The Summit - formerly known as The Web Summit review

by Startacus Admin
So, let’s start with a caveat - this ain't a detailed review of the speakers and the talkers, the financial wins, and the events - you will hear enough about them from all the other press at ‘The Summit’.
This is an alternative look at The Summit (the artist formerly known as Dublin Web Summit), where we’re picking out our fave 4 things at the event -
things that might not otherwise have been noted by those trés important press folk from across the world.
Firstly, The Summit is the new brand name for the Dublin Web Summit / Web Summit and the reasoning? Well it’s not just a Summit about Tech - it’s a summit, one might say an avalanche of everything that’s happening and good in the startup / music / food / and so on world. So here’s the top 4 things that floated our boat (apart of course from the important stuff - the talks, the pitches and all that networking…)
There really were people there!
We’ve been to quite a few events before and have seen many organisers tending to be a little generous with their estimations of how many attendees they expect and how many they have had. Do they just pluck big numbers out of the sky? We reckon most probably! Anyhow, we digress...The Summit organisers were completely justified with their claims of 10000+ attendees. The place was absolutely heaving - the RDS venue filled to the rafters with people - press, startups, speakers and judges. No false claims here!
The sofa, The food, The coffee
So, fair enough that’s 3 points - but it is our article, so move on if this bothers you! First the sofa - a symbolic (or maybe actually genuine) sofa that the founders sat on to come up with and develop the idea of the Web Summit, was plonked right in the the middle of the event floor. The ‘here’s where it all started’ sign emphasising that whole analogy about little acorns and mighty oak trees. In this case, it really brought home the whole notion of how what might start as just an idea can grow and grow and grow…
As for the food and coffee? Well, thanks to Good Food Ireland, we were able to sample food and drink from some of the country’s top food and drink producers - all for free. Great food, great coffee and really appreciated too!.
Those wooden chairs
Sometimes these startups / enterprise events are a little sterile - full of promises beforehand about how ‘cool’ or ‘out there’ they’ll be. In reality however, despite having a musician or a jazz band in the corner or a notice board to add your business cards to, the main event area can often appear as just a showcase of tired looking business services trying to unsurprisingly get your business. Don’t get me wrong, The Summit offers these things too - but not in a dull way. Little touches like the beaten up wooden chairs and pub benches and barrels to rest your bum, show that these folk certainly aren’t about putting on an event thats more style than substance. Here at Startacus, we reckon it’s the small touches like this which can make all the difference.
The startups
Startups, there were thousands of ‘em! Well perhaps slight exaggeration - but the point here is that for all the speakers and talks and debates - the real star of the show was the wealth of startups that are coming to the fore and showcasing their wares - all good ones at that! Really really inspiring and fab to see.
So that’s our alternative review of The Summit / Web Summit / Dublin Web Summit. We hope we get a chance to go back next year - whatever its name may be, it would be a pleasure to be there.
If you like what you see here on Startacus and want to get involved yourself, why not become a member of our growing community by joining for free here!Subscribe to our newsletter
If you would like to receive our startup themed newsletter, full of the latest startup opportunities, events, news, stories, tips and advice, then sign up here.
Carbon marketplace experts JustCarbon urge businesses to consider carbon credits to offset carbon emissions now or to bank them while market prices are low.

The UK’s fastest-growing plant-based meat brand, THIS™ set to launch Seedrs campaign to support further innovation, bold marketing and international expansion.

New mentorship programme aims to enable Hootsuite employees to shed light on their lived and sector experience and support BYP Network members’ career development.

CropSafe, a platform revolutionizing the future of farming, announce that they have raised over $3M in seed funding and have opened U.S. headquarters in Los Angeles.

Voicy, the online content platform for discovering, creating and sharing sound-clips and sound-effects secures investment to support team expansion and global growth.

Career Masterclass has launched a new website to showcase its offerings, as a strategic partner for businesses wanting to bolster D&I policies.

NI Startup? Fancy showcasing your startup at this year's Digital DNA event? We've got up to 10 spaces for NI startups to do just that. Here's the details!

Germany's leading digital solar platform, Zolar secures major investment to support roll out of new digital energy products.

Metro Bank seeks startups and scaleups with a focus on customer experience, community banking, optimisation of systems & data and sustainability for its second innovation lab.

Need a little extra motivation to get your daily step count up? Treekly will help you do your bit for the climate crisis with every step you take...
Published on: 1st November 2013
If you would like to enable commenting via your Startacus account, please enable Disqus functionality in your Account Settings.







- Voicy lands €1.2 million pre-Seed from Global Founders Capital to build the GIPHY for sound 20th May 2022 Voicy, the online content platform for discovering, creating and sharing sound-clips and sound-effects secures investment to support team expansion and global growth.
- Zolar Lands €100 Million Series C On The Back Of Surging Demand For Affordable Green Energy 19th May 2022 Germany's leading digital solar platform, Zolar secures major investment to support roll out of new digital energy products.
- Metro Bank opens call for participants for second Magic Makers programme 17th May 2022 Metro Bank seeks startups and scaleups with a focus on customer experience, community banking, optimisation of systems & data and sustainability for its second innovation lab.
- Storyblok Raises $47M Series B to Make Headless Content Management the New Standard 17th May 2022 Storyblok secures major investment to further accelerate product innovation and growth into the US and Europe.