It’s important to get out of your bubble
The organizers of the conference admit that the planning of the event lasts the whole year. The organization of the next year’s festival begins only after the last participants have been escorted out of the venue. The most important task for all people working on the team is to find speakers who will not only attract participants, but also truly inspire and share useful insights.
“So many people contribute to the planning of the content. In a way, I call my own work like an oracle – you have to try to predict what will be relevant and what will resonate at that time, because the content starts to form really 12 months before – one event ends, and we already start to shape the themes of the next year’s event direction. Therefore, we ourselves must be very, very informed all the time – from visiting other events and exhibitions, to the latest books and very different social media. reading bubble publications”, says Tomas Stasiukevičius, the head of the conference.
Each of us has our own hobbies – we are interested in very different things, we are engaged in different activities. Therefore, the task of the conference is to bring all these people together under one roof, so that each of them can find content that is relevant to them, and during the event they can make contacts and exchange ideas. Therefore, according to Sandra Meškauskaitė-Stepšienė, the long-term head of LOGIN, the team’s work during the aforementioned 12 months revolves around people of different professions and interests in order to find out what they live for.
“Our content will be interesting when we’re not living in our own bubbles. We look at what’s happening in the startup bubble, then we look at what’s happening biohackers in the bubble, what are they living in, what are all those who once talked about robotization living in, what is the artificial intelligence bubble living in, etc. Only when you are not closed in your bubble, you can understand what is happening and what is relevant now. The same terms… A very good example is the term nomadic (lit. wanderer). I, for example, used to call them something else, and Tom explained that now it has a slightly different meaning than it used to. It means that this topic cannot be present in the conference. And that’s how you look at every topic,” she says.
In addition, says S. Meškauskaitė-Stepšienė, what is in the media spotlight also has a great influence: “The same context of “Delfi” also gives a lot, because when you work here all the time, you feel what society lives in, because the media reflects it . At the conference, we follow the global context, but we also have to feel very strongly about what your country lives in, what it cares about.”
The audience is expanding
The organizers are happy that the event has also gained a competitive advantage over the years – it can introduce topics that others are often afraid to talk about.
“We have the luxury of programming some themes and messages for people. Let’s say inclusivity or sustainability are the kind of messages that we actually tend to put out there because we believe that this is the future and that’s where the world is headed. […] We can afford to raise topics that are very, very important in society, for that we are looking for inspiration. […] But on the other hand, we are apolitical and we really allow everyone to speak – we don’t have the attitude that the door is closed and we only accept, for example, Catholics or Democrats,” she smiles.
T. Stasiukevičius adds that the goal of the festival is to raise questions and leave the opportunity for each participant in the audience to find the answers on their own. This is how the best ideas are born.
“We have also had discussions where the interlocutors disagree with each other, but that is wonderful, because our goal is to show different opinions – usually the truth is somewhere in the middle.” We don’t want to construct a single message or a certain storyline, but to show that when you yourself are open to this information and openly accept it yourself, the formation of content happens very organically,” he says.
According to the interlocutors, the possibility of expanding the scope of the content and going beyond the boundaries of technology, not limited to innovations that may not be relevant for some, but also touching on various social, health and other topics, determines the fact that the conference manages to attract several thousand participants from very different social groups. bubbles and activities. According to the long-time manager of the conference, the participants evaluate it positively.
“Our listener takes it very well, because he feels that we are walking with him and ahead of him. He then realizes that everything is fine with him – he follows trends. So I’d say we’re just confirming to him that he’s going the right way, and those who may not have known yet that this is the way people go forward learn, but they don’t have to go that way – they just need to know. And I don’t follow all the paths, but it is enough for me that I know what others are doing, and I choose the path myself. Our goal is to raise questions and provide information, but we do not say that you must do so,” says S. Meškauskaitė-Stepšienė.
“There’s been a lot of talk about leadership lately, so we’re going to have a lot of leadership themes this year, but it’s a phenomenal theme because there really isn’t one recipe for leadership.” Every leader has his own recipe that works only for him. As far as I have to talk with the speakers, they all have different recipes, different things work for everyone and they also say that what works for me, would not work for someone else, but maybe you can take something away for yourself,” S. Meškauskaitei-Stepšienei explains. conference leader T. Stasiukevičius.
The festival is one big community
Inviting the most famous professionals in their field to come to Lithuania is no small task. T. Stasiukevičius reveals that he has to communicate with some speakers for years before they finally agree to come. Each of them not only has their own price, but also wants to know where they are coming, on which stage they will have to stand, because they create their own value, so they responsibly choose the places where they participate.
“But this year we’ll have 300 speakers from 20 different countries around the world, so I think we’re really covering most of the map,” he says, adding that sometimes the tricks of the organizers come in handy when luring speakers, and he’s quick to share an example.
“Some of them have ancestors, distant great-grandfathers from Lithuania, and we, having collected the information, write that we see that the person has Lithuanian roots, we ask if he has ever visited Lithuania, if not, we invite him to come.” For example, our speaker, Josh Stinton, is an incredible startup creator, but we got him interested in this angle. Even the grandchildren of Lithuanian emigrants come to Lithuania because they have never been here,” says T. Stasiukevičius.
The content manager observes that a festival is a place where community is built. Here, speakers and participants often exchange ideas and contacts, seek answers to common questions. Therefore, it is easier for the organizers to persuade interviewees who have not been to Lithuania to come, when someone from their community has already been here.
“For example, last year we had really strong speakers, and this year we also wrote to other speakers using their circle of contacts. One of them is Siri Østvold, who is an unreal ocean explorer, a documentary of her and other explorers was shown on Netflix, and she just saw on social media that her friend spoke on stage at the conference last year, so she accepted our offer very openly. This snowball keeps rolling year after year without stopping,” he smiles.
S. Meškauskaitė-Stepšienė reminds that until recently the world was living in the mood of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the entire event industry also experienced it painfully – “LOGIN” was briefly moved to a remote format. When you can’t meet in person, making contacts is much worse. Fortunately, that didn’t last long, and last year was one where the festival community was able to come back, meet live and continue to share ideas.
“Last year we finally came back, speakers from abroad finally arrived, we had a dinner during which they communicated with each other, continued to build the community. And from the whole community that we have gathered in such a long time, we reap the fruits in the following years, because they come back, share, go to the next conference and say: you know, I was in Vilnius, at that festival, how good the audience was, how warm the people are, like them they accept us, etc. It also gives a lot, because a legend is created in 18 years.
When Tom joined, putting together the content entirely with his own hands, it was really based on experience, – he said that we had one or another speaker, now you often say that too, but you already know that they talked to each other, because you follow them on social networks, you can see that they announced themselves, thanked us and some circle of people saw it. These things are important, because we don’t seem to do anything special when those speakers come, we just are who we are, we don’t roll out any red carpets, it’s very simple, but apparently that’s enough for them. But, still, I would say that it’s not about us anymore, but about the fact that they come and feel the audience that gathers here, claps, reacts, asks questions – that’s why they’re happy to be here”, says S. Meškauskaitė – Stepdaughter.
Tags: LOGIN conference organizers years content talk topics silent
