The Luxury of Space at a Space Conference
I have noticed something strange about our industry:
We seem to measure conference success by the level of inconvenience it causes.
If the hallways are packed, the coffee queue stretches halfway across the venue, and you spend the day pushing through the crowds while two stages battle for acoustic supremacy, everyone leaves saying: Wow, that place was busy.
But if the venue is spacious, the hallways are wide, the lighting is pleasant (with proper sunlight), and you can actually hear the person standing next to you, people start wondering whether attendance was lower than expected.
Somewhere along the way, we started confusing claustrophobia with success.
SmallSat Europe was a great example of how things can be done right:
The event felt open, bright, and comfortable. There was carpet absorbing the noise. The audience used headphones to listen to talks and presentations.
And most importantly: You could walk from one side of the venue to the other without feeling like you were participating in a Kessler syndrome event.
And yet, people were everywhere.
I could barely cross the venue without stopping to talk to someone. Every break between my scheduled meetings turned into an ad-hoc meeting or seeing another familiar face.
Customers met suppliers. Startups meet investors. Companies met future partners. Old colleagues reconnected.
The place was busy.
It just was not busy in the sense that the gold standard is fitting as many people as possible into a venue using compression algorithms that would make WinRAR proud.
What SmallSat Europe gets right is that it fills a genuine gap in the European event calendar. There are plenty of conferences throughout the year, but surprisingly few major opportunities in spring to do some hardcore B2B or even B2G networking, and generate fresh leads before summer arrives.
The location certainly helps. Amsterdam is one of the easiest cities in Europe to reach, and the venue is only sixteen minutes by train from the airport. No complicated transfers, no layovers, no “my hotel is technically located in another country.”
You arrive, get your badge, and start meeting people.
A conference does not need competing speakers, endless queues, or “someone’s elbow in my stomach” situations to create value.
Or maybe we have become so accustomed to overcrowded venues that anything short of claustrophobia feels suspicious?
Room for improvement? Yes. I would ditch the “half-day” concept. And… as far as I know, the next edition should be full three days.
Will I come again? Sure. After all, the goal is not to count how many people you bump into.
The goal is to remember how many meaningful conversations you had.