6 Reasons to attend Dublin Web Summit, Europe’s SXSW, in October

What do Tony Hawk, Robert Scoble, and Kevin Rose have in common? Perhaps they share a common hobby that we are unaware about, but they will all be speaking at the Web Summit conference later this year.

The Web Summit is growing year after year, and what started as a small conference with 500 attendants only three years ago is now the biggest tech conference on European ground – last year 4.200 attended the conference. It’s the place where exciting startups mingle with investors, large companies learn from industry leaders, and where disruptive businesses exhibit their latest innovations.

The venue will again be in Dublin, and it’s not by chance that the conference takes place in this small corner of Europe – many tech companies have their headquarters in Dublin which explains why last year approximately 40% of the participants came from Ireland.

This year Web Summit is introducing some nice additions to the conference. Take BrandX, a new Digital Marketing Stage that brings together iconic brands such as Coca-Cola, Adidas, and Heineken play cool together with some of the most disruptive tech companies like Facebook, Google, and Yahoo!. A BrandX pass gives access to talks, workshops, networking events and more, making it the golden ticket for those in Marketing, Advertising, or Sales.

For the promising startups out there, the Web Summit has got you covered. Their Alpha program is selecting 10 incredible startups every week and giving them an exhibition stand so they can showcase their work to the conference attendants. How cool is it to be exhibiting next to big tech companies (that by the way paid 9.950€ to be there)? You can apply for free at their website, if you are one of the selected startups, you only have to pay the price of two entrance tickets (495€ each) and you get an exhibition stand and two entrance tickets.

If on the other hand you like the pitch stage, you can apply for the Pitch competition. Anyone with an entrance ticket can apply for free. Looking at the Hall of Fame from previous editions, you can expect tough competition. The event brings 150 startups head to head battling against each other for the final rounds. Even though the way up is not easy, the Pitch winners get a lot of media and investor attention that come as a valuable fuel for launching their business.

For sure, the next Facebook will be present at this event, and that’s why investors are flocking to get their tickets since this is one of the best opportunities to meet high potential teams on this side of the pond. The Web Summit has actually created a new investor badge. Investors like Andreessen Horowitz, Atomico, and Google Ventures will attend the event – so be sure to spot those when you’re there!

The conference has been dubbed as “Europe’s SXSW” which is a big statement by itself. Needless to say if you’re an entrepreneur with aspirations of world domination, an investor looking for the rising startups in Europe, or somehow connected to tech in business, the Web Summit 2013 is the place to be.

Tickets for super early birds are selling like hot cakes at 495€ and you can buy them here. Our editor Liam Boogar will be there in October so expect more news from the Web Summit in the first person here at the Rude Baguette!