Day 1 of the Collision Conference is in the books and already is it clear that the event organizers made changes to improve the event. They’ve widened the aisles so that human beings can walk through without having to shuffle sideways like last year. They also increased the number of food vendors and had a functioning indoor map to help you find the various stages and rooms. These improvements are noticeable.
Big Crowds at Collision Conference
The Collision Conference is one of the largest technology conferences held in Toronto. This year organizers expect 36,000+ attendees from 118 countries to converge on the city for three days of keynotes, pitch competitions, and sessions.
The conference uses a festival-style layout with keynote stages right on the exhibit floor and booths in between. In prior years, the aisleways were very narrow. During busy hours it was impossible to walk between the rows of startups without bumping into people. I often found myself doing a sideways shuffle just to get from one booth to the next.
This year, the event organizers widened the aisles which made it possible to have conversations with startup founders without being interrupted by people trying to squeeze past.
More Food Options
One of the big complaints last year was the long lines for food. Last year, Collision organizers arranged to have several local food truck vendors be onsite, but there weren’t enough vendors and those that were there seemed to be caught off-guard by the demand.
This year, there were more food options. There was food available inside the exhibit hall as well as a larger number of food trucks outside. In addition, most of the vendors brought extra staff to handle the crowds. The lines were still long, but they moved quickly.
Indoor Wayfinding
One of the best things about Collision 2023 was the improvement to the online map in the conference app. Last year the map had issues and it made it very difficult to know the locations of the various stages.
This year, the indoor wayfinding was much improved. By clicking on the location in the session description, up popped a map to show you where you needed to go. It was much easier.
Listening to Attendees
It’s nice to see that the organizers of Collision took the feedback from last year’s event seriously and acted upon it. Given the size and success of the event, it would have been easy for them to just run everything back without making any changes.
That’s the key takeaway – if you don’t improve the conference experience for attendees, exhibitors, and speakers every year, then eventually the event will struggle to attract these three important constituents. In today’s competitive world, you can’t just rest on your laurels and expect to grow. You have to change and evolve.
P.S. If any Collision organizers are reading this, one suggestion for next year…don’t put the media interview rooms next to the catering laneway. The sound of crashing dishes and rolling metal carts do not make interviews better.
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