Photo Gallery 029: Internet Conference, Another “Vanity Fair” In China

(Chinese Version)

Editor s Note:

Holding press conferences is one of the most direct way for a company to interact with the outside. There aren t any survey suggesting how many innovation conferences, salons, press conferences and forums were held in the Chinese internet and venture capital circle every day, but as long as to have a glimpse of the WeChat of any tech insider, you would find that his or her WeChat friends circle was bombarded with photos and short videos from these events.

People rushed to attend these events, free or not, for various reasons: to see internet tycoons in flesh, to exchange business cards, to look for tips, to add WeChat accounts, to hook up for girls… No matter why people attended these events, one thing is for sure: they are always looking for something, whether it s opportunities, investment, ideas or fun.

To some degree, internet conference is another “vanity fair” centered around fame, fortune, power and wisdom. It s also like a bond linking people of all walks of life and holding different ideas. In TMTpost Photo Gallery 029, we focused our attention on internet conferences. It is our hope that our report on both the roots and elites in these conferences may help you have a glimpse of modern China.

It was June, 15th, 2016. During a product upgrading conference of a company, the light followed the speaker and left a shadow on the LED screen.

Before a venture capital investment activity, investor Mr. Xiong Xiaoge accepted an interview with media.

One doctor in the audience grabbed the opportunity to speak with Mr. Xiong and introduced that he wanted to develop medical robots to help treat patients. “I have thought it over and developed a pretty mature production plan. All I need is a couple of software engineer,” he explained, quite enthusiastically. He made the audience laugh several times in the two-minute “roadshow”, but after several rounds of Q&A, Mr. Xiong suggested that he was not interested in the project, saying that “Of course, you can stick to your project and make it out, but I will not invest in the project.”

After the speech, Mr. Xiong was prepared to leave the hall, but he was surrounded by people before he even walked to the gate. Some people tried to give him their business cards, others asked for his business cards, still others asked for his phone number, while the rest tried to introduce to him their startup projects. Mr. Xiong finally managed to leave the hall with the help of security guards.

After failing to get Mr. Xiong interested, the doctor soon printed a few copies of his startup plan and gave them to other investors who were leaving the hall.

After a lecture, the speaker was surrounded by people who asked for his WeChat ID. However, he didn t bring too many business cards, so he showed the last business card for them to scan the QR code on it and add his WeChat account.

For startups, delivering a speech in a roadshow and holding promotional activities outside of the venue are equally important to introduce their projects to others. In the above picture, offline promotion specialists of a startup dressed themselves up like aliens to attract passers-by to scan their QR codes and win the opportunity to draw a lottery.

A music content startup held a product upgrading conference at a Livehouse. After the event, journalists were waiting in the rest area to conduct an interview. Internet startups are eager for media report and publicity, so journalists became a necessary part of any product release conference, summit, or open day activity, etc.

It was May, 25th, Chongqing. Only two hours after the beginning of an “Innovation Conference” attended by entrepreneurs abroad and at home as well as government officials, began, the audience have begun to leave.

It was May, 17th. On a small sharing salon about engineer recruitment held in a mass-innovation incubator, a speaker shared his operation experience of an engineer community with the audience.

It was an internet summit attended by leading Chinese internet tycoons including Ma Huateng (Pony Ma), Wang Xing, Yao Jinbao, etc. CCTV program “Dialogue” took the opportunity and shot a new program during the summit. What internet tycoons said in this kind of summits always aroused huge public discussion on the internet.

After the interview, organizers soon moved away all the chairs on the stage to get prepared for the next event.

After internet tycoons left, a guy approached their seats and found some drafts probably left by Pony Ma. “It s worthy collecting these drafts, because these drafts might reveal to us some secrets,” he explained. He also collected other drafts left by the other guests, and told us he would do some research afterwards.

It was the B2 junk room of China World Trade Center Tower 3, Beijing. After an innovation conference ended, the building cleaner collected lots of paper bags, gifts from the venue. “There are lots of books, but they are meaningless because I can t understand them. I shall sell all these stuffs to the garbage man who s to arrive soon,” he explained.

TMTpost Photo Gallery

Special column of TMTpost
Aiming to record individuals and entrepreneurs in the Internet industry
Photos don t lie, but they don tell the whole truth
Photos are free, but also full of traps
This is an Internet age, and we want you to discover stories with us online

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[The article is published and edited with authorization from the author @fliesslaughterhouse, please note source and hyperlink when reproduce.]

Translated by Garrett Lee (Senior Translator at PAGE TO PAGE), working for TMTpost.