Straight to the point: My experience

Driven by my desire to attend the event for the first time and not having a ticket, I discovered the possibility of joining Web Summit Lisbon 2024 as a volunteer. Helping out at the event in exchange for a free day as an attendee sounded appealing, so I decided to sign up a few weeks before, even though I wasn’t entirely sure what the volunteer experience entailed.

It simply seemed like a great opportunity for several reasons:

• I was passionate about seeing how such an event was organized.
• I would get to experience the event from two perspectives: as a Volunteer and as an Attendee.
• I would have the chance to see some speakers I was interested in from IT companies.
• I’d take a little trip to Lisbon 😌 and make the most of it by participating in Techstars two days later (which was also being held in Lisbon).
• I’d do some networking and meet new people 😃.

So, when I found out I was part of the volunteer team, I took a few days off work, hopped on a plane, and went to enjoy the experience.

Volunteer

After a few years in this world, I’ve been fortunate enough to attend other events, meetups, and conferences with organizing companies… but never one of this magnitude.
You know that initial feeling of pride when you feel important, and people ask you:
“What do you do?” And you, brimming with confidence, answer: “I’m developing this system, I’m an expert in this technology, I manage teams of countless people distributed across different nationalities, and my achievements include all these blah blah blah…”

Well, I noticed a small difference on the first day. This time, I was wearing a T-shirt that said “VOLUNTEER”, and the first thing you sense from other attendees is a certain indifference—like you’re completely invisible 😶‍🌫️😶‍🌫️. Exactly, some people won’t even look at you or might even crack a joke about it (not everyone, of course, and the organization treats volunteers with respect and care).
I found it curious how we behave this way, especially when, in many cases, we attend these events only because our companies cover the costs. We don’t pay for the flights or the tickets to the conference.

But finding the silver lining amidst the shadows 🤣… personally, it was a VERY interesting experience for me and quite an experiment, one I’m genuinely proud of.

I had the chance to help out at a bar during the Night Summit (the post-event where people unwind after a long day of conferences) and backstage, meeting some visible and interesting faces. And you know who else I met? The entire video production team that made the live streaming of the conferences possible: sound technicians, coordinators, and people handling things I don’t even understand for all the pavilions of the event! —Also nearly invisible, by the way, and what they achieve is absolutely amazing—.

I had never participated as a volunteer at an IT event before, and it was truly an incredible experience to be part of what many consider the “best event in the world.”
I chose to approach it as a learning opportunity, and that’s exactly what I did—learn, and learn a lot.

Attendee

My only expectation was to learn and enjoy some interesting IT-related talks, like the one by Kirill Skrygan (CEO of JetBrains), do some networking, and discover intriguing products from startups showcasing their innovations. I was particularly curious about applications making an impact in the field of medicine.

I found some fascinating things, but the sheer number of attendees, the scale of the event, the number of stages, and the people trying to pitch their products or establish future partnerships… it’s absolutely overwhelming (by the way, on this day, I seemed to be interesting again 🙂).

The talks were mostly about 20-25 minutes long, covering topics like marketing, development, or even an interview between an NBA player and other celebrities—but in every single one, the word “AI” was included in the title.

It’s a massive event, but you really need to be prepared and have a very clear goal before attending.

What Have I Learned?

To truly appreciate all the work that goes on behind the scenes: how the speakers prepare before stepping onto the stage, how important the little details are—volunteers, cleaning staff, organization (everything was spotless), cameras, sound, the diversity of profiles, and the business opportunities a renowned event like this generates. And most importantly? To never forget where I come from.

No matter how much or how little one achieves, I encourage everyone to approach it with humility. For anyone attending an event like this, simply enjoy the experience.

I also got to see firsthand the incredible impact a four-day event of this scale has on a city: connections with other people, parallel events, restaurants, hotels, consumism… it’s impressive.

Why Did I Decide to Go?

This time it was in Lisbon, Portugal—a country where I lived for a while and feel completely at home. In previous years, I’d seen how the event was organized but couldn’t attend, either due to lack of availability or because I didn’t have a sponsor. Spending nearly €1,000 on a ticket without a clear objective didn’t seem worth it.

I also thought it would be a good opportunity to participate in Techstars, happening in the same city a few days later. So, I took advantage of the timing and went to both.

Would I Recommend It?

• Looking for networking? Definitely, yes.
• Looking to acquire technical knowledge? In my opinion, it’s not the best event for that. The talks are very short, and the topics span multiple markets, not just tech.
• Have you created a startup you want to promote? I don’t know how much effort and money it takes to get a booth at the event, but if the numbers work out, it’s certainly interesting due to the sheer volume of attendees and investors.
• Want to gain ideas for your business? If you have a clear idea and a well-defined sector, it could be a good option.

And to finish, in case you don’t know… What is Web Summit?

Considered the largest tech event in the world, lasting 4 days. When reading media opinions about how Web Summit is defined, you can find descriptions on its official website like: “The world’s largest tech conference – TIME,” “Davos for geeks – Bloomberg,” or “Planet’s best tech conference – The Telegraph.”

What’s my opinion?

This was my first time attending the conference, and I don’t know how it was in previous editions or in other countries, but for me, it’s an event centered purely around networking. And that’s great for those looking for that, but if you’re expecting to enjoy conferences, get ready for 20-25-minute speeches and rushing to catch the next one if the timings overlap. I recommend preparing your schedule on the Web Summit app a few days in advance to decide who to choose from a vast number of speakers and celebrities.

While I categorize it as a perfect event for networking and/or promoting your product, the event is packed with incredibly smart people, robotics, innovation, countless workshops, random meetups to meet people by nationality or even for specific-topic networking, mentoring, games, and a variety of products to test, all this year of course, dominated by AI.

We’re all making this happen.