The Challenge
The Stockholm Smart City Conference is one of Northern Europe's leading events for urban innovation, bringing together decision-makers, city leaders, researchers, entrepreneurs, and tech companies to discuss the future of cities.
Ahead of the conference, an internationally renowned expert in urban innovation, active at both Harvard and Aretian, was invited to share insights from groundbreaking research and innovation projects.
The challenge was not a lack of expertise — but rather translating highly specialised content into presentations and panel discussions that would resonate with a broad audience of policymakers, innovators, and industry professionals. Additionally, the conference was impacted by substantial logistical uncertainty due to the pandemic, demanding flexibility, coordination, and meticulous planning.
Our Contribution
As Content Director for the conference, Jenny worked closely with the speaker throughout the preparation process:
Developing and refining presentation content for a broad professional audience
Structuring key messages and discussion points for maximum engagement
Planning and coordinating conference logistics and speaker preparation
Conducting pre-interviews to strengthen the overall conference experience
Providing support with moderation and audience interaction during the event
Special emphasis was placed on making complex research, urban analytics methodologies, and innovation frameworks accessible and engaging — without compromising on academic rigour.
The Outcome
The result was a highly successful conference contribution that seamlessly connected advanced research and practical innovation with the needs and interests of the audience.
Through meticulous content development, speaker coaching, and facilitation, the sessions highlighted pioneering work in urban science, smart cities, sustainability, mobility, and urban design — demonstrating how strategic content curation and speaker support transform expert knowledge into memorable conference experiences.
