CEO Day: Innovations for an efficient event

Over the last 10 years, CTI Invest’s CEO Day has established itself as a meeting place for the Swiss innovation scene. The number of participants has risen from 150 to over 500. Some things have remained constant. For example the workshops, with which it all began, are still held. However the history of the CEO Day is also marked by innovations. Due to the growing number of participants more and more tools were introduced supporting participants to get in touch with the right persons.

The most important tool are the one-to-one meetings. It is strongly recommended to plan those meetings early because the number of meetings is limited and some participants are interesting for quite a lot of start-ups. If it’s not possible to meet a participant at a one-to-one meeting we recommend to contact that person in advance and arrange a meeting during the breaks.

In addition the organizers have just added an extra page to the CEO Day website for an initiative called Interact. If participants have a specific request or contact that they think someone in the audience could possibly help with then this is the chance. As part of the morning session the organizers will offer 30 seconds in front of the audience to make a direct request. In return, the audience may make brief inquiries and then raise a hand if they think they can offer some help and the organizers will facilitate that introduction.

Some example questions include a request for advisory board members, a particular contact at Swisscom or help with manufacturing a specific product in China.

If this appeals to you then please register your interest including a short description of your request with Martin Coul via email. Please note not all requests can be accommodated and these will be dealt with on a first come, first served basis.

Another new tool to support networking is the CEO Day app. The app provides participants with a quick overview for:

• Event agenda
• own agenda
• speakers
• venue
• all other attending particpants.

With the easy to use networking tool it’s possible to get in contact with other participants on the spot. Furthermore the voting tool will add some interactivity to the event, especially for the Pitching Final. The app will be available soon.

It is still possible to register for the event. The registration deadline has been extended to 19 October. The event will take place on 22 October at Stade de Suisse, Bern.