Last week, over 200 investors, entrepreneurs and corporates turned out for two great days of learning, growing, and connecting at IoT Forum 2015.
The BLN produce events where delegates are encouraged to listen and learn – not shout about their own products and businesses. The IoT Forum embodied this philosophy with the overwhelming atmosphere emanating from Robinson College being one of open collaboration born from mutual interest in a growing industry. We have already received great feedback of budding new business connections from the Forum – worth the price of admission alone.
The speakers were also on fine form. Andy Stanford-Clark created audible gasps of excitement from the audience with his hydrogen cell powered Raspberry Pi talk, and Rick Robinson did the impossible by making Birmingham sound like a beacon of hope – demonstrating how the reality of IoT is not wearables but large scale projects such as smart cities. The talks touched on a wide range of topics meaning the Forum lived up to its billing of stripping away the hype from IoT and instead grounding it in real business lessons.
Another highlight was our Ones to Watch List presentations. 13 hand picked emerging companies in the IoT space presented their offerings to the packed auditorium. The likes of AudioWings delivered charisma and excitement whilst Grasp.io inspired the inner child in the delegation. Never before has such an applause been received for a LED light to turn red, then blue, then red again!
On the subject of inner child, IoT Forum wasn’t afraid to touch on the hard subjects affecting the IoT and Technology sectors. Impromptu discussions and contributions from prominent entrepreneur Wendy Tan, as well as Violet Littlewood delivered points so directly and perfectly crafted it was hard to believe there is even a debate on these subjects at all.
Overall, it was a really great two days. We would like to thank everyone who attended this years event for making it so special. If you missed it, make sure to keep an eye out for updates on next years event on our Twitter. Roll on IoT Forum 2016!
For the slides from the Forum, please follow this link.
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