crossover
Photo Credit: Marko Delbello Ocepek

Between 25 and 26 August, Ljubljana will host the 7th Conventa Crossover conference. The event will again take place exclusively in person. Over 120 attendees are expected to attend the festival, where they will learn, network and exchange ideas. An integral part of Conventa Crossover is the competition for the best regional event – the Conventa Best Event Award. A record-breaking 45 projects will compete for the coveted awards this year. The winners of all nine categories will be announced on Friday, 26 August 2022, at the garden of Grand Hotel Union Eurostars.

The focal theme of the event is Meetings Industry Unplugged or Everything you always wanted to ask about the meetings industry (but were afraid to ask). The organisers envisaged Conventa Crossover as a safe haven where attendees will unplug from everyday worries, discuss the meetings industry’s future and innovations, environmental responsibility, and see the best events in the industry.

The event will comprise three central themes that will flow circularly:

– DIALOGUE leads to INNOVATION
– INNOVATION is necessary for SUSTAINABILITY
– SUSTAINABILITY needs DIALOGUE

crossover
Photo Credit: Marko Delbello Ocepek

Jan-Jaap in Der Maur, one of Europe’s most renowned moderators, will moderate the distinguished event. As the organisers say, the moderator is a guarantee that the event will be immensely interactive and that they will fulfil their promise: “life is too short to waste at boring and non-interactive events.”

Among a slew of impressive speakers and Crossover icons, this year’s Crossover will play host to several speakers attending for the premier time. Claus Raasted, director of The College of Extraordinary Experiences and a pioneer in experience marketing, will host an eye-opening lecture. In his words, he is a mix between Thor, Mick Jagger and Lady Gaga. Bo Krüger, an exceptional Danish event designer, will thrill attendees with an insight into his iconic event organising model Meetovation. Another renowned speaker at Crossover will be Jordan Waid, an internationally-awarded British filmmaker and an advocate of design thinking. Last but not least, Milena S. Nikolova, a famed expert and researcher in behavioural economics, will showcase how such know-how can be implemented when organising events.

The speakers will be joined by Meet Busters, masters in marketing and seasoned event organisers who will share their take on pressing issues faced by the meetings industry. Meet Busters will present numerous practical examples from their careers. The lineup features Jakob Sterlich (Climate Partner), Gaja Brecelj (Umanotera), Maja Bosanac (Eventful), Manuela Šola (Komunikacijski laboratorij), Mark Toonen (Wice), Tanja Polegubić (Saltwaternomads), Meta Pavlin (Prvi Prvi), Yulia Katynska (Lviv Convention Bureau) and Dejan Bogdanov (Vekol DMC).

crossover
Photo Credit: Marko Delbello Ocepek

A special Ljubljana Talks and Crossover Legends

A pivotal part of the programme will feature the awarded and iconic Ljubljana Talks hosting a special guest from the Netherlands. Aragorn Meulendijk from Masters of the Metaverse will delve into the future of events in the metaverse. He will discuss and contrast his view with Jens Oliver Mayer (Jack Morton) and Mladen Ljubišič (Fitbeat.io). The conversation will be led by Jan Oršič and Gorazd Čad.

Rounding off the eventful programme are Crossover Legends, icons who marked the history of the event with their memorable lectures. They will attend the event in the role of mentors and provocateurs. Ivo Franschitz (Enited), Kim Myhre (Xdesign), Henrik von Arnold (Enited), Jens Oliver Mayer (Jack Morton), Miloš Milovanović (Gaining Edge) and Maarten Schram (LiveCom Alliance) are the legends coming to Ljubljana.

crossover
Photo Credit: Marko Delbello Ocepek

Gorazd Čad, the founding father of Conventa Crossover, said: “This year, we envisaged the programme with the help of our colleague and partner, Ivo J. Franschitz. We are proud of the lineup of speakers who will help attendees understand the tectonic changes disrupting the meetings industry. We aim to execute the event as a good practice case. We plan to do so with the help of the original Slovenian methodology for event organising dubbed Power to the meetings. I do not doubt this edition will be the best in seven years since its inception.”

As tradition dictates, the Conventa Best Event Award will award the best events in New Europe. This year, 45 projects entered the competition. The expert jury selects finalists of the competition based on strict evaluation criteria that include a unique model of voting (80% of votes contributed by the expert jury and 20% by the audience at Conventa Crossover). The best events will be presented on Thursday, 25 August 2022, from 14:20 to 16:00, while the winners will be awarded at Conventa Crossover on Friday, 26 August 2022, at 17:00.

Conventa Crossover takes place within Conventa Week, comprising the Conventa tradeshow, Conventa Experience Zone and Conventa Academy.

Conventa Crossover is organised by Toleranca marketing and Conventa tradeshow in cooperation with Ljubljana Tourism, the Slovenian Tourist Board, the Slovenian Convention Bureau and ENITED.

Find out more about the premier festival of events and live marketing here

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