ETC Summit moved to Vancouver Convention Centre
So what happened?
Due to industrial action at the Pinnacle Hotel we have had to change the ETC Summit 2019 location at the last minute. The Summit is being hosted in Vancouver, Canada on October 3rd/4th, now just a week away.
Our rockstar event organizers Lauren Laino and Elaine Cancelliere of Amplified Event Strategy have gone above and beyond in handling this unexpected situation. We first learnt that the strike was possible on August 30th and started contingency planning. On September 12th a 72-hour strike notice was issued, although talks between the hotel and the union continued. On September 19th the picket line went up at the Pinnacle Vancouver Harbourfront and we decided we had to “switch horse” and have since rearranged everything in a single crazy week.
If you are attending ETC Summit, look out for Lauren and Elaine and give them a high-five! They have saved the day. They ran ETC Summit 2018 in Seoul, Korea as well, which was also an awesome experience.
I also have to thank Richard Taylor, Director of Sales and Marketing at the Pinnacle Hotel Vancouver Harbourfront for how professional they have handled this very unwanted bump in the road. They helped us a lot.
Unexpected Consequences
There is often a silver lining to such situations.
In this case we find ourselves moving to the stunningly located Vancouver Convention Centre, built for the 2010 Winter Olympics. It is located right on the downtown waterfront overlooking Stanley Park, the Burrard Inlet and the North Shore Mountains. Our replacement hotel is the Fairmont Waterfront, just 2 minutes walk from the venue. As a Vancouver local, I really could not be happier with the location. You are unlikely to find a more naturally beautiful setting for a blockchain conference anywhere in the world.
We have the entire third floor of the West Building (floor plans),with glass walls between the two rooms we have, the foyer space and the deck, so you get the gorgeous views even within the conference rooms themselves.
We will be combining rooms 301, 302, 303, 304 and 305 into the main stage room and will have room 306 as a secondary room. The registration, breakfasts, lunches and cocktail reception will all be held in the foyer area which wraps around the corner.
There is also an outside deck. Expect daytime temperatures around 16C / 60F. Showers are possible, but the forecasts are for clear weather.
If you want to take a 360 degree spin around the space, it has been Google Mapped, and you can have a look around using the links within the floor plan page at their website.
Hotel transfers
Anybody who made a reservation at The Pinnacle through our referral link, or who is being accommodated by the ETC Cooperative should already have received an email informing them of the change.
If anybody booked there and has not been contacted, please mail bob@etccooperative.org and we will help you to resolve your situation.
Format of the ETC Summit
The full agenda is up on the ETC Summit website, and is all but final now.
The general format for the main talks each day is arranged into blocks of talks which don’t run for more than an hour or so. We don’t want anybody getting speaker fatigued. Pop out and enjoy the view!
- 8.00am to 9.00am — Breakfast and Registration
- 9.00am to 9.10am — Opening
- 9.10am to 10.25am — Keynotes (x3)
- 10.25am to 11.00am — Morning break
- 11.00am to 12.00pm — Sessions (x3)
- 12.00pm to 1.00pm — Lunch
- 1.00pm to 2.00pm — Sessions (x3)
- 2.00pm to 2.20pm — Afternoon break 1
- 2.20pm to 3.20pm — Sessions (x3)
- 3.20pm to 3.40pm — Afternoon break 2
- 3.40pm to 5.00pm — Sessions (3)
- 5.00pm to 5.10 pm— Closing
The panels (Community, Platform and Mining) will be on Day 2 from 2.20pm to 3.20pm. Charles Hoskinson‘s keynote will close out Day 2, as he did last year in Korea.
The second room is available for whatever the attendees would like to self-organize, with lightning talks, birds-of-a-feather, demos, co-working and more being likely choices. There will be round tables in there with power outlets, so we can hang out on our laptops and collaborate.
All of the food and refreshments will be served in the foyer, which is also where sponsor booths will be located. On the first evening we will also have a cocktail reception in the foyer starting at 5.15pm and running until 7.30pm, with free beer, wine, cider and liquor, to welcome you all to Vancouver, my hometown!
Keep your eyes on the ETC Coop twitter account, which is the frontline for all ETC Summit information. More to come in the week remaining!
Bob Summerwill, Executive Director, ETC Cooperative.
