"The journey has been so amazing."

The first online Ecsite day took place on 11 June and almost 800 attendees joined us throughout the day from 57 different coutries across the world. The Ecsite day anchors, Brad Irwin and Dorothée Vatinel, kept us entertained and informed throughout the whole day, allowing us to feel a sense of togetherness that we have during an Ecsite Conference, despite being physically not together.

The keynote lecture, sponsored by The Kavli Foundation, was given by Nicolas Nova and covered the theme of design fiction and the near future. It was really a session not-to-be-missed and the reactions from the audience were incredibly positive.

We had a short break for coffee and networking, and thanks to the Ecsite app, attendees could join or create meetups to discuss topics of their choosing. Following this, we were treated to a conversation with Jurij Krpan and Andrea Bandelli, discussing "Echoes from the future" and the work of the Kersnikova institute. Lies were wanted with the session with the GameLab as we played a session on finding the truth amongst the lies.

Over lunch, there were more meetups and networking sessions, before we were warmly welcomed back to the day by Ecsite Executive Director, Catherine Franche. An emotional and truly heartwarming speech where we were all promised a date next year in Stavanger: "I love what you do, who you are, what you think, imagine, what you tremble for or against. Over the years, I’ve seen you evolve, reflect, go wild and crazy, question yourself, share and offer. I’ve seen you desperate and hopeful. I can testify of your strength and resilience. Today I miss you. Terribly. But we will meet again. Now we have a wonderful Ecsite Day, but next year in Stavanger, you and I have a date." Catherine Franche, Ecsite day, 11 June 2020.

The afternoon was dedicated to incredibly relevant panel sessions on 'Crisis as a catalyst' and 'The future of business models' and a tinkering session from the #MakeEcsite group - ensuring we all made the most of simple household tools and equipment to create light and shadows.

To finish off the day, we were able to look forward to the 2021 Ecsite Conference with an introduction from our new hosts, before winding down with the Ecsite Jazz Band (as no event would be complete without them) and a Quintessential pub quiz. As Mikko Myllykoski, Chair of the Conference Programme Committee summarised, "The journey has been so amazing."

Re-watch it all on our YouTube channel.