e180, creators of a social network dedicated to humans sharing knowledge, will bring their leading event technology, Braindate, to the 56th International Congress and Convention Association Congress to be held in Prague, Czech Republic, from November 12-15. The ICCA Congress, the global community and knowledge hub for the international association meetings industry, is expecting to host a record number of 1,250-1,300 participants this year and are looking forward to revolutionizing the event experience for those participants by forging connections in a meaningful way using Braindates.
Braindate is a web-based knowledge sharing platform that allows event participants to book 30 minute one-on-one or group conversations with one another at events. Since 2013, e180, the inventor of Braindates, has transformed world-class events into vibrant collaborative learning hubs with partners like C2 Montreal, Airbnb, TED, Cannes Lions and Salesforce. To do so, e180 deploys their unique social technology which generates thousands of Braindates– knowledge sharing conversations that event participants book with each other while they’re at an event. Their recommendation engine curates an individualized selection of Braindate topics for each participant, based on their behavior and interests.
Every participant has valuable knowledge that deserves to be uncovered, shared and tapped into. Braindate enables each person to publicly post their knowledge in the form of 30-minute conversation topics on the market. People simply browse that market and book meetings with the people whose brains they want to pick. The Braindates all happen onsite at the Braindate Lounge where e180’s Learning Concierges facilitate introductions and set the tone for open and meaningful conversations.
Notably, Braindate uses a recommendation engine (named Freia) to pull from each person’s behavior and interests to highlight an individualized selection of topics. Each participant can then curate their own learning experience more easily, based on what they can learn from the collective genius around them.
“Braindating changes the whole experience, says Niv Horovitz, the founder of WeStart. “What is the purpose to come here but to meet people you can learn something with? When you sit and listen to a talk you get an insight or two, but it’s usually not focused on what you are specifically interested in. This is a way to really upgrade our activities. It creates intimacy in a second.”
Michèle Robinson, e180’s director of impact, explains, “We’re in the business of creating transformative learning experiences for humans from all walks of life as they strive to achieve something new. We offer them guidance through their own self-directed, collaborative and experiential learning, while inciting them to actively participate in that same process for others.”
Christine Renaud (pictured above), e180’s CEO & co-founder, graduated from the Harvard Graduate School of Education as a Knox Fellow, focusing on informal learning, and worked as a podcast producer for New York-based Learning Matters. Christine was recognized in 2016 by Startup Canada as the Female Entrepreneur of the Year (Quebec). She is a contributing author to the book Knowmads Society and has shared her groundbreaking work on collaborative learning as a speaker in conferences such as Tech Open Air (Berlin), SXSW & SXSWedu, C2 Montreal & re:publica (Berlin).
ICCA, the International Congress and Convention Association, represents the world’s leading suppliers in handling, transporting and accommodating international meetings and events and is comprised of more than 1,000 member companies and organizations in almost 100 countries worldwide. Since its establishment more than 50 years ago, ICCA specializes in the international association meetings sector, offering unrivaled data, communication channels, and business development opportunities. ICCA members represent the top destinations worldwide, and the most experienced specialist suppliers. International meeting planners can rely on the ICCA network to find solutions for all their event objectives: venue selection; technical advice; assistance with delegate transportation; full convention planning or ad hoc services. For more info about ICCA, visit www.iccaworld.org; for more info about the ICCA Congress, visit: www.congress2017.iccaworld.org
Founded in Montreal in 2011, and operating internationally, e180 created Braindates because of their hard-held belief that education is a relationship, not an institution. They want every human to be supported by their community in overcoming the challenges that give their lives a unique purpose. Notably, e180 strives for humans from diverse backgrounds to offer their unique and valuable knowledge so that the collective can benefit. For more info, visit https://e180.co/we-are/
