So was the tech fest Web Summit 2023 worth it?

I’ve been going to Web Summit for a few years now and having attended this year, I was asked in the office recently whether it was worth it.

And rather than immediately answering outright, I did give it some thought.

All industries have their fair share of trade shows and tech, and finance, like gathering at regular intervals around the world to show off their wares and network with customers and new contacts.

In any economic downturn, the number of shows tend to drop off as companies prioritise budgets and think carefully about what a particular event can deliver in terms of marketing, or sales dollars.

A particular event has to be worth it - there is no such thing as a free ride, especially as it's not cheap when you factor in flights, hotels and restaurants. Then there’s the added stress of preparing for the show and introducing supporting marketing programmes to beef up the on-the-ground lead generation.

Talk to many executives and they can never quite calculate just what a show’s benefit is in either building the sales funnel, or brand awareness. Quantifying being able to fly the flag, to network and be seen, is a tricky metric. An opportunity might pop up right there on the floor of the show, whereas someone who you met at the show, and subsequently forgotten, turns up as a customer some months afterwards.

So the decision to attend this year’s Web Summit was not taken lightly. We were also going as speakers and panelists - we didn’t have a booth as such, just an opportunity to be involved.

For anyone who’s been, Web Summit is different from all other shows. It is a tech fest which takes place every November in the charming capital of Portugal, Lisbon. The Guardian calls it Glastonbury for Geeks and the Financial Times label it the world’s largest tech conference.

And it is big, and it is slick. It’s reckoned some 70,236 attendees crossed the portal into the show and a wide range of interests were catered for, everything from deep tech and AI, through to sport and music. There were talks, masterclasses, networking sessions, panels, speeches and tech demos, across 16 stages in a huge venue just outside the City.

Over 153 countries were represented and for us, founded and headed by our CEO Cristina Vila, another great fact about this event is that 43% of the attendees were women. Even better, 38% of the speakers were women, a record. This is a great upward trend.

As for the number of startups there, 2,608 is a pretty impressive number and even more impressive was the number of investors, some 906.

The venue is also no surprise. Lisbon has rapidly become a tech hotspot, with government at all levels welcoming founders, VCs and the skilled labour force needed to drive startups and scaleups. This open-arms policy has attracted its fair degree of controversy, as living costs in what was a cheap capital has sky-rocketed. But, whether you agree, or not, Lisbon has become the place to be with a culture that is infectious. It gives you a buzz and you want more.

That’s what's great about this show - you get the giants, individuals and companies, and then the startups who have a booth measuring a metre square, all lined up together in a mass of talking and hand-shaking. All are happy to show-off their wares and ideas. In that respect, Web Summit is the genuine article - it’s inclusive in a way that many shows are not.

Cristina and I were on a number of panels and went through our latest Shadow IT research report, which shocked a lot of people listening.

We also attended a wide range of events which gave us a chance to chat with fellow founders, investors and the media. It’s rare to get access to such a wide range of people in just a few days.

So, was it worth it? You bet. This is a highlight of my calendar.

All I’ve got to do now is book my hotel for next year!