Bearhunt has launched the Sympo, it's own unique concept which is the antidote to the deadly dreariness of traditional conferences.

If conferences are so boring then why do people keep attending? They want to fill a need for information and connection, yet so often come away feeling empty and drained.

It doesn’t have to be like that. The clues to a new way of equipping people with new knowledge and energising them into action can be found by looking backwards….to medieval England and to ancient Greece.

The Festival Gene

Over the past decade there has been a massive increase in the number of festivals organised in the UK…..music, literature, arts, culinary to name but a few. Researchers speculate that this is helping to fulfil a deep-seated need which goes back to medieval Britain. Then it was common for every village to hold its own festival, and it was not unusual for villagers to attend six or seven festivals a year.

These events were about connection; helped to spread new ideas and innovations; provided a way to find out news; were uplifting and inspirational; offered an opportunity to demonstrate community pride; were competitive and collaborative; they engaged all of the senses.

Perhaps there is a festival gene, who knows? Yet we can learn a lot from festivals as formats for passing new knowledge, connecting people and inspiring action.

I am therefore I drink

We have never had so much information. We are swamped with it via apps and emails, twitters and TV channels and making sense of it all is harder than ever.

It happens at a tremendous pace and it seems that even the currency of the winebar is the size of your decibel count. The ancient Greeks invented the symposium….a gathering over wine where people took it in terms to share their ideas and others had a duty to listen whilst people were talking. A simple idea, yet one which is being lost as information sharing has created a tsunami of noise.

Download the  Sympo Prospectus (1.73 MB)

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