Head of the Creative Class

C2 Montréal founder, Jean-françois Bouchard, on braindating, cult making and moonshot ideas.

WHAT MAKES C2 MONTRÉAL DIFFERENT?

Imagine an immersive mix of talks, workshops and festivities in an environment designed to inspire new ideas. Last year, for example, we explored the theme of moonshots. We lifted participants into the air on chairs suspended from the ceiling and surrounded them with projection canvas. The goal was to give them the space and time to dream.

EACH C2 EVENT GENERATES OVER $150 MILLION IN BUSINESS DEALS. WHAT ELSE DO YOU WANT ATTENDEES TO WALK AWAY WITH?

We hope to expose people to new insights and fuel exploratory conversations, so they can gain an arsenal of creative problemsolving and thinking tools.

IF SOMEONE ONLY HAD ONE HOUR AT C2, HOW SHOULD THEY SPEND IT?

Schedule a braindate. We match participants from different fields based on knowledge they’re looking to share and gain. So we might put an emerging digital artist together with an established CEO. They meet in the “braindating lounge” where they can hang out in hammocks, swings or rockers and exchange ideas.

WHAT’S NEW AT C2 IN 2018?

The theme this year is all about transformative collisions. Every element of the event is designed to maximize meaningful connections and purposeful collaboration to help leaders build the new set of tools they’ll need for driving radical change.

WHAT THREE C2 2018 EVENTS ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO?

? I’m excited to attend the talk by industrial landscape photographer Ed Burtynsky. We’re also hosting a workshop that explores art and science, and how we can be more scientific in our creativity, and more creative in our science.

And I don’t want to miss the masterclass presented by Alexa Clay, author of The Misfit Economy, on how you can create your own cult.