The conference, held in Toronto from June 17 to 20, 2024, once again raised topics of interest to the tech community.
2024 was the last year for Collision in Toronto. In the coming years, the event will be held in Vancouver and will be renamed Web Summit in Canada—this is the name the organizers use for the international tech conference in most other countries. For this reason, the Focus21 team could not miss Collision this year.
For us, as for many other companies changing the world through information technology, this event was highly anticipated. That’s why from June 17 to 20, we set aside all tasks and dedicated our time to the conference. We did not regret it.
“Collision continues to be the most frequent answer when I ask others about the conference they most want to attend this year.” – Inc
In 2024, Collision seemed less intense than in 2023. However, we managed to spend time with many interesting speakers who shared important thoughts on current trends in the tech industry, global business, marketing, and life in the modern world.
For this article, we have highlighted three key trends that various team members found important.
The main topic of discussion at Collision this year was, once again, artificial intelligence.
This is not surprising, given that tools based on various AI models are being used by more and more professionals across different industries, as well as by ordinary users. Moreover, AI tools continue to grow both quantitatively and qualitatively.
Joshua Xu, CEO & Co-Founder at HeyGen, who previously worked at Snapchat and is now developing his own AI platform for creating video clips and digital avatars, emphasized that today, every professional can maximize their efficiency with the help of artificial intelligence. Additionally, thanks to AI, companies no longer need excessively large teams.
The key idea of their discussion was the deep integration of artificial intelligence into all areas of human life. Today, AI is indeed used in applications and services that the average user might not even suspect.
Overall, anyone who has so far tried to avoid AI-based applications and services should reconsider their stance.
Once again, Maha Abouelenein, Jon Davids, Candy Lee, and Peter Himler made us rethink the effectiveness of content marketing. At Collision 2024, they emphasized the paramount importance of storytelling in the content marketing strategy of any modern company. This applies to all forms of information, including articles, social media, YouTube videos, podcasts, and more.
The internet today is overflowing with diverse information, both useful and otherwise, catering to every taste. Finding the right answer to almost any question is relatively easy and quick. Moreover, with the AI boom, accessing information has become even more convenient for everyone.
Therefore, attracting the attention of a potential audience should not be done through dry facts but through engaging stories. To captivate, these stories should be useful, entertaining, or inspiring.
You can use internal stories from behind the scenes of the company or any other stories. This can be especially relevant for new businesses that may not have much personal experience to share.
Additionally, it is important to understand that the greatest value for every company and individual professional is reputation. Regardless of the team's skills or the quality of their product, attracting customer attention will be very difficult without a positive reputation. This issue was raised repeatedly on the Centre Stage and other stages at Collision 2024.
Unexpectedly, a lot of attention was given to digital assets at Collision 2024. Ndax had a large booth at the conference, with plenty of advertisements throughout the event and numerous discussions both among participants and on various stages.
Digital assets continue to be actively considered both as a payment tool and as a key investment direction, attracting more and more users.
Platforms that allow users to manage their digital assets, such as Ndax, continue to evolve. Once accessible and understandable only to technically savvy users, these platforms have become much more user-friendly.
At Collision, a diverse range of startups was traditionally showcased, each at various stages of their lifecycle—from idea to launch and active development.
Among the startups that stood out with interesting ideas were Encorex (specializing in custom sneaker printing using 3D printers) and Uptok (a service for quick video communication with sales managers or support for any website).
Overall, the multi-day event was very interesting and memorable. Many thanks to the organizers for a pleasant and productive time, as well as for the valuable connections made.
Our company is a space where ideas flourish and transform into reality.
