Watson Summit (European Series)

Watson Summit (European Series)

Nationality:
United Kingdom
Client company:
IBM
Organising company:
George P. Johnson
Year:
2018

Category Winner

The Event

Twenty-seven events.  One consistent, consolidated approach.  IBM Watson Summit is the flagship Europe-wide event series for IBM.  The 2017 events attracted 18,660 registrations. Attendees were drivers of digital transformation across the C-Suite level (CMO/CDO, COO/VP Bus Ops, CIO’s [Innovation], CIO & CTO’s), Marketers, Innovation Managers, Start-ups, Developers and Data Scientists. The primary purpose was to reinforce IBM as the leader in cognitive business and cloud platforms.

GPJ recommended Watson Summits be brave & bold in their design to differentiate from competition and attract new audiences. We identified festival-style event trends in the entertainment industry & recommended IBM brought this immersive festival approach to senior IT executives:

-Agenda designed with freedom of movement & different passions in mind. Not just one traditional keynote theatre, but multiple activities occurring concurrently

-Multiple engaging event formats devised to inspire info exchange – stage in the round, fishbowl sessions, silent theatres, rotating seating

-IBM Watson technology woven into the event DNA – choir singing a song composed by Watson, cognitive refreshments served based on a participant’s mood, stage lighting adjusted according to Watson’s analysis of the event social sentiment

-IBM branding displayed in new & playful ways

-Impressive range of speakers designed to surprise. Chris Hadfield (astronaut) played guitar & sang David Bowie’s Space Oddity