With virtual reality exploding over the past few years, it's no surprise that the VR World Congress proved to be an extremely popular three day event in the UK and Europe’s VR hub; with #VRWC17 even trending on Twitter across Bristol.
Attracting 2,000 delegates to the city's Millennium Square, the annual congress and expo covered everything from specialist and keynote conference talks, investment panels and business to business matchmaking.
Enterprise Europe Network (EEN), a partner of the B2B matchmaking event, defied expectations of what can be achieved when connecting stakeholders, from R&D and start-ups working on new developments, to stakeholders from various sectors looking for new solutions.
In total, the matchmaking event saw:
- Over 250 meetings
- 13 countries represented
- 120 participants attend a day before the main Expo and Conference to participate solely in matchmaking
- Matchmaking slots extended to second and third day of the Congress due to popularity
- Over 4,000 individual profile views by the end of the second day
Chris Lyons, Enterprise Europe Network Sector Lead, said:
"It was an absolute pleasure meeting many local Bristol companies, in addition to a host of regional, national & international businesses visiting the UK and Europe’s VR hub.
"This year's event was much bigger and word has spread. There was a real buzz in the main matchmaking room, with up to 60 twenty minute one to one meetings taking place in a single hour.
"One of the great results of matchmaking is not just the immediate introductions, but the medium to long term results.
"The matchmaking website stays online indefinitely with their unique URL and each participant has their own profile. We usually find that the number of profile views treble in the two months after the event has taken place."
Blueflame Digital Director Rich Lloyd, who took part in matchmaking for the first time, added:
"It honestly was the best networking event I've ever attended. Every person was spot on, we were able to get straight to the point and had amazing conversations.
"Extended conversations have come off the back of every meeting as well. I will definitely do it again."
While matchmaking was a fundamental part of VR World Congress, speakers and ideas from all over the world made it a resounding success. EEN is looking forward to partnering on the event once again next year, which promises to be bigger and better.
If you missed this year's event and are interested in the matchmaking aspect please see all the delegates listed here.
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