CAN BUSINESS REALLY WORK AS A FESTIVAL? IDEAS FEST IS CHALLENGING THE CORPORATE CONFERENCE
‘I THOUGHT IT WAS BONKERS’: BUSINESS LEADER ADMITS ‘GLASTONBURY FOR ENTREPRENEURS’ PROVED HIM WRONG
Champions (UK) plc Managing Director Matthew Hayes initially dismissed the idea of mixing business with the atmosphere of a festival. After experiencing Ideas Fest, he says the format reveals something bigger; an entrepreneurial community with an increasingly powerful appetite for face-to-face connection, new ideas and collaboration.
Business conferences have followed a familiar formula for decades: hotel or exhibition centre, formal presentations, networking sessions and a succession of business cards.
So when Matthew Hayes, Managing Director of Champions (UK) plc, first encountered an event described as “Glastonbury for entrepreneurs”, his reaction was hardly enthusiastic.
“I’ll admit it: when I first heard Ideas Fest described as ‘Glastonbury for entrepreneurs’, I thought the idea was bonkers,” Hayes said. “Business and festivals did not seem like a natural fit, but having experienced it for myself, I realise that I was completely wrong.”
Ideas Fest appears to have changed more than his opinion of one event. Hayes argues that it illustrates how significantly the identity and scale of Britain’s entrepreneurial community have evolved.
‘25 YEARS AGO, YOU WOULD HAVE STRUGGLED’
Entrepreneurship has undergone a cultural transformation over the past quarter-century.
For Hayes, the number of people now comfortable identifying themselves as entrepreneurs is itself evidence of that shift.
“The entrepreneurial community is stronger than ever, and the sheer scale and energy of that community genuinely surprised me,” he said.
“Twenty-five years ago, you would have struggled to bring together a room full of people who described themselves as entrepreneurs. Ideas Fest shows just how dramatically that has changed.”
The festival format may appear unconventional, but its popularity points towards a broader question for the business events industry: do entrepreneurs still want conventional conferences?
THE RETURN OF FACE-TO-FACE BUSINESS
The growth of video meetings and remote working demonstrated how much business can be conducted without people sharing the same physical space.
Hayes believes it has also increased appreciation for what technology cannot reproduce.
“Nothing replaces meeting face to face, and the appetite for genuine, in-person connection was clear throughout the event,” he said.
“Since COVID, people seem to value the opportunity to exchange ideas, build relationships and spend time with other business leaders in the same room more than ever.”
That appetite for human interaction could prove particularly important as artificial intelligence assumes a greater role in how businesses communicate, research and operate.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP STILL REWARDS DIFFERENT THINKING
Hayes argues that the event’s value was not simply networking.
“The quality of thinking at Ideas Fest was exceptional,” he said. “Whatever your area of interest, there was an opportunity to learn from people with genuine expertise. The breadth of subject matter and the calibre of the speakers made the event a rich source of insight for any business leader.”
Innovation was another recurring theme.
“Entrepreneurs still win by doing things differently, and innovation was front and centre throughout Ideas Fest,” Hayes said.
“The essence of entrepreneurship is believing there is a better way, having the courage to pursue it and then proving that it works. That matters more than ever as artificial intelligence and other technologies reshape how we do business.”
There is an irony in that observation.
Ideas Fest itself represents an attempt to apply entrepreneurial thinking to the traditional business-event model: question the established format, build something different and see whether the market embraces it.
IDEAS ARE CHEAP. EXECUTION IS HARDER.
That distinction between an unconventional concept and successfully delivering it was not lost on Hayes.
“A good idea means very little without excellent execution,” he said.
“Credit must go to Frankie, Dylan and the entire Ideas Forum team for bringing Ideas Fest to life. Having an ambitious concept is one thing, but delivering it well, earning widespread support and growing it rapidly is something else entirely.”
For entrepreneurs, it is a familiar lesson. Novelty may attract attention, but execution determines whether an idea becomes a sustainable enterprise.
‘I WAS WRONG’
Perhaps the strongest endorsement came from Hayes’ willingness to reverse his original judgment.
“Ideas Fest challenged my assumptions, which is exactly what a worthwhile business event should do,” he said.
“It made me think differently about what a business event can be, while demonstrating the incredible appetite that exists for connection, ideas and collaboration within the entrepreneurial community.”
His conclusion was unequivocal.
“The concept works, the quality is excellent and the entrepreneurial community has embraced it. I was wrong about Ideas Fest when I first heard about it, and having experienced it for myself, I can say without hesitation that it is brilliant.”
For Hayes, however, the significance extends beyond whether one unconventional business festival succeeds.
“The concept works and clearly demonstrates the remarkable strength and scale of today’s entrepreneurial community.”
If that assessment is right, Ideas Fest may be tapping into two changes simultaneously: the emergence of a much larger entrepreneurial class and a renewed premium on meeting people in the real world.
