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WEF Davos: Networking in the AI age is about human connections

The last time I attended the World Economic Forum in Davos,  the world was just about to shut down. It was early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic was spreading fast, and everything was different.  

Going back to the WEF this year, I expected things to have changed, but the shift in priorities surprised me — there was a noticeable difference in how people meet and talk to each other. 

Networking has definitely taken a turn since 2020, and, honestly, it’s a refreshing one. Remember those days when everyone was just handing out business cards like they were going out of style? Yeah, that’s passé now. This year, I saw first hand that people are engaging with each other in ways that are  much more… human.

Think about it: We’re bombarded with information 24/7 from all directions. A business card with a title and a logo? That’s just a Google search away. What’s not so easy to find is a genuine connection, a shared laugh, a real understanding of someone’s perspective. That’s what I saw being valued at events like WEF Davos.

I was chatting with the CEO of a major tech company – someone you’d expect to be surrounded by assistants and formalities — and we ended up having a really engaging conversation about the future of AI (ironically enough!). But when it came time to part ways, instead of handing me a card, he just pulled out his phone and said, “Let’s connect on WhatsApp. Easier to stay in touch.” 

That’s the new normal. It’s less about the formal exchange and more, “Hey, I actually enjoyed talking to you, let’s keep this going.”

Human connections

I think this shift in perspective and approach to networking ties into something bigger. We’re living in a world increasingly shaped by AI, by automation, by the digital space, and the human reaction has been  to crave genuine connections and interaction. Davos, in a way, has become a place where that craving is being fulfilled. 

It’s not just a convention to strike deals anymore; it’s become an event where you can actually connect with people on an emotional and human level.

For entrepreneurs, especially those in the tech arena, this is a subtle but huge transformation. It means you can’t just walk into these events with your elevator pitch polished and ready to go. You need to be present, curious, and listen well. Take the time to ask questions, learn about the person who holds that lofty title. Observe your surroundings. What are people talking about? What are the undercurrents?

Instead of looking to find out what people do or how they can be helpful to you, try asking about their passions, their challenges, their vision for the future. You have to share, too: talk about what you’ve noticed in your surroundings, like the event you’re both at. You might be surprised at the connections you forge, and those connections will prove far more valuable than a stack of business cards. 

In this new era of networking, it’s not about who you know, it’s about the quality of those connections. That comes from genuine human interaction. And in a world increasingly moulded by AI, that’s more valuable than ever.

Image credits: WEF Davos

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Last week, I spent three days at Bits and Pretzels in Munich — a startup-focused event with a distinctly Bavarian flavor. Think Oktoberfest meets startup conference, complete with dirndls, lederhosen, and more beer than you might expect. As someone building an AI-powered event platform, I went in with a specific mission: Observe how startups actually market themselves at events. Here’s what I discovered: GoodBytz: The power of good demos What they did: Robotics startup GoodBytz set up a booth where its robots prepared kaiserschmarrn (a traditional German dessert) all day long. Why it worked: Nothing beats seeing a product in action. While other booths had brochures and demos, GoodBytz’s robots were actually cooking. The smell, the movement and the end result stirred together an experience that people will remember and talk about. The lesson: If you have a physical product, show it in action. The old writing adage generalizes well: Show, don’t tell.  Let people see, hear and touch the product. WeRoad: The bathroom hack What they did: Posted “Missing Investor” flyers in bathroom stalls with QR codes pointing to their website. Why it worked: Pure genius. Every startup at the event was looking for investors, but the “Missing Investor” headline, while a bit on the nose, proved irresistible. Plus, bathroom stalls are one of the few places where people have 30 seconds to actually read something. The lesson: Think about where your target audience’s attention will remain undivided. Sometimes, the most effective marketing leverages the most unexpected places. Emqopter: Visual impact matters What they did: Designed a bright orange booth that displayed their drone prominently. Why it worked: In a sea of grey, white, beige and brown, Emqopter’s bright orange booth was impossible to overlook. The drone was real, too, and proved a real conversation starter. The lesson: Your booth is competing with hundreds of others. Make it visually distinctive and ensure your product is the hero. Quests: Community building using the product What they did: Created a busy, branded booth with accessories (toy car, traffic cones, a bulletin board) and used their anti-loneliness app to build communities among founders at the event. Why it worked: Quests used their product to solve a real problem right at the event, and the busy booth design generated energy and curiosity. The lesson: Use your product to solve a problem at the event — if it’s possible, of course. Demonstrate your value in real time. Dyno: Event-themed marketing What they did: Distributed branded electrolyte packs with the tagline “Your hangover ends. Your pension lasts – with Dyno.” Why it worked: Dyno aligned its messaging perfectly with the Oktoberfest theme. Every attendee was thinking about beer and hangovers, so Dyno’s goodies were quite relevant. The tagline was clever, memorable, and directly addressed a pain point most people at the event might have to deal with later. The lesson: Tailor your marketing to the event’s theme and culture. The more you tie your messaging and product to the context, the more memorable you become. So, what did I learn? Event marketing is about more than just showing up and setting up a booth; you have to understand your audience and create experiences that people will remember. Here’s what really struck me: most startups and even big companies don’t know how to leverage events properly. They book the booth, show up and hope for the best; maybe they bring some branded pens and a pop-up banner. Then they’ll go back home and wonder why they spent €5,000 in exchange for 50 business cards that never convert. The startups that stood out at Bits and Pretzels understand something fundamental: event ROI isn’t about booth size or location; it’s about strategy, creativity and planning. None of the startups above improvised on-site, or planned something the night before the event in their hotel rooms. They laid everything out 4-6 weeks before the event. A solid pre-event strategy is what separates successful event marketing from expensive booth rental.  But what matters most for early-stage startups is that you don’t need a massive budget to stand out. WeRoad’s bathroom stall hack probably cost €50 to print the flyers. A standard booth package at Bits and Pretzels would go for €3,000 to €5,500. The ROI difference is staggering when you compare the cost per meaningful conversation. That’s the difference between simply spending money and investing smartly. Building Sesamers has taught me that helping startups find the right events is only half the equation. The other half is helping them understand how to maximize ROI once they’re there. Good props aren’t a marketing expense; they’re opportunities to meet customers, investors and partners, and strike up engaging conversations.

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