Montréal’s digital creativity industries are big business. From gaming to immersive experiences to visual effects and animation, we’ve got an expertise, talent pool and competitive landscape worth boasting about. That’s why HUB Montréal is so apropos: happening at the Montréal convention centre from October 16 to 18, 2023, it’s an international accelerator event that’s been drawing international participants in the digital creativity biz since 2017.
Calling all creative professionals
As project manager and director of programming Rachel Parent puts it, HUB Montréal isn’t primarily intended to educate or entertain — it’s an event whose mission has always been to produce new business opportunities and working relationships for creative professionals.
“Hub Montréal was never a general public event,” says Parent. “It’s quite niche. It draws about 700 participants now, each of whom brings added value to the event. This professional aspect is part of the event’s DNA: all our activities are designed to enhance the promotion and growth of local business, as well as networking and business development for all participants.”
With events that are mostly in English (with simultaneous translation in French and other languages) and an international attendance focused on decision makers and a dynamic energy, Hub Montréal is a perfect opportunity to demonstrate bold achievements. It’s also a place of business for various creative ecosystems, including in the entertainment, cultural and the experiential marketing sectors, in the presence of local and international buyers, investors and contractors.
What’s in store?
The 2023 theme for the event is Circulation(s): Catalyze Innovations. It refers to the importance of knowledge sharing, says Parent. “It’s actually an homage to Montréal’s ecosystem, and how there’s a lot of support and sharing here, both of knowledge and of resources. We want to share that spirit with the world, for people to experience it at the event and take it back home with them. Collaboration is essential to innovation.”
The 2023 event continues its mission to showcase local creative business through a rich and diverse program featuring bold panels, expert conferences, workshops, round tables and lots of B2B networking. Among the programming highlights, participants can look forward to a cool collaboration with Colombia University’s digital storytelling lab, an activity with Backup Ukraine about heritage preservation, and an out-of-this-world virtual reality experience courtesy of Felix & Paul Studios called L’Infini, which will take them to space. The main speaker of the event will be Martin Tremblay, from the local company turned global force Solotech.
An event in constant evolution
The event was founded in 2017 by Montréal creative great Sébastien Nasra, because despite the rich creativity ecosystem in the city there was a need for an event that brought it all together and shared it with the world.
Since then, it’s been in constant expansion, with a growing number of international participants every year.
“The event has gained notoriety so there’s a lot of interest in attendance,” says Parent. “The impact of the event has evolved — there are twice the business meetings as there were, many more activities in addition to the conferences, and master classes that ensure we always present the latest in technological innovation. Our main goal is to provide more and more opportunities to interact, and to occupy more and more space within the city of Montréal — all of the spaces that celebrate digital creativity.”
Cheat sheet
Event: HUB Montréal
Dates: October 16 to 18, 2023
Location: Palais des congrès de Montréal
Website: hubmontreal.com
Twitter: @hubmontreal
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