About Slush 2022 and why this conference is great

I have been last week to Slush 2022. It was a great experience. 

First of all, Slush is organized by students in Helsinki. The Board is being elected every year. Slush belongs to nobody but to the Finnish Tech ecosystem. There is a foundation which was founded by 57 members (It should be like 10 years ago) to give a official body to the entire event. The elected students might question the past and do something new – and this brings a big dynamic to Slush. And its a non profit organization. 

Secondly, it is not only the students. It is the entire city of Helsinki and the entire Finnish Tech ecosystem. This is fascinating – if you compare this with conferences in the bigger European countries, you always have a “owner” or “founder” and I am not sure if the entire ecosystem is in full support of it. This was quite different at Slush. I have talked with many Finnish entrepreneurs and investors and they all feel as a part of it. How great is this? Some Finnish investors explained me the Finnish concept of “Talko”. A word which stands for a kind of “cooperative voluntary work”. Well, and the entire Slush organization is based on this Talko. 

Slush is not only a two day conference – it is a week of events. All the other events are called “side events”: Parties, networking events, poker tournaments, sauna meetings, city walks, lunches, dinners, private meetings etc. The range is so wide that it is really impressive – and beyond what other conferences are having. And again, the entire city is aware of Slush and everybody tries to help. This creates a special experience. 

Another important topic to talk about is the focus of Slush: It is all around start-ups. They are just focusing on the start-ups, inviting hundreds of investors, role models, leaders and provide a perfect stage to connect with each other, with investors, with future employees and co-founders and lots of interesting people. This was my biggest pleasure during Slush 2022. 

I have learned many new ways how to organize a conference and I have met so many people from the Finnish Tech ecosystem. And I believe they have created a real ecosystem, maybe one of the best in Europe. They benefit from their small size (as a country) and I saw all the elements which made Tel Aviv a great ecosystem: Sharing, caring and helping each other. 

In 2022, I was told that 8,000 people participated at Slush. Maybe a quarter of them were “tech tourist”: people in the tech world without a real reason to be there. Too many tech tourists kill the quality but I am sure the next generation of students will also find a solution for this. 

All in all, Slush is a great experience and different from many other conferences.