Many speakers ask us how to maximise their time at Web Summit. One way is to sign up for one or more of our off-stage activities, which will allow you to share your knowledge and engage with attendees (more info here).

Roundtables

Roundtables are a chance for our speakers to meet with a group of 15 Web Summit attendees in a casual environment. Each roundtable is an open discussion on a specific topic chosen by you. We encourage speakers to make the sessions dynamic, multifaceted and honest, and to encourage participation from the attendees.  

Roundtables run for 45 minutes. There is little preparation involved other than choosing a topic that you would like to discuss. Once all topics and titles are finalised, we open the roundtable signup page on our website to attendees. Attendees register their interest in specific roundtables and, out of those who want to attend, we randomly select a group of 15 attendees for each roundtable. After attendees are confirmed, you will be able to see who’s attending your roundtables in your schedule on the app. More information here. 

PITCH 

PITCH is Web Summit’s startup competition, showcasing the world’s most promising early-stage startups in a live, on-stage pitching battle. It’s a battle of the bands for those who prefer QWERTY keyboards to musical ones. 

The competition is open to any of Web Summit’s ALPHA or BETA startups that have received less than US$3 million in funding to date.

Become a judge for a chance to watch the world’s most exciting startups battle it out to be crowned the best at Web Summit 2021. Judging takes approximately 60 minutes. More information here.

Mentor Hours 

Mentor Hours is a series of pre-scheduled hour-long meetings between our high-level attendees and startups. Become a mentor by donating an hour of your time to coach seven startups in a group setting. The mix of backgrounds among startups, and the varying experience levels of mentor and startups, means the session will be shaped by individual and collective experiences in the startup community.

This is a unique opportunity for startups to have their burning questions answered by the people who have done it all before, gaining insight and knowledge from experts attending Web Summit. More information here.

Web Summit vox pops and promo interviews

Onsite in Lisbon, our team conducts short, informal promo interviews with a selection of our speakers to share across our official social channels during and after the event. These interviews are an opportunity for you to reach Web Summit’s wider global audience and to let the world know why you’re coming to Web Summit.

Alums: Wladimir Klitschko (former world heavyweight boxing champion), Sarah Friar (CEO, Nextdoor), Brad Smith (president, Microsoft)

At Web Summit, we facilitate meetings and collaborations between peers. Closer to the event, we offer a dedicated speaker to speaker introduction service to encourage meetings with other speakers. 

How does it work?

We send you a list of speakers we think you should meet based on your interests. Once you submit the form (sent to you closer to the event) with your meeting requests, we’ll work our magic and connect you with your direct matches. If the person you wish to connect with didn’t select you, don’t worry; we will still send them your contact details in case they’d like to meet you. You can then book a meeting room onsite in our speaker lounge, Forum. 

For more information, please reach out to your speaker success manager.

Full details and invitations to exclusive evening receptions for our speakers will be sent to you in mid-October, so keep an eye out.

The Jobs Board is an opportunity for Web Summit partners and speaker companies to connect with talent.

The jobs board is a dedicated page on the Web Summit website that showcases companies that are actively hiring. We will promote this page to all Web Summit attendees in the lead up to the event.

The jobs board web page will launch in early October.

Please submit your jobs board post via this form by October 1. Please read all guidelines below carefully before submitting your jobs board post.

How does it work?

1. Submit your company information via the form provided, including;

• A brief description of your company and what roles you are hiring for
• Where your roles are based
• A link to a ‘work with us’ page or video

2. Our team will review your suggested jobs board posting and, if approved, your posting will be added to the jobs board web page.
3. The jobs board will be live pre-event, during Web Summit and, and post-event, until November 18.
4. We will share with you the following details for every attendee who expresses an interest in working for your company:

• Attendee name
• Attendee email
• Job title
• Country
• LinkedIn profile link

The applicant list will be shared with you on pre-event and again post-event, once the campaign ends.

Forum is our exclusive networking area for speakers, their guests, and a select group of invitees. There will be plenty of seating and catering throughout the day, making it a good place to meet other speakers.

In addition to our speaker to speaker introduction service and meeting people in Forum, you can make connections through our app. Using the app, you will be able to explore the Web Summit schedule, connect with attendees and navigate the event. The Web Summit app will be launched in mid-September. 

To help spread the word about your participation, we’ve put together a social media toolkit with some sample captions, imagery and templates to share across your own channels.

For social media assets you can use, click on the speakers tab, scroll down, then click on the ‘Download assets’ button. Each social media image is sized for sharing on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You can also embed the images on your website or in blog posts.

Be sure to stay up to date with everything happening during the conference by using the official event hashtag, #WebSummit, and connecting with our team on all of our social media channels:

Twitter: @WebSummit

Instagram: @websummit

Facebook: WebSummitHQ

LinkedIn: Web Summit

We facilitate networking opportunities and collaborations between speakers as much as we possibly can. 

You can book 30-minute slots in our speaker meeting rooms during Web Summit. Our speaker meeting rooms each include a table, six seats and stationery. There is also a water cooler in each room.

You will be able to reserve a meeting room online closer to the event. If you have any questions in the meantime, please contact your speaker success manager.