Collision tech conference cancelled over virus fears
TORONTO • Organizers have cancelled the massive Collision technology conference scheduled to take place in Toronto in June due to concerns about the COVID-19 virus, and will instead move the event online.
Paddy Cosgrave, chief executive of Web Summit Intelligence Ltd., which organizes the conference, said they’re making the best of a bad situation.
“I don’t believe technology can ever be a full substitute for the richness of real human interaction face- toface,” he said.
“I don’ t think for one minute that human interaction in the real world will slowly disappear because of every next wave of technology, but in moments like this, creativity is called for.”
Cosgrave was reticent to talk specifics when it comes to the financial impact, but aid the decision to cancel will come with a significant cost.
“Obviously, of course we’re going to lose a lot of money, but at the same time, what business isn’t? So you’ve just got to keep moving forward.” he said.
Collision was first held in Toronto last year, with a huge amount of hype around the conference that brought startups, venture capitalists, and celebrities to the city. Governments heavily courted the conference, so much so that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recorded a video welcoming Collision to Canada before eventually speaking at the event.
For people in Toronto’s technology industry, Collision was widely touted as validation of the city as a globally significant centre for tech and startups.
But it is only one of a series of tech events cancelled due to the virus, which originated in China late last year.
Mobile World Congress, Google’s I/ O developer conference, Facebook’s F8 conference, and Shopify’s Unite conference in Toronto have all been cancelled due to fears over the coronavirus, although some of those events will still have an online component.
Cosgrave said that he was expecting 30,000 people for Collision this year, from more than 125 countries.
“There’s no issues really in Toronto right now, but you just can’t bring people from all these jurisdictions to one place. It’s just not a socially responsible act.”