Skift Take

Designing a conference like a festival leads to some edges and messy experiences that challenge and confuse attendees. It will be fascinating to see how the concept fares as it is exported to a diverse range of global destinations.

I went to C2 Montreal for the first time last week, and it was refreshing to attend an “innovation conference” that actually innovates on the tired old business conference formula.

The pace, chaos, and friction of the event should be familiar to anyone who has attended a music festival in the last 20 years; a bit of confusion leads to a more memorable experience than sitting in an auditorium for three days straight.

I spoke with C2 CEO Richard St-Pierre about how C2 Montreal has evolved to allow more opportunities for learning and conversation. He also detailed the company’s global growth plan. Expect C2 events on every continent quite soon.

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— Andrew Sheivachman, Business Travel Editor

The Future of EvenTs and Meetings

C2 Montreal Evolves With Global Aspirations: C2 may be past the point of reinventing itself as it looks to export its brand of experiential business conferences around the world. Yet, the tweaks it has made to its hallmark event show it is doing the work to scale its interactive festival as popularity surges.

Hyatt’s New Corporate Travel Program Aims for Small Businesses: Hyatt seems to realize not only that small businesses are the most untapped portion of corporate travel, but that a solid business travel experience can lead to dividends on the leisure side as well. Whether this program catches on is another story, though.

The Limits of Machine Learning: Flawed data can lead to automated systems replicating the biases of the organization looking for insight.

Around the Industry

New Skift Research Points to Amazon Playing a Larger Role in the Travel Industry: It’s dangerous to give Amazon breathing room in any industry; better to think through its implications for travel today. Amazon is not simply a threat — it offers lessons and opportunities for travel executives as well.

Vegas Workers Threaten Over Wages, Safety, and Robots, But Owners Don’t See Strike: The issues at the center of labor unrest in Las Vegas translate across the entire U.S. economy: a decent wage, workplace safety, and losing your job to a robot. The culinary workers and bartenders’ contract is up June 1. Let’s see what owners can guarantee.

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Skift Business Travel Editor Andrew Sheivachman [[email protected]] curates the Skift Meetings Innovation Report. Skift emails the newsletter every Wednesday.

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Tags: c2, meetings, meetingsiq

Photo credit: A master class during this year's C2 Montreal conference. The company has refined how it runs events to offer more experiences to attendees. Skift

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