Sesame Summit 2026 – application open

How to Level Up Your Networking Game

And let’s be honest, those times were amazing. All of us conference junkies where somewhat addicted to this jet-setting lifestyle, waiting for the next fix and the next group of “friends” whose friendship expired within 24 hours after the conference was over. Zoom drinks won’t ever come close to the real thing, much like virtual sex won’t fully satisfy your appetite to exchange bodily fluids with another human being.

So what can you do? You can use this quiet time to level up your networking game, for when the events industry resumes to normal, or even when it comes to online events.

The goal of networking is to establish mutually beneficial genuine connections with people.

Here are four easy ways to do this:

Nurture your existing connections

Catch up with those connections you might have let go. Pull all those business cards out from your dusty drawer and start reaching out to the people who can add value to your network. The basic principle here is to drop your agenda. No pitching! Reach out to say hello, remind people where you met, and ask them how they’ve been. Suggest jumping on a quick call and when you do, focus on what you can give, rather than on what you can sell them.

Work on your personal brand and online presence

Now that you aren’t travelling between continents to attend or speak at conferences, you are also less distracted. Use this focus to work on your personal brand. Invest in a better headshot done by a professional photographer. Create more and better content, grow your social media accounts. Got videos where you speak on stage? Make a reel to promote yourself as a speaker. If you don’t have the skills to do this, there are plenty of video editors out there that need work. And they don’t cost a fortune. All of this will give you a head start when conferences come back to what they were.

Check out the Ad World virtual conference on 2-4nd November

Join a private member’s club in your town (or request a day pass)

A visit to a private member’s club will bring back some good memories of what conferences used to be. Fine food, selected crowd, business vibes. You have probably saved a significant amount of money by not travelling the world to go to events. Invest this amount in the right membership. Most private member’s clubs also hold online events or networking sessions. Getting in can be challenging and you might need to find people who can refer you. Alternatively, you can see which clubs in your area offer day tours or can give you a free day pass to experience the place.

Attend The Conduit’s Virtual Open House on 27th October

Book a day pass at The Conduit in London

Request a tour at AllBright of their Mayfair or West Hollywood clubs (women only)

Try applying for Soho House’s Every House or Local House membership

Go on a retreat that gathers professionals within your niche

It takes some time to appreciate the quality of retreats that people in the conference world organise. This is where a weekend can cost you some’s monthly salary (or your monthly salary), but if you pick the right ones, it will pay off in high-level connections and a quality experience you will remember for years to come. In my view as a hardcore budget traveller, those retreats are worth it. Even if you can only afford one or two per year.

SummitSummit is one such retreat that gathers a quality group of VCs and entrepreneurs. Their 2020 Iceland retreat got cancelled due to Covid and they are currently working on rescheduling it for 2021. They also organise regular retreats in Greece.

Virtual Open House at the Conduit 2020 – 27 October 2020 – The Virtual Open House is the ideal opportunity to learn more about how the Conduit is bringing together knowledge, capital and ideas for tangible and sustained positive impact.

Ad World – 2-4 November 2020 – Ad World is one of the largest online events for digital marketers in the world. For three days, Ad World will stream 15+ Digital Advertising Tracks, consisting of hyper-focused speeches, workshops and live Q&A sessions to help take your business to the next level.

SummitSummit – 25-26 March 2021 (tbd) – Our mission is simple: Connect world-class innovators and investors from Europe, Asia, and the US to create a long-lasting community. Out Of Office is the new way to network, raise funds, and build connections.

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At Sesamers, we’re always looking to be the first to learn about the latest trends in the startup and tech events space. That’s why it feels like a privilege that Sesamers was invited by Olivia Hervy, chief ecosystem officer of VivaTech, to the exclusive kick-off VivaTech 2026, alongside key partners.  As Europe’s largest startup and tech event prepares for its 10th anniversary, scheduled for June 17-20, 2026 in Paris, being part of this circle of industry professionals gives us early insight into what promises to be VivaTech’s most ambitious edition yet, with significant expansions and new experiences that reflect a decade of growth and evolution. Major infrastructure expansions After calling Hall 1 and 2 at Porte de Versailles home for a decade, VivaTech 2026 is relocating to Hall 7, a new three-floor building that the event will occupy fully. The venue now features 30% more exhibition space across three floors; upgraded infrastructure; excellent internet connectivity, and a much larger business center. The building has 12 dedicated restaurant areas, providing ample dining options to better accommodate the growing crowds. The centerpiece is a brand new, 2,200-seat main stage where the event’s most significant announcements and keynotes will be held. Greater business focus Building on 2025’s  success (180,000 attendees, 14,000 startups), VivaTech 2026 introduces several business-focused improvements: Doubled innovation showcase The “Garden of Innovators” concept has been expanded upon, with organizers promising to double startup participation, product announcements, and exhibition surface area compared to previous editions.  Located on the first floor, the welcome area will showcase exemplars of innovation through the centuries to remind attendees of humanity’s continuous drive to invent and create. Germany takes center stage For 2026, Germany has been selected as the “Country of the Year,” and VivaTech will highlight the nation’s contributions to the European tech ecosystem with an eye towards strengthening Franco-German technological cooperation. Thematic villages  VivaTech 2026 introduces a new organizational approach: We have four dedicated thematic arenas, each of which features its own startup village and specialized programming: Each thematic village will feature startups building in those sectors, creating focused ecosystems where attendees can explore innovations that cross-pollinate within a concentrated area. Every theme features its own dedicated stage, which will host talks, panels, and presentations tailored to that sector. An additional Executive Arena will cater specifically to marketing and tech leaders, providing a hub for C-level discussions and strategic content. “Revolutions in Progress” VivaTech2026’s theme emphasizes ongoing technological revolutions, with particular focus on: Special anniversary experiences To mark the event’s 10th anniversary, VivaTech 2026 will feature several special events: Looking forward With its tagline, “VIVA LA REVOLUTION,” VivaTech 2026 positions itself not just as a retrospective celebration, but as the launch pad for the next decade of European tech innovation. The expanded format and new experiences point to how the event is evolving from a showcase into an increasingly sophisticated business platform for the global tech community. VivaTech 2026 builds on last year’s impressive satisfaction metrics (92% of exhibitors satisfied, 82% of attendees planning to return) while substantially expanding capacity and capabilities to serve the growing European tech ecosystem.

a wall of amplifiers
Events 2 days ago

Europe recorded €108 billion from exhibitions and events in 2024, according to UFI’s latest data. The continent welcomed 102 million visitors to over 2,000 certified exhibitions across 17 countries; Web Summit Lisbon set a record with 71,528 attendees in November 2024, making it the largest edition to date; and Stockholm’s Techarena secured just over €1 million from VC firm BackingMinds to expand internationally. By any reasonable measure, Europe’s events space has absolutely crushed the events game. End of story. Fin. However, from where I’m sitting, the elephant is still lurking quite comfortably in the room. At the risk of being ostracized, I’ll go ahead and ask the question: Why are some of the most innovative companies on the planet still schlepping to Austin for SXSW to make their biggest announcements (Salt Lick and Stubbs BBQ’s aside)? The room vs. the world Looking at the numbers: Europe’s events spark more meaningful connections per square meter than anywhere else on Earth. In 2025, VivaTech set records with 180,000 visitors, a 10% increase from a year earlier. MWC Barcelona authoritatively anchors a circuit stretching from Kigali to Las Vegas. The continent plays host to an estimated 32,000 exhibitions annually, generating 4.3 million full-time equivalent jobs. These are numbers you cannot take lightly. But walk into any European tech conference and you’ll witness something that should make every one of us reach for the Advil: major announcements received by something akin to a boisterous golf clap from 500 or so people. And that’s it. Those announcements then usually disintegrate into the digital ether, seemingly never to be heard of again. Meanwhile, across the pond, a throwaway tweet about the same topic has the potential to garner upwards of 50,000 shares and three podcast invitations faster than you can drink your morning coffee. But data and numbers don’t lie, and when it comes to events, they’re frankly embarrassing. Europe’s events sector processes roughly €108 billion, and is  extraordinarily efficient in bringing decision makers together in the same space.  European startups consistently struggle with what should be the easier bit: translating those promising conversations into sustained media coverage, investor attention and market validation. The great muppet caper Picture this scene playing out roughly 847 times per week across Europe: Monday: A Finnish startup leveraging AI presents a true breakthrough in supply chain management/optimization/operations to 200 logistics executives at a specialized track. The demo is genuinely impressive. The potential is genuinely massive. The audience is the very definition of target market. All the right pieces are in all the right places. Tuesday: Three tech publications publish brief summaries, perhaps even covering the entire conference, and not just the logistics breakthrough. The fledgling company’s LinkedIn post gets 47 likes (including the founders’ mothers, university mates, and the intern). A single podcast interview is scheduled for three weeks later. It may or may not happen. Wednesday: The story is now less alive than disco was on July 13, 1979. Look that one up, kids. Now let’s compare the same actions to the American playbook, which, if I’m honest, makes me simultaneously impressed and nauseous. The same company makes the announcement at a Bay Area-based event (yep, you know it as well as I do). It generates immediate response across a variety of channels from some  truly influential voices and some noise makers, but enough to garner the attention of major media (print, podcast, and pulp) outlets within 48 hours. It then spawns derivative content, and creates a sustained conversation that drives real, true, business development for the startup for weeks. The difference here isn’t the quality of the innovation; it’s how the messaging was amplified. Folks, you can hate me for saying this, but this is where Europe is getting schooled. There is no stopping in the Red Zone Take one look at today’s media landscape, and you’ll leave with a rather morbid impression. The problem isn’t structural fragmentation; it’s an endemic contraction. Leon may be growing, but European tech media is shrinking,  at precisely the wrong moment. A brief reminder: TechCrunch, long the go-to outlet for European startup coverage, quietly shut down its entire European operation in 2025 when private equity firm Regent LP acquired the publication.  Digital Frontier, the London-based tech publication that launched in early 2024 with a team of 20, “paused” operations just a few months ago, making all 16 staff members redundant.  Business Insider cut 21% of its staff in 2025, citing “extreme traffic drops” and AI disruption. Just days ago, we all found out that The Next Web, once one of Europe’s flagship tech conferences and media brands, was shutting down its events and media operations after nearly 20 years. The Financial Times, which bought TNW in 2019, confirmed it was winding down the business by the end of September following a “strategic review.” Conference attendance had dropped to 4,500 in 2025, less than half of pre-pandemic levels. The failure to capture content The folks at Black Unicorn PR earlier this year put together a guide that reveals something anyone working in European tech media already knows but pretends isn’t true: “Unlike the U.S., which has a few dominant tech media outlets and an emerging class of star indie writers, Europe hasn’t yet consolidated its practitioners’ knowledge in one place.” Stop and think about what that really means for a second. Sure, we’ve got strong regional players, and I salute Sifted, EU-Startups, and Tech.eu doing the do. But the lack of a unified amplification machinery, by definition, puts Europe at a disadvantage over Silicon Valley stories that are destined to be heard in Phuket faster than you can finish reading this sentence. To put it bluntly, European tech events suffer from content capture failure. The most valuable insights surface within conversations, at roundtable discussions, and networking sessions that generate no permanent content.  Unlike American events, which increasingly operate as content factories designed for social media amplification, European conferences optimize to create value in the room rather than post-event content distribution. All that

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