useful” to you.”