C2 OUTDOES ITSELF AGAIN
What if some of the greatest, most creative business brains and thinkfluencers on the planet descended upon one of the coolest, most creative urban centres on the planet (yes, our ville) for a three-day immersive experience at the cross-section of commerce and creativity to explore groundbreaking trends and opportunities, share knowledge and insight, forge new strategic bonds, and basically affect the future of business in an incredible and innovative way while having a heckuva good time in the process? INFO-FLASH: Well, noties, this seemingly utopian biz conference is NOT a what-if scenario; it’s actually a real-deal snapshot of the city’s distinctive C2 Montréal experience celebrating the best of creative commerce, powered by influential lead partners including internationally revered creative agency SID LEE, and global symbol of all things possible, founding partner Cirque du Soleil. BEST EVER: Not surprisingly, this year’s sixth edition at Arsenal — spearheaded by a dream squad topped by passionate president Richard St-Pierre — was the best to date, exceeding lofty expectations and inspiring today’s #C2M17FACTS, with exclusive scoop on the #C2MSocialScene17 (DUH!). THEME: This year’s overarching theme informing the zeitgeist and direction was a timely “Ecosystems,” asking participants to think more profoundly about our hyperconnected world and the way in which the networks and systems we’re all a part of affect business. Kinda brilliant. CREW: 2017 attendance reached record-breaking heights, attracting an amazing and diverse crosssection of more than 6,000 attendees from destinations far and wide who couldn’t get enough of the enlightening master-classes, outta-the-box workshops, connective brain-dates, unique exhibits, top-tier speakers, crazy cool installations, KLIK smartbadges, and yes, unique-to-Montreal festive agenda. SPEAKERS: As noted, speakers were top-tier all the way: trailblazers, innovators and icons like Apple co-founder and Primary Data chief scientist Steve Wozniak, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Grameen Bank founder Prof. Muhammad Yunus, Weight Watchers CEO Mindy Grossman, BuzzFeed SVP marketing Laura Henderson, and numerous other international difference-makers as well as homegrown globechangers including Shopify’s Harley Finkelstein, Canadian Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly, Stingray’s Eric Boyko, OSM maestro Kent Nagano, UFC fighter Georges St-Pierre, Intel Security’s Magaly Charbonneau, Motive Studios’ Jade Raymond, and many more. TAKE THAT, COMFORT ZONES!: All were equally amazing, not just in their accomplishments, but their astoundingly impressive ability to make you think in fresh ways, provoke fabulously invigorating, comfort-zone destroying behaviour, and perhaps most important (quoting C2 lingo), “inspire creative solutions for commercial problems.” SOCIAL SCENE: While the entire three-day immersion was social and interactive, both in structured and unstructured contexts (the environment is carefully reimagined each year to offer stimulating and engaging backdrops), there were also myriad well-planned festive gatherings and entertainment ranging from more intimate networking cocktails to riveting performances, to the outstanding closing celebrations including a VIP cocktail presented by SID LEE and other “Illumination” festivities on the Plaza, in Agora and the Forum, featuring headlining entertainment throughout.
As for the attending WHOFABULOUS, think VIPS like Caisse chair Robert Tessier; beauty disrupter Nannette de Gaspé Beaubien and husband, de Gaspé Beaubien Foundation chief/bizman Philippe de Gaspé Beaubien; RBC’s Mark Anthony Serri; producer Jean-François Ethier with Boiron Canada’s Daniel Dereser, and iNNERSHiP’S Thomas D’Hauteville; Want Les Essentiels de la Vie co-captain Byron Peart; Balnea’s Stéphanie Émond; Quartier de l’Innovation’s Damien Silès; troublemaker-in-chief Andy Nulman; supersisters Anna and Maria Antonopoulos; Centre PHI’s Myriam Achard; Lysa Lash Next Generation Fur’s Lysa Lash; and, of course, the SID LEE/ C2 royals who make it all come to life including chair/C2 chair Jean-François Bouchard (with wife, Videotron tops Manon Brouillette), CCO/co-founder Philippe Meunier, partner Bertrand Cezvet, group pres Vito Piazza, global head of production Claudia Roy, master content Richard Jean-Baptiste, and C2 insiders, VP partnerships Chloe Langevin and senior director business development, Anick Beaulieu. That’s it, noties. Hope you were well info-tained! ;) For more #C2M17: Diary of a Social Gal (diaryofasocialgal.com) For #C2M18: C2Montreal.com (www.c2montreal.com) Direct access: Jenn@diaryofasocialgal.com.