Thanks to the support of Invest Nova Scotia Chantal Brine and Julia Brine had the opportunity to attend the 2023 Collision Conference in Toronto. The 3-day conference hosted 36,000+ attendees from over 100 countries. It was an intense, but exciting week for the team and we’d like to share some of our highlights!
Pre-conference:
We attended the Collision 2023 Investment and Growth Workshop, a lunch and networking afternoon with Invest NS which included 4 workshops:
Product Counsel + Q&A | Seema Aggarwal, Minden Gross LLP
Entrepreneurial Resilience + Q&A | Brice Scheschuk, MindFrame Connect
What I have learned on my journey + Q&A | Shawn Wilkie, Talkatoo
Investor Viewpoint + Q&A | Chris Crowell and Ian Whytock, Tidal Venture Partners
It was a fun day getting to know some of Nova Scotia’s and New Brunswick’s start up entrepreneurs. Many shared stories, and interesting companies doing cool things in NS. It is certainly wild to see how many amazing opportunities are right here in our own backyard! To learn more about the crew who joined us check out this article from Digital Nova Scotia.
Day One :
The conference kicked off with brilliant speakers touching on a variety of topics, but mainly AI. With AI being such a hot topic in the tech industry (it’s being touted as the fourth revolution), it was very interesting to see how other businesses were implementing generative AI. Some of the key topics/ quotes from day 1 included:
‘I’m not interested in TikTok; I’m interested in a better tomorrow’
‘I’ve talked to at least 10 Fortune 500 CIOs, and they’ve banned ChatGPT from their enterprises’
‘‘We’re not a security’ is a crock of shit’
Are free TVs the future of advertising?
Click here to learn more about these headlines!
Day Two :
The topic of AI carried into day two with speakers discussing the ethical implications of the evolving technology. Julia Brine LOVED the talk from Twitch CPO Tom Verrilli on the limitations AI has when it comes to producing an emotional response in its audience. Some of the key topics/ quotes from day two include:
AI + content creation = social isolation
Media outlets begin developing guidelines for AI use
Did lavish VCs create a pre-IPO backlog?
SVB: WTF?
Can sandwiches save the planet?
Click here to learn more about these headlines!
Day Three:
Day three was booth day for EnPoint, as an impact start-up we were stationed in the ALPHA section with other amazing HR & recruitment businesses. We met so many wonderful people including a past participant in one of our clients programs! While we weren’t able to attend the talks on day three, lots of important topics were discussed including:
AI and machine learning? The Sims has been doing it for 23 years
By excluding people with criminal records, is the tech industry ignoring an untapped resource?
Life extension drugs only decade away says healthtech VC
Bootstrapping is key to surviving a downturn
Click here to learn more about the day three headliners!
We’re so grateful to have had the opportunity to attend Collision 2023. It was a wonderful week full of new connections and inspiration. Now, we’ve taken all our lessons learned back to Halifax to fuel our growth at EnPoint.
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