As a Helsinki based company, there’s one event that’s arguably more important than Christmas every year – and that’s the Slush tech conference.
If you have never heard of it, head over to their official news reel to get a feeling of how massive this event has grown.
Its slogan, “Nobody in their right mind would come to Helsinki in November – except for you / our attendees” is just going viral, a few days after the event.
As always, we had a blast, so to sum it up, here are some of our experiences / survival tips should you come next year. It’s a great opportunity both to meet investors, like minded innovators and to make a connection with businesses who would be interested in your offering.
The aesthetic and decor of Slush changes every year, but it seems to lean heavy on the dark techno club feel. Something to think about before picking your attending attire: if you choose to wear all black, you might end up literally being invisible.
As with all conferences, prearranging and scheduling ahead is the name of the game. They offer a lot of meeting areas, and because it’s so hectic, you will need to have a list of arranged meetings. Good luck catching anybody’s attention any other way.
It’s a great chance to iterate on your elevator and your sales pitch – but be mindful that there’s a lot of people doing the same. Especially investors will be really tired, so work on grabbing their attention and cutting back on buzzword-heavy bullshit.
The difference between day one and two is palpable. Day two, despite the fact that that’s when the Slush 100 (the main pitching event) heats up is much slower. This is partly due to people being exhausted after the first manic day, and partly because there’s a lavish after party that people flock to.
Speaking of after parties: while at some conferences more magic happens there than on the main event, Finland’s attitude to partying leaves some room for consideration. You don’t want to be the guy still running game while everyone else is already kicking back with their cocktails.
Plan around your lunch breaks and your pitches if you’re in the competition, especially if you have a booth. An empty booth looks lame, and you will get hungry and exhausted at one point – especially because there’s always a significant lack of chairs.
It’s worth thinking outside the box, both in space and time. You can come a day before or stay a day after, and you can arrange many meetings outside of the main conference area with local potential clients. Helsinki is a very well connected city, so you can zip around quite fast.
The food court lines can be terrifying – luckily, a service called Wolt is present on premises, and they’ll pick your food up if you order it through them.
Prepare your back end and online presence – pitching at Slush or making a speech, or just even getting caught on live camera from the passing crew will point a lot of attention towards your company. Don’t waste the opportunity.
If you’ve never had salmiakki, and someone offers you black candy, just say no*. Unless you’re into salty liquorice. They also cover it with chocolate sometimes.
All in all, Slush was a blast, and we hope to go next year as well.
Maybe we’ll see you there!
*this opinion is not shared by all team members