Web Summit's startup guide bans stickers, business cards, flyers and any paper handouts. For a design studio, that is a good problem.
Forma has one exhibition day, at a booth one metre wide. It is a counter, with a printed board above it and two sockets. You cannot stick anything on the board, or bring banners, roll-ups or furniture. And the giveaways have to fit in one hand-carried box of 50 by 50 centimetres.
We ended up with a rule of our own: everything a person takes from us goes on their phone or on their body. The screen is our poster.
Pins instead of stickers
Reusable giveaways are allowed. We made pins with the six faces of the F, Forma's symbol: Curious, Happy, Wink, Focused, Surprised and Calm.
The t-shirt asks the question
The guide recommends matching t-shirts for the team. Ours have the brand on the front and a question on the back: "Wanna learn with me?", with a QR code underneath. Anyone walking behind us in a corridor is one gesture away from the website.
A quiz instead of a speech
One metre of counter fits one idea, not three. We chose a quiz, "How much do you know?", running on a laptop with the leaderboard next to it. You play by category, such as Design and Business.
The first test was on Tuesday
Before our exhibition day, we took everything to the Unicorn Factory Lisboa stand, where Forma is incubated. On Tuesday, 10 November, the team was there in the afternoon, with the t-shirts on and the quiz open. The recap of that day is here.
This Wednesday, 11 November, we are at booth A5-03, Pavilion 3, until 17:00. The pins are there.
