Here's everything happening for Web Summit between now and the event

Over the past few months, a lot of people have been asking me what’s happening with Web Summit, and how they can get involved. Yesterday afternoon, Innovate BC held a public-facing meeting — titled Road to Web Summit Vancouver — that answers lots of those questions.

Some key points to note. Firstly, alongside representatives from Web Summit itself, Innovate BC reinforced that B.C. companies should apply for the conference’s startup program, which gives businesses three to five passes to the event, exhibition space, access to curated activities, and more. There is not a set number of B.C. startups that will be awarded a slot in one of the three tracks (Alpha, Beta, or Growth), so local companies will be competing against others around the globe. As of right now, there are only a couple of hundred slots left, so Innovate BC urged startups not to sleep on their application.

Next, the organization will be running three events to help get local companies ready for the investment opportunity that comes with Web Summit. The first focuses on crafting your startup’s media story, which will be held on March 13. In April, it will host an event on building a fundable startup from an investor’s perspective, and in May, Innovate BC will run a bootcamp to learn how to navigate Web Summit and generate meaningful business leads. The dates for both of the latter are yet to be confirmed.

As well as those sessions, Innovate BC has partnered with 20 organizations that will offer tailored events and programming ahead of Web Summit. These include — to name a few — Vancouver Startup Week, DigiBC, and New Ventures BC. The meeting’s deck included a slide with rough dates for when these events will take place, and which organization will be running them:

The final dates for most are yet to be announced, but Innovate BC suggests that a full list of upcoming events can be found here, and to check back regularly. It also noted that some of these partner organizations have some free Web Summit passes to give out, though attendees are advised not to rely on this as a way to get into the conference, as they are very limited in number.

At Web Summit itself, Trade and Invest BC and the Ministry of Jobs, Economic Development, and Innovation will host the B.C. Pavilion. This big, British Columbia-focused booth will showcase a number of local companies to highlight all of the province’s tech verticals, as well as B.C.-focused programming. More details are yet to come, but companies interested in getting involved with the B.C. Pavilion are encouraged to sign up to learn more.

Attendees were also advised during the meeting to stay connected to Innovate BC as the road to Web Summit continues, and leaders mentioned the organization would pass on any promo codes that became available for those looking to buy tickets.

If all of those routes seem closed to you and you’re desperate to go to the conference, the Web Summit team confirmed that there will be opportunities to volunteer at the event in exchange for a free ticket. The volunteer portal is now open.

Got any questions about all of that? Feel free to shoot me an email at [email protected] — I’ll do my best to answer them.

Now, onto your briefing.

-Kate Wilson, managing editor

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