Sometimes things are just the same. A car is a car at the same time there is a huge difference between a Rolls Royce and a Fiat Punto. Here we now have a problem is a showcase always a showcase, there are some fundamental differences. A showcase is not just a showcase like a car is just not a car.

It’s not how big the event is, it’s how it’s curated. You can see a trend right now, the lesser connected you are or that you are just a local player the higher the risk is that you end up at a bigger event and just connect with people just as unconnected and local yourself. A big event mainly works well if you already are really connected, but then just as big as speed dating to update contacts. In many cases a smaller event is preferred, it’s all about the curation.

I’m on a plane coming back from a relatively small event. Kind of new as well, but they have been smart enough to assign the curation to one of the better and bigger super networkers. Over a few days, I had meetings with the most important people from several regions. Some of the best new companies. A big portion of the shape of both mine and other festivals next year was done at this conference. And all thanks to the curation.

In front of me on the plane sits three local producers from Sweden, coming from one of the biggest events in Europe. I overhear their conversation that no bigger achievements have been made than drinking beer with a couple of local DJs. They are also a bit disappointed to not meet a certain person who is higher up in the industry in their genre. The funny part this person was at the event I was on, and we had a lovely dinner last night. And that is how it is, these three local producers are not that important for this industry person. He chose a smaller event away from his hometown to meet up with people on his level. He probably doesn’t mind meeting these local Swedish producers, but it’s not necessary. The big mistake here is that the producers were drawn to a big event thinking that make them cool and that the big players would be there. They don’t meet the decision-makers instead they meet some other local heroes that don’t make any difference. If they had been important, they might have known that this person whom they desperately needed to meet was at a totally different conference. They should have looked at the curation. They thought they bought the Rolls Royce but drove out in a Fiat Punto since they didn’t understand the curation of these events.

The future right now is curation not size. I have seen a couple of bad examples in the past weeks. Showcases that put out that industry professionals should seek them out to get free passes. A way to ensure you don’t get a well-curated festival and just throw in anyone that applies. You need to curate the industry professionals, so it becomes dynamic. Also, have them at an upper international level. Going down the route that your event is for everybody will just create a mess where the participants don’t meet who they should meet. In the worst cases, I have also seen some festivals just program with the people that always go around and ask to speak since they want a free trip. It’s easy to just say yes to those, but you end up with panels that say nothing and the rest of the industry knows who these are and gives the event a certain reputation.

To be able for the audience to make that decision that your festival is well curated you need to present the program early. A good indicator that the festival is not well curated is that they present almost all bands first and then just a month before the festival the speakers. In some really bad cases just a week before the showcase. A well-curated festival should be able to present even delegates two months before the event.

You need to take a look at the curation, not the size of the festival or last year’s edition. Then also you need to understand if this curation is attractive to where you are in your career. Not every curation is right for you. Still car is just not always just a car.