C2’s CEO on Intentional Design and Orchestrated Serendipity

How do you get event attendees thinking in new ways about creativity and commerce?

That’s the mission behind C2, which was named by Skift Meetings as one of the Best Business Events of 2024. During an online event held this week, Anick Beaulieu, C2’s CEO, shed light on the organizers’ intentional design strategies.

“What we try to do is to get people to take a couple of days out of their busy lives to open up to where the world of business is going and how we can be better actors, both in our roles and our companies, but also as people,” she said.

Beyond Comfort Zones

The 2024 C2, held May 21-23 at the Grand Quay of the Port Montréal, was a mix of educational sessions on topics such as renewable energy, sustainable architecture, and the societal impact of technology, along with performances, master classes and Braindates, where the attendees shaped the conversation.

The first C – the creativity of the event’s design – results in moments of what Beaulieu calls ‘orchestrated serendipity,’ where the 5,000 attendees from all over the world (a mix of entrepreneurs, innovators, creators and business executives) retreat from their comfort zones to try activities like hanging 30 feet up in the air or baking lasagna together. It’s during these sessions that they get to meet other like-minded individuals that they would likely not get to meet otherwise. 

“It’s impossible for us to know exactly what that magic will be, but it’s possible to architect the event and the experience to multiply these number of connections. 

“I think that this is all part of the magic we want to create, and orchestrating or pulling the strings to see what emerges is one of our passions.”

The second C – commerce – arises from the new connections. “We design formats, methodologies and ways for people to get to meet faster, deeper and more meaningfully,” Beaulieu said. “We believe that by doing that, there’s actually more chance that people will find their next business partner or client.

“At C2 we always say, ‘People do business together, companies don’t do business together.’ ”

Three Pillars

C2’s three pillars are experiences, sustainability, and transformative technologies.

“These pillars are really at the core of what we’re exploring,” Beaulieu said. “They’re fundamental in the way we think, and in how business will evolve in the coming years.”

As a throughline, each of the three days of the 2024 event had a theme: Experiential & Immersive, Sustainability & Innovation and AI & Commerce. These themes were anchored by the host destination of Montreal.

“Montreal is a very important part of our identity,” Beaulieu said. “It is an extremely creative city and home to some of the best experiential studios out there. It’s a city that’s vibrant in terms of technology, and AI in particular. It’s also a very sustainable city.”

It’s this framework that consistently leaves C2 attendees feeling like they are part of something special, she said.

“You’re going to be far more interested in sharing where you are, taking a picture, or posting on Instagram if you’re part of something that you feel is meaningful. And so for us, that’s where we think that creativity is really linked to business outcome.”