From the beginning of February to mid-June, I attended a total of 14 conferences focused primarily on e-commerce. On the one hand, I’m glad because no events were held during the COVID-19 pandemic, but on the other hand, it was quite socially demanding. Nevertheless, as a businessman and freelancer, I consider participation in these events to be essential. What did I take away from it?
Before we get into it… Do you want to know what events are coming up? You can find an overview of not only e-commerce events in one place on my website E-COMMERCE EVENTS. There, in contrast to the E-commerce calendar, you can also learn more about each of them and at the same time filter them according to what you are looking for.
## A few numbers to start
At each such event, I talk to an average of 50 people, 90% of whom I discuss the same thing with. If I multiply that by the number of events, it adds up to 700 new contacts in 3 months. That’s the equivalent of 10 new meetings per day. When you consider that a person can remember about 1,000 people… It’s a good thing we have those smart phones. Despite all the benefits, I’m glad it’s finally over and in July I don’t want to show up at any such event with more than 30 people. 🙂
## Event after event like a conveyor belt
Let’s take it step by step. It all started at the beginning of February in the Legitas offices at the eCommerce Beer event, organized by people from Retina and Skladon along with Alča Barnová. It’s a smaller community event for marketers and e-commerce people. In mid-February, we at Ecomail had the two-day Czech Online Expo, where we had our traditional two-story booth along with “Eco” beer. In two days, we managed to meet countless people and drink countless beers… Cheers.
In March, we then had a Prosecco Lounge at the International E-commerce Summit, which this time took place at the Martinický Palace on Prague Castle, which is a really beautiful space that was used absolutely perfectly. The event was again for people from e-commerce and I’m already looking forward to the next edition. At the end of March, we then organized another event for our agencies at Ecomail to deepen our relationships with them and also present the news we had prepared for them.
## Busy April
At the beginning of April, I then received an invitation from Heureka to the announcement of Shop of the Year, which they traditionally organize. This time, it all took place in the Prague Planetarium and it was a really great evening, where almost no one from the CZ and SK e-commerce scene was missing. In April, I also visited Reshoper, which, like COE, took place at the PVA in Letňany, so we could bring out our two-story booth again. Unlike COE, however, Reshoper was divided into a conference and an expo. Of course, I spent more time at the conference to network, while my colleagues were at the booth all day and handled the expo visitors. This year, Reshoper brought together over 4,000 people, perhaps also because Jindra Fáborský (the founder) sold it to Shopteta.
Right after Reshoper, Jiří Rostecký held his E-shop Club, which is again one of the smaller community events for e-commerce entrepreneurs. This time, he interviewed Jitka Dvořáková, who runs CZC. At the end of April, I went to see the Minute Board Games for the first time, organized by Petr “Minutový” Krejčí, who tries to connect people across industries. So here was the opportunity to meet people not only from e-commerce, but also from other sectors.
## May “rest”
In May, I rested a bit and only attended 2 events. The main one was the E-business Forum, from which I had great expectations after the last edition, which took place in the National House in Vinohrady. This time, however, it took place at the City Conference Center, so the space went down a lot in quality and, unfortunately, the number of visitors also decreased. From an event where there were last time 300 to 400 people, I suddenly found myself at an event where there were barely 150.
At the end of May, I then took the Minute Board Games again, because Petr is now taking a break and the next board games will not be until sometime in September. In this case, I didn’t just go to the networking part, but also played an hour of board games. And I have to say, it brings the people closer and introduces them much more than just networking itself!
## June in grand style
June started in grand style, from the small community event eCommerce Beer for about 30 people, I found myself at an event that was mainly organized by Retino, and about 150 people came. I give big ups to all the organizers for that! The next day, Heureka organized an event called Sustainable e-shop, which took place at the Terasa Máj premises. Unfortunately, you can’t visit it anymore, as they are preparing for a reconstruction. About 200 people confirmed their attendance for the Sustainable e-shop, but barely half showed up. Even so, it was worth it and I’m looking forward to the next events from Heureka.
June is the time when the grilling season is slowly starting, so every year we organize a grilling party for our clients at Ecomail. Last year, the event was in the spirit of La Fiesta and this time we opted for a Cocktail party. About 100 people came to our offices, who enjoyed good drinks, a bartender show, and great food.
Eshopista, an event traditionally organized by Acomware, took place again at the La Fabrika premises. Although it is a small community event, it was worth it again. They announced a sell-out 2 days in advance and you could see it at the event. Maybe also because it was the last conference of its kind before the summer. It’s a pity I had a bit of déjà vu to our event – a lot of similar faces and especially Friday was like a copy.
## Ice broken, leads collected
In any case, all the mentioned events were successful for me, some more, some less. But in general, I can say that I collected new leads, strengthened relationships, but above all, we all enjoyed it together.
And now? Now I’m taking a vacation and hope to see you in September at Shopcamp!
