The eighth edition of the LEAP Summit in Zagreb gathered more than 2,000 young people from 30 countries, who listened to inspiring business stories on four different stages.
The largest international multidisciplinary conference in this part of Europe – the LEAP Summit – was held at the Zagreb Fair Congress Centre on 18 and 19 May. As usual, the conference attracted a large number of young people, both students and young workers. In two days, the conference was attended by more than 2 000 participants from thirty countries. More than 60 world-renowned business experts shared their stories on four thematic stages – Ideas&Tech, Green, Impact x20 and LEAP. The stories and the event shared their aim – encouraging progress and development and directing young people to actively “take a LEAP” instead of waiting for opportunities to come to them.
Over the past eight years, the LEAP Summit has been attended by more than 10 000 participants from more than 40 countries around the world, and more than 300 lecturers presented their latest ideas, successes, knowledge and achievements. The general partner of the LEAP Summit is the European Commission Representation in Croatia, which has enabled visitors to follow dynamic content and exciting speakers free of charge.
World-renowned speaker Fredrik Haren exclusively presented the IKIGAI + model in Zagreb
To mark the occasion, the LEAP Summit was opened by European Commission Vice-President for Democracy and Demography, Dubravka Šuica, who stated in her opening statement that Europe encourages young people to become a part of European democracy and actively advocate the issues that are important to them. Andrius Bičeika, a Revolut partner, gave the first lecture on the LEAP stage with a focus on the sustainable hypergrowth of this revolutionary company. As the key to success, he highlighted the content-based user approach – which includes accessible apps and marketing campaigns facilitating the process. This is a strategy, he notes, that they have been following since the founding of Revolut.
Fredrik Haren concluded the first day on the LEAP stage by inspiring the audience with a somewhat different look into the world of creativity. In his speech, given exclusively to the LEAP audience, he presented the IKIGAI + model – his version of the famous IKIGAI model – for the first time. After visiting more than 60 countries, Fredrik Haren visited Croatia for the first time precisely to give a lecture on the LEAP Stage, while his book, The Idea Book, was included in the list of the best 100 business books in the world.
Anna Vainer, the founder of the global movement #IAmRemarkable, also captivated the audience with a motivating story encouraging them to celebrate their own successes. By highlighting that it is only safe to bet on yourself, she contributed to the creation of an empowering mindset associated with the event.
The opening lecture on the Ideas&Tech Stage was given by Dušanka Ilić of Beyond42 who spoke about the transition into the metaverse. She pointed out that the metaverse allows for the possibility of taking part in what is happening at the exact moment in time, instead of interacting with reports from the past as virtuality has hitherto implied. Consequently, she highlighted the blurring of the boundaries between virtual and real and all-encompassing decentralization as the main advantages of the metaverse.
In a dialog-based lecture, Tena Šimon Čolig of A1 spoke about the need for skills and talents in the future of business. Surprisingly, as much as 65% of the workforce that is just starting their education will work in industries that do not yet exist. She pointed out that the key to success can be found in one’s enthusiasm and that everyone is an independent driver behind their achievement – which is a notion that perfectly encapsulates the principal message of the LEAP Summit.
On the Green Stage, Dana Muntean, a former Google and Facebook employee, gave a lecture about merging passion and purpose on one’s career path. When speaking about managing a successful business, she highlighted change as the only constant. However, she also pointed out that the person has to be authentic to achieve excellent results – that is, they must express their own opinions, be proactive, accepting of uncertainty, while also taking the initiative.
Iva Mihalić Krčmar, known for her blog Putoholičari, opened the second day on the LEAP Stage and shared with the audience the most important tips concerning economical travel, with the conclusion that anyone can travel to any place in the world if they are well prepared and organized for the undertaking. Ashwitha Mukundan of Adidas spoke about how to construct a quality brand story, and Fabrizio Gramuglio, an optimistic realist and innovator, spoke about the future of education.
Natko Beck, Ana and Igor Čerenšek participated in a panel discussion where they explained how to deal with everyday challenges and stress. They were followed by Daniela Loga of Revuto, who gave a lecture about cryptocurrencies and their increasing presence in everyday life. This year’s edition of the LEAP Stage was concluded by Nikola Đorđević of Nike, who revealed the secrets of successful marketing associated with this famous brand.
After the conference ended, the participants had the opportunity to join the well-known fLEAP Out Party, which concluded yet another inspirational edition of the LEAP Summit in Zagreb.
Find out more about the conference at: https://leapsummit.com/.
