Thoughts after WebSummit

Hi, I recently attended WebSummit Lisbon for the first time and I thought I would share my thoughts, as it was a very interesting experience.

My goals for the conference:
As the Founder of Partnerplace.io (a Partner Relationship Management tool), my main goal was to get leads, potential customers. The other goal was potential investors (we are going to be looking for another round in Q1 2025).

My thoughts:

The event is huge. Like really huge. You have 5 pavillions full of people + a huge main stage in an arena. This means that you loose a lot of time for just walking around. You end us exhausted at the end and probably get less done than you possibly could. My tip here is to create a list of potential prospects from the app (this will be a point in itself) and then start the conference by walking to one of the walls and spending 30 minutes to figure out where each stand is. I wrote them in Notion, so that I was able to figure out which 5-6 companies are in each pavillion.
The app sucks. There is a delay, you can schedule meetings, but nobody respects those times and you can't pick a meeting place (you can type it, but can't choose one). I had a conversation with a person, and 10 min. into the conversation I started receiving messages from they sent 20 minutes before. The good things about the app is the map (you can search for company stands) and the list of attendees. The last one could be much better, but it does help you find prospects.
Forget scheduling meetings. Focus on messages. These work better. Most people respond (not all)
The one REALLY good WebSummit does is to create WhatsApp groups and invite you to them. There was a Polish one with 640+ people. Most of my networking was done with that app and within that group. If you have a stand, invite everybody to join your stand on the day.
If you are planning to have a stand, I generally would say...consider it wisely. I had the Alpha package which included a stand for 1 day + a couple of other perks, but generally 95% of my results came from that WhatsApp group.
In the app you also have a meetings tab. Some of the meetings have their own WhatsApp groups that you can request to join. It is worth doing that.
Most networking happens at night. There are dozens if not hundreds of smaller gatherings around the city. They are available in the app and WhatsApp. Highly recommend to go to at least one each night.
Prepare to spend some money. Generally lunch at the conference comes from food-trucks, most meals cost between 10-15 Eur + drink. Coffee is free, but has a long waiting line.
The bigger the pavillon number the less people are available there. This is important for your stand (which you can't choose), but also for your meetings. You will have more freedom in pavillon 5 than 1.
When it comes to the stand - there was some foot traffic, but there was 3000 Alpha stands (1000 each day), so it is difficult to stand out. I had maybe 5-7 people come up to my stand during my day. That being said, I did have to leave early, as I did not pick the time and I had a flight. Monitors help a bit, branded clothing does as well. I recommend hoodies or tshirts with clearly visible branding.
In general Lisbon feels safe and is a beautiful city. We were offered drugs on the street and we came across a fight with a homeless person who tried to steal something, but I believe this is just due to the number of tourists/people in Lisbon during this time. This creates a lot of opportunity for thieves. So beware, but you should generally feel safe.
Lockers are available at both entrances and I didn't need much time to drop off and pick up my bags.
WebSummit does a great job to prepare you for the event. Follow their emails and read the guide. It really helps.
If you are planning a stand, check with your city if they are not funding them. There were multiple city/country hubs which had a cheaper/free entrance.

Happy to exchange thoughts with the community, if you have any questions about WebSummit or partnerships - feel free to ask:)