Activating Cities With Tech Events

Regenerator’s Dilemma unpacks disruptive trends and the innovators shaping our neighborhoods and cities. Today, we dive into tech summits, and how they can help kickstart the regeneration of cities.

What’s covered:

• The opportunity (and value-add) of a tech summit

• Three lessons from key examples operating across Europe

• A call-to-action for European cities, and why they should start paying attention

Beyond Destination Marketing

Events drive regeneration, and history proves this. Think Expo, the Olympics, the World Cup, the mega-events. You’re following, right?

But for many cities, traditional destination marketing is simply outdated. Today, Europe’s moving toward something new.

Rather than sticking to old-school formats, they’re teaming up with bold, new tech summits on the rise.

The goal? To attract investment, innovators, and solidify the city’s image as a vibrant, liveable hub.

Today we’ll dive into these.

The models, the entrepreneurs behind them and (of course) the benefits they bring to cities. We’ll unpack some of the partnership structures bringing cities and organizers closer together. To help develop a scene. To help develop a city.

But first, let’s set the stage.

Why Events?

Tech summits, just like mega-events, have the power to reshape cities. Here’s why:

Economic uplift and job creation. They stimulate local business spending, creating temporary and long-term job opportunities.

Attracting talent and companies. Tech events draw skilled professionals and innovative companies, boosting local economies.

Becoming a tech hub. When hosting them, cities position themselves as leaders in technology and progress.

Improved infrastructure and connectivity. The infrastructure investments made for events benefit residents long after the event ends.

Sustained tourism. Visitors drawn to tech summits often return, helping to grow the city’s tourism industry in the long run.

Policy innovation. Tech events push cities to explore new policies that foster growth and tackle emerging challenges.

There’s a quick overview. Now, let’s explore some key examples—and the lessons they offer too.

Cities As A Customer

Let’s start with Europe’s behemoth—Web Summit.

If there’s one big lesson to learn from Web Summit, it’s the importance of building strong partnerships with cities. Here’s how they did it.

In 2009, Web Summit started with just 400 attendees in Dublin. Fast forward to 2015, and the event brought in over 40,000 people, contributing nearly €100 million annually to Dublin’s economy. Impressive, right?

But eventually, the event outgrew Dublin’s capacity. So the Web Summit team responded with a strategy to find a new home, focused on five key pillars:

1. Infrastructure & capacity

2. Affordability

3. Government support & incentives

4. City appeal & cultural fit

5. Growth potential

Lisbon stood out, ticking all five boxes. But that’s not the point, there’s another takeaway here.

Cities aren’t just partners to tech events. They’re customers, too. Each year, Web Summit receives more than €11 million through its Lisbon partnership. And it’s a win-win for both sides. In 2019 alone, Web Summit reportedly contributed €72 million to Lisbon’s domestic demand and €24.9 million in tax revenue.

And while €11 million deals are rare, aligning goals with governments can help both cities and events thrive. Web Summit proves it, and so do others.

But the story doesn’t end there.

An Extension of A City

Major tech events do more than partner with cities—they become extensions of them. Let me explain.

Take Berlin’s Tech Open Air (TOA), for example. Since its inception, it’s reflected the essence of Berlin—grunge techno clubs, iconic venues, and a program that fuses tech, music, and the arts. Sounds like Berlin, doesn’t it?

But what makes TOA unique is that it doesn’t merely represent Berlin; it creates an immersive experience for attendees, letting them live it.

I’ll never forget it, the event’s first venue that is. Kater Holzig—the techno nightclub and the successor to Berlin’s iconic Bar25. If you know it, well, you know it. And for those that don’t, the term unique doesn’t quite capture it. But this theme of full access goes far beyond the venue itself. Recent editions of TOA have included hundreds of satellite events across the city.

Offering this kind of open access goes beyond creating a memorable experience for attendees. It elevates a city’s brand and its position, both locally and internationally. Don’t believe me? Just take a look at their guest list.

• Google’s Sergey Brin

• Amazon’s Werner Vogels

• Reddit’s Steve Huffman

• USV’s Fred Wilson

• LinkedIn’s Allen Blue

• Klarna’s Sebastian Siematowski

• And more…

The Wall Street Journal sums it up perfectly: “Even by the standards of alternative festivals, Tech Open Air is unusual… an interesting experiment.”

An interesting experiment indeed. For cities, that is.

No Event? Create Your Own.

I love this example. Helsinki’s tech community took what others saw as challenges and turned them into an opportunity. That opportunity? Slush.

I remember it well. In 2008, a group of founders realized there was no reason for investors to visit Helsinki—so they created one. What began as a humble 300-person conference (mostly Finns) has grown into a European powerhouse. Today, Slush attracts 13,000 attendees, including 5,000 international founders and 3,000 investors. Not bad, especially for an event in the middle of a Finnish winter.

But the real takeaway isn’t about Slush’s success. It’s about a city—or a tech community—having the guts to create their own opportunities.

Many cities in Europe aim to attract big events from other countries. But often, a locally grown brand is the better option. Slush shows how this can work. What’s even more impressive is how it’s structured to drive local impact.

Slush is completely student-run and a non-profit. It focuses on fostering Finland’s future entrepreneurs. With 1,600 student volunteers each year, many of them go on to successful tech careers, some even rejoining Slush after they graduate.

Many call this the Slush Mafia. And here are some impressive examples, backed by data gathered by Sifted:

• Companies founded by ex-Slush employees: Blok, Wolt, Singa, Bou, thingtesting, Nyxo, Carbo Culture, Fiksari, Work Ahead, Industryhack, Wave Ventures, Klok

• Other initiatives founded by Slush alumni: Inklusiiv, a diversity and inclusion initiative; Kutsuvat sitä pöhinäksi, a bestselling book co-written by Venla Väkeväinen and Hello Ruby, a coding movement for women

This includes key figures like Miki Kuusi (co-founder & CEO of Wolt), a former Slush CEO, and Kristo Ovaska (CEO of Smartly), who helped shape Slush in its early days.

The spill-over effect is real. Major urban projects like the 20,000 m² Maria 01 credit their success to Slush. And if that’s not proof, what is?

There you have it.

We’ve skipped the stats and kept it strategic—focusing on the big themes to make the case. The case that major tech events are powerful tools for activating cities, especially young tech hubs. And the truth is, most cities haven’t caught on yet.

From my talks with local governments in Europe, one thing is clear: they’re not fully grasping the significance of this opportunity.

So here’s my call to action for emerging cities: open your doors. Tech communities and local governments, take a moment to reflect. I’m not suggesting you need to fork over millions to attract the next big tech summit. I’m saying it’s time to look at what you have, where you want to go and how these events can help you get there.

Tech summits are one of the most overlooked tools in urban development. For now at least.

Let’s see how they’ll shape the future of our European cities in the years to come.

✌🏼

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