One-of-a-kind business conference C2 Montréal returns to transform and cause creative collisions
Organizers of trendsetting business conference C2 Montréal aren’t content to rest on their laurels. To maintain C2’s reputation as a premium, immersive event that goes above and beyond a formal meeting between business and creatives, the team is constantly thinking about reinvention and embracing the unknown.
In the past, doing business differently meant brainstorming sessions in birds’ nests and boardrooms suspended in mid-air. For this year’s edition, happening May 23 to 25 at Arsenal in the historic Griffintown neighbourhood, they’ve decided to let attendees choose how to get the most out of their C2 Montréal experience.
With 50 per cent more content than last year — from new collaborative formats to a fifth programming block — conference-goers will get to customize their programming schedules before they set foot on-site.
“Participants will be able to plot a personalized path through each of the three days of the conference to build their own journeys and maximize their time at C2,” said C2 chief creative officer Génifère Legrand. “We’ve geared up to ensure the participants’ experience can be really stellar.”
A choose-your-adventure format is just another way for C2 organizers to get everyone out of their comfort zones and stick to this year’s theme of “transformative collisions.”
A number of collisions, connections and partnerships have already been made in the conference’s seven-year history, with website launches and app creations being born within C2’s walls. Emerging entrepreneurs, like Frank & Oak and Lufa Farms, have seen their ideas flourish thanks to the Claudine and Stephen Bronfman Family Foundation Annual Emerging Entrepreneurs Contest. As a conference with no assigned seating anywhere and where their famed “Braindates” can be set up via a matchmaking app, C2 does everything in its power to get people moving and making strong introductions beyond trading business cards.
“Every element of the C2 Montréal experience is purposely planned and intended to encourage interaction — from the layout of the C2 Village, to the masterclass and workshop methodologies, to the brainstorming labs,” Legrand said. “We bring people together that might not have met otherwise — from different industries, in different fields, with different experiences. These collisions are what will help them identify trends, widen their toolbox in terms of whose expertise they can seek out, and what they can bring back to their team.”
C2’s lineup of speakers also embodies its theme of divergent ideas coming together. Rapper and entertainment icon Snoop Dogg will be there to discuss his work in the rapidly expanding cannabis industry as cofounder of Merry Jane and chairman of Leafs By Snoop, while advanced humanoid Sophia, the sophisticated Hanson Robotics creation that made headlines around the world, will give a highly anticipated talk as part of the regular programming. Both capture C2’s mandate for seeking out innovators who break the mould.
Other speakers set to appear include Katharina Borchert, chief innovation officer at Mozilla, and Daniel Franklin, executive editor at The Economist.
Since the beginning, the vaunted C2 experience has been co-defined by its location. Once a shipyard, Arsenal is a versatile contemporary art space along the Lachine Canal with both indoor and outdoor spaces organizers have been able to reshape every which way. The state-of-the-art 360 Big Top will serve as this year’s main stage, the vibrant plaza will encourage conversations over lunch, and art installations will catch the eye at every corner.
If the sprawling site, full of mysterious nooks and crannies, feels like a sort of treasure hunt, then it’s mission accomplished.
“Arsenal’s mix of industry and art serves as the perfect setting. Our incredibly talented C2 teams engineer spaces for creative answers to emerge,” Legrand said. “Every year, the setting is reinvented as a space where curiosity is the norm, risk is encouraged, being bold is celebrated, and where anything can happen.”
For first-time C2 Montréal participants, there’s no one proper way to experience it, but Legrand has some ideas on how to get the most out of your visit.
“Go on Braindates, take a boat ride on the canal, enjoy lunch on the plaza, scope out local designer goods, listen to the live interviews in the aquarium, or revel in the art exhibits,” she said. “There are endless opportunities to discover something you didn’t know existed, or perhaps needed.”
For more information, visit c2montreal.com.