The Best Technology Conference On The Planet
Forbes has been calling it "the best technology conference on the planet." It brings together the people and companies redefining the global tech industry. Our team, along with 70,000 other attendees from over 160+ countries gathered in Lisbon, Portugal at the beginning of November for Web Summit Conference. With 1200+ speakers, such as Brad Smith (President of Microsoft), Katherine Maher (CEO of Wikipedia), and Manik Gupta (CPO of Uber) discussing how we can transform the world with tech.
Web Summit presented us with the perfect opportunity to learn about the different company cultures and the importance of wellness in workplaces by connecting us with people from all across the world. After hearing their stories and learning about their companies, we tried to reflect on if there was a common theme that kept coming up amongst visitors. Smith said,
“we noticed a few reoccurring problems while talking to these new potential Smart Breakers. While we are happy to hear many companies have an existing wellness program, such as a class or gym membership being offered. Only a low percentage of employees participate, and unfortunately this can be seen as successful. We believe that by making programs easy to use and quick, we can drive usage percentage up over 50%. We hope that everybody understands the potential that Smart Break presents."
The majority of the feedback we received about Smart Break was positive, however, one thing we heard was, “you expect me to do these movements in front of people”. Johan Boholm, our Founder, wanted to give some advice to those who are hesitant about moving in front of their coworkers. “First of all, you don’t have to do the movements in front of people. We realize that some employees want to be alone while they workout. This program can be easily done at your desk too. However, what we have found is that after using Smart Break together for a couple of weeks, it doesn't feel strange to move in front of your coworkers anymore."
On the final day of the event, Lawrence gave a 2-minute talk about Smart Break. He pitched Smart Break with 14 other Health and Wellness professionals. “The message we here at Smart Break want to push is that simplicity goes a long way. We center our program on the idea that 3 minutes is all you need. It is a simple approach to moving during the day and you don’t need any equipment. We have many values and ideas around wellness but at the end of the day if you can simplify your product for everyone it is a plus.”
The idea of Web Summit is to gather technology companies, fast-growing startups, and policymakers to ask the simple question of “where to next?” After the event, Johan commented on where the future is headed for Smart Break.
Right now we are targeting people that sit too much. In the future, we want to involve people from other sectors too - like the care sector - with a targeted solution for them. We also want to offer a turnkey solution that includes everything needed for the implementation. Collaboration with wellness coaches, to provide a more holistic solution, is on our agenda too.
