TBD Conference : 'Espérance' - Wrap Report

‘Espérance’ was TBD’s fourth outing (!), fully virtual thanks to Groovy Gecko (and Omicron flare-ups around the world!), focusing on the light, the end of the tunnel, and the future.

Inspired by Amanda Gorman’s inauguration poem (‘The Hill We Climb’), the talks focused on moving forward boldly with a clear understanding of the issues involved. From luck to transgender funding, TIkTok’s future to AI strategy, TBD covered a wide arena all punctuated with digital art breaks provided by diverse artists from Yuma Yanagisawa to Philip Clemo thanks to Sedition.

People really liked the sound bath during lunch performed by Molly from 3 Tribes (39% mentioned it in feedback). You can watch it below or here. Some improvements we’ll make next year that we heard from feedback, names of people on screen at the same time they are talking (roger that!), even more Sedition (art) breaks (fine with us!), polls - you missed them (got it, we’ll do some next year).

We made our own gin this year too! ‘Ory’ was launched and if you buy 250 trees in the TBD Forest (£35), you get a bottle free. The flavour of Ory fits in with TBD values; juniper (fresh), citrus (sharp), black tea (bold) and just a little bit of spice. Ory was created just for ‘Espérance’ and will never be repeated, only 100 bottles exist and each comes with a certificate of authenticity. Buy your ‘plot’ here.

42% of attendees were first-timer TBDers and we again had an international audience with over 30 countries joining throughout the day. Overall, the satisfaction score for ‘Espérance’ was 9.18. The platform experience remained high too - 9.1. Thanks to everyone who joined on the day, bought tickets and, of course, the speakers and partners.

Check out all the talks on Newcon, TBD’s on-demand platform.

The TBD ‘Espérance’ Cohort included:

  • Tom Standage (He/Him) (Deputy Editor, The Economist)

  • Russell Davies (He/Him) (Strategist/Writer)

  • Didem Ün Ateş (She/Her) (Head of Applied Strategy, Data & AI | CDO Office, Microsoft)

  • Trevor Johnson (He/Him) (Head of Marketing, GBS, Europe at TikTok, TikTok)

  • Ali Parsa (He/Him) (CEO, Babylon Health)

  • Sam Conniff (He/Him) (Creator, Uncertainty Experts)

  • Tracey Follows (She/Her) (CEO, Futuremade)

  • Michael Bhaskar (He/Him) (Author, Journalist)

  • Dr. Christian Busch (Clinical Assistant Professor, NYU)

  • Laura Jordan Bambach (She/Her) (CCO, Grey)

  • Gareth Tennant (He/Him) (Ex-Marine, CEO of DAC)

  • Jidi Guo (She/Her) (Managing Partner, Inner Chapter)

  • Natalie J. Egan (She/Her) (CEO/Founder, Translator, Inc.)

  • Katherine Templar Lewis (She/Her) (Neuroscientist/CEO, Kinda Studios)

  • Miss Yankey (She/Her) (Founder, Poetry Prescribed)

  • Dr Ian Pearson (He/Him) (Superforecaster)

  • Yosuke Ushigome (He/Him) (Creative Technologist, Takram)

  • Simon Alexander Ong (He/Him) (Coach, Author of ‘Energize’)

  • Stephen Lepitak (He/Him)(Europe Bureau Chief, Adweek)

  • Joe Welstead (He/Him) (CEO of Motion Nutrition)

  • Molly Anne Chinner (She/Her) (Teacher, 3 Tribes)

  • Lorenzo Thione (He/Him) (MD, Gaingels)

  • Liz Moseley (She/Her) (Editor/Partner, Tortoise Media)

First-time attendees described TBD ‘Espérance’ as:

  • A brain refresh.

  • Totally different, challenging, good value

  • A day of inspiration to trigger new ways of thinking to tackle the challenges/opportunities your face as a business professional as well as in your personal life

  • Unmissable, and weird in a good way

  • A highly inspirational and worthwhile event

  • a creative, holistic experience

  • So many great speakers it will give you whiplash

  • A source of interesting ideas and inspiration.

  • Something completely different. Lots of unexpected energy

Paul Armstrong