The much anticipated GROW Conference in Whistler kicked off earlier today at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler, and Dealmaker Media and GROW Conf founder Deb Landa took the stage the start the festivities.
In the video, Landa spoke about how the small conference has grown over five years to the beast it is today: 3,500 patrons later, she said, GROW is “one of the leading technology and innovation conferences in the world”.
The Saskatchewan-born, Silicon Valley resident spoke about her desire to see a true, connected startup community. The conference’s theme of “living in a connected world” lends itself to the vision of how data deivces and things can enable us to live in a connected world.
“Right now we’re in the early stages of this new technology- the Internet of Things,” she said. “When I was in Whistler last winter I realized a few things; visitors here are the targeted audience for the wearables and connected device market. They’re health-conscious, active and tech savvy.”
“Whistler is proavtively transforming itself to a year-round destination resort,” she added. “They’re looking for unique ways of attracting the next generation of visitors. Moving GROW to Whistler became a little more interesting.”
Within a three-mile radius in Whistler, there exists 200 retail stores, 180 bars and restaurants, 100 hotels, 8,000 rental properyies and over 20,000 visitors a day. Meanwhile, the Internet connection is top-notch.
For Landa, it all translates to “the perfect beta site.”
