Walking Back Event Decisions
The world of events is fraught with missteps. Some are recoverable.? Some not.??
Paddy Cosgrove, Founder of the Collision and WebSummmit Conferences, has never shied away from the controversial. Not with his speaker agendas (Edward Snowden and Frances Haugen come to mind)? or his dealings with moving locations to secure the most favorable pricing.? (Past moves of the conferences include from Dublin to Lisbon, and New Orleans to Canada.) But this time he crossed a line that cost him his job and possibly the conference he created.
Shortly after the Hamas attacks on Israel, Cosgrove spoke out against Israeli aggression and of its Western Allies. ?“War crimes are war crimes even when committed by allies, and should be called out for what they are,” he wrote on X on Oct. 13 just days after the Hamas attack, and one month before the start of the Lisbon WebSummit.?
Cosgrove’s comments were met with swift action. First? Israeli tech firms and next American tech VCs pulled out of the event.? Publishing companies including Fast Company, have chosen not to participate at the conference, as well as big sponsors like Intel, Siemens, Google, and Meta. Cosgrove, in an attempt to save the 14-year-old conference, resigned over the weekend, acknowledging that he has become a distraction. However, he does remain a major shareholder in the company.??
?Cosgrove has a history of championing women entrepreneurs and people from diverse backgrounds. His comments are often heartfelt. But this time his timing was tone-deaf. Even with his departure and a flurry of ads hawking the conference on social media, WebSummit and its CEO will both suffer. In 2023 for sure, and possibly for a long time to come. Increasingly corporations, universities, and other workplaces will be held accountable and need to master the nuances of geopolitics.?
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Toy Fair’s Mea Culpa?
In other apologies of the week, (less egregious for sure) the President of the Toy Association, Steve Pasierb did a very public about-face after this year's Toy Fair . During the show, held at the Javits Center in NYC, in October the association announced in a formal press release, that the next show would take place in New Orleans beginning in 2025 and for 3 years hence.?
Though the Association swears they consulted, vetted and talked to their members the announcement fell on angry ears. After a huge amount of "I Love NY" backlash from the toy exhibitors, who consider NY the Toy Fair’s home Pasierb backed off the journey to Mardi Gras City and will hold the event back at the Javits Center in 2025.? The Big Easy met the Big Apple for the Big Backpeddle.? Will the toy industry forgive the faux pas?? 2025 is a long way away off but, but toys have long shelf lives and their creators have even longer memories. Toy Fair brass should be doing a bunch of mea culpas for now.?
Creator Economy Sherpa | Award Winning Curator, Moderator & Speaker | "Inside the Creator Economy" Newsletter | Board of Director | Geek
1 年The event business is tough. Know your audience is a key success factor. Interesting how both events seemed to fail that test. As an event organizer I have no problem with finding the best mix of location and cost. NY is a terribly expensive place to put on a con, and the Javits is still mostly a wasteland that's somewhat hard to get to and non conducive to building a community. And NOLA doesn't engender feelings of kid-friendliness, although it is a much better convention town. Lisbon was a win win for both Web Summit and the city. I also think cancel culture is endemic and every leader needs to understand how amplification can destroy. Leaders, stay in your lane. If it's not a LinkedIn skill on your profile then you probably shouldn't talk about it. FWIW I am still going to Web Summit and am excited to host and moderate there. Also excited for a non WS event I'm speaking at the following weekend in Cascais Portugal. There's a baby bathwater analogy I could make but I will leave that as an exercise for the reader.
Futurist, Explorer, Creator, Experience Builder | Augmented Futures Programs and Workshops
1 年As someone who has tickets to Web Summit (including plane tickets), I've been watching this a bit. As Paddy has major economic interest, I'm missing how resigning will change this year's adversity.