[ad_1]
The state contract must be honored even though the event is online. We will show the best of Portugal ”.
It was expected but now it is official: the Web Summit 2020, scheduled for December (from 2 to 4), will be 100% online. It will have 100,000 participants (about 50,000 tickets will be distributed in the country) “and with an unprecedented commitment showing the best of Portugal in the Eurovision style”, based on stories from various cities (Porto, Aveiro, Coimbra, Faro and islands included), but also several Portuguese speakers and a scenario only for the country. The announcement was made by Paddy Cosgrave – in a decision taken jointly with the Government – and from the beginning the question was raised whether the contractual amount of 11 million euros would be fully charged to the Portuguese State.
The Web Summit did not clarify in time and the Ministry of Economy sent us the answer “for later”. It is true that without the face-to-face part, in Lisbon, the Web Summit is committed to promoting national projects and several cities in the country in its new online platform, created by a team led by the Portuguese João Soares and full of functionalities that replaces the offline experience ( already put to the test in July at Collision in Toronto). It was at this event that Cosgrave explained to us that, since there is a commitment with the Portuguese State, the decision and responsibility for the event to be online would have to be the Government, without going into details about the contract.
A study from last year revealed by the Minister of Economy, Siza Vieira, indicated that the Web Summit 2019 will have had an impact of 180 million euros (75 million more compared to 2018) on the country’s economy. The figure included the direct return of 70,000 visitors (64 million during the four days of the event), but also gains in the country’s ability to attract the attention of the media, commercial and technology companies. This year, without the current logistics expenses – last year, there was a total cost for the Government and the Lisbon Chamber of over 20 million -, everything indicates that the value of 11 million euros per year of the 10-year contract signed in 2018 it should remain.
Participants and 800 speakers will be at home to participate in the event, but the platform allows various forms of networking, including a kind of professional speed dating called Mingle. Zoom CEO Eric Yuan, actor Chris Evans and Facebook CTO Mike Schroepfer are leading the event for now, which will be closed by Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
[ad_2]
