The winning team provided the best solution, answering the question of how the future of the event industry will look. Among the urgent issues touched upon were sustainability, matchmaking, experience and event management.

Each challenge was ‘hacked’ by two teams consisting of experts, scientists, students and professionals from the Netherlands and abroad. The Hackathon finished with animated presentations before the jury, which included Annemarie van Gaal (entrepreneur and member of the Supervisory Board of RAI Amsterdam) and Jeroen Jansen (former creative director of ID&T, and the mind behind Tomorrowland, Sensation and Mysteryland).

The jury unanimously crowned the solution from the team ‘From purple to virtual’, which combined modular stand-building with ‘mixed reality’. This concept enriches sustainable stands with an interactive digital world, featuring reusable stand building blocks transported by robots to minimise external logistics.

Jury chair Annemarie van Gaal explained the decision: “With its ‘mixed-reality’ concept, this team is blazing a trail for the entire event industry.” The winning team will donate their €2,500 cheque to Ocean Cleanup, their charity of choice.

Paul Riemens, CEO of RAI Amsterdam, commented: “I am very proud that we organised this event. The hackers showed us what creative and innovative solutions we can come up with when we work together on a multidisciplinary level.

It’s crucial that we look at our challenges with a fresh eye and mindset, as changes that impact our sector are occurring at a rapid pace. I’d like to see this hackathon as the first in a series of initiatives in which we work together towards solid, feasible solutions from which the entire industry can benefit.”