Web Summit runs online from December 2-4, and comes with appearances from professionals in tech, politics, entertainment, fashion, and more. From tennis star Serena Williams to PayPal CEO Dan Schulman, there will be an overflow of talent and advisors for those able to keep up. Roundtable discussions will touch on subjects like climate change, ethics and data collection, and urban mobility, to name a few.
The three-day conference will air over five channels: Centre (1), Creators (2), Society (3), Builders (4) and Portugal (5). Organizers are expecting over 100,000 attendees from over 150 countries.
On December 2, starting at 6:20AM ET, Wikimedia founder Jimmy Wales will appear to chat about the open-source information network that Wikimedia has created.
By 11AM, you can do air cheers with Aaron Paul and Bryan Cranston during their presentation, which will showcase their new mescal, Dos Hombres. Then you can watch Renata Quintini (Renegade Partners) and Claudine Emeott (Salesforce Impact Fund) review 60-second pitches from startups. Also around this time, Mark Cuban will take part in a Q&A.
At 12:10PM, Liverpool CF’s Diogo Jota and Nuno Moura (Portugal Football Federation) will look at the evolution of football.
Science and technology buffs can take in an afternoon discussion at 12:50PM with Jim Swanson (Johnson & Johnson CIO), Recursion president and COO, Tina Larson, and Business Insider’s Andrew Dunn. The three will talk about whether or not AI can beat biology.
Media buffs won’t want to miss the “News of the future” session at 2PM, or the 2:40PM session, which will address whether press freedom can survive.
There will be mingle time between 3PM and 4PM (one of the many mingle hours), or you may wish to hear from Gwyneth Paltrow, who speaks at 3:15PM alongside Nicole Quinn from Lightspeed Venture Partners.
There will be over 800 speakers present at this year’s event. Attendees can chat, add connections, join in partner-led workshops, create their own rooms, or simply just sit back and listen. Also, there’s a guided meditation with Deepak Chopra, commencing at 6:30AM on December 4.
There will be a lot to take in over three days, so for a more detailed itinerary of picks, have a look below.
Dec. 2
Morning fix
Channel 1: Centre: 7:45AM – 8:05AM
“Work after crisis”
Featuring: Cal Henderson, co-founder at Slack Technologies + Jemima Kiss, journalist and co-founder at Hothouse Solutions
Channel 2: Creators: 7:50AM – 8:10AM
“Has social media found its soul?”
Featuring: Jeff D’Onofrio, CEO at Tumblr + Alyssa Newcomb, technology and business contributor at NBC News
Channel 3: Society: 8:15AM – 8:30AM
“Stocks and shocks: The future of marketplaces”
Featuring: Adena Friedman, CEO & President at Nasdaq + Stephanie Mehta, EIC at Fast Company
Channel 4: Builders: 9:00AM – 9:15AM
“Building AI cities”
Featuring: Victor AI, founder and CEO at Terminus Group + Bjarke Ingels, founding partner at Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG)
Channel 5: Portugal: 9:45AM – 10:05AM
“Portugal’s network for planet regeneration”
Featuring: Ana Salcedo, co-founder at Zero Waste Lab + Gil Penha Lopes, founder at Ecolise + Pedro São Simão, coordinator at Portuguese Plastics Pact
Afternoon fix
Channel 2: Creators: 1:30PM – 1:45PM
“Life in the fast lane”
Featuring: Danica Patrick
Channel 4: Builders: 1:40PM – 2:00PM
“WfH: The new reality”
Featuring: Aaron Levie (Box) + Alex Kantrowitz (Big Technology)
Channel 2: Creators: 2:25PM – 2:40PM
“Tipping Point: The women’s sport revolution”
Featuring: Barbara Slater (BBC) + Karen Carney + Marie Crowe (RTÉ Sport)
Dec. 3
Morning fix
Channel 1: Centre: 8:15AM – 8:35AM
“Remixing reality”
Featuring Alex Pall & Drew Taggart (The Chainsmokers) + Phil Libin (All Turtles & mmhmm)
Channel 2: Creators: 8:20AM – 8:35AM
“The Lamborghini experience”
Featuring: Katia Bassi (Automobili Lamborghini)
Channel 1: Centre: 9:25AM – 9:55AM
“Healthy habits for a better world”
Featuring: Jessica Alba (The Honest Company) + Ariana Huffington (Thrive Global) + Samantha Berry (Glamour)
Channel 5: Portugal: 9:25AM – 9:40AM
“How to save live music in 2021”
Featuring: Salvador Sobral + Inês Lopes Gonçalves
Channel 4: Builders: 9:30AM – 9:45AM
“Internet: Who owns our data?”
Featuring: Cindy Cohn (Electronic Frontier Foundation) + David Gilbert (VICE News)
Afternoon fix
Channel 2: Creators 12:05PM – 12:25PM
“Rebuilding broken systems”
Featuring: Sandy Speicher (Ideo) + Helena Helmersson (H&M Group) + Katherine Bell (Quartz)
Channel 2: Creators: 12:40PM – 12:55PM
“Altering reality: The next wave of architecture”
Featuring: Yvonne Farrell (Grafton Architects) + Marcus Fairs (Dezeen) + Shelley McNamara (Grafton Architects)
Channel 2: Creators: 1:15PM – 1:45PM
“It’s not just TV, it’s HBO Max: The next decade of entertainment”
Featuring: Casey Bloys (HBO & HBO Max) + Andy Forssell (HBO) + Laurie Segall (Dot Dot Dot Media)
Channel 1: Centre: 1:30PM – 1:50PM
“Blitzscaling: The key to scaling massive companies”
Featuring: Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn) + Chris Yeh (chrisyeh.com) + Casey Lau (RISE)
Channel 2: Creators: 2:45PM – 3:10PM
“Ready Player 2021: VR is Here”
Featuring: Emmett Shear (Twitch) + Nanea Reeves (Tripp) + Marcus Segal (ForeVR Games)
Dec. 4
Morning fix
Channel 1: Centre: 6:30AM – 7:00AM
Deepak Chopra Leads a guided meditation
Featuring: Deepak Chopra, MD
Channel 1: Centre: 7:15AM – 7:25AM
“The science behind affordable skincare”
Featuring: Nicola Kilner (Deceim) + Claire Hodgson (Cosmopolitan UK)
Channel 2: Creators: 9:10AM – 9:30AM
“Parallel universes: Video games’ relationship to pop culture
Featuring: Virgil Abloh (artistic director, Louis Vuitton) + Jens Hilgers (GP at Bitkraft Ventures) + Cam Wolf (GQ)
Channel 1: Centre: 9:10AM – 9:25AM
PITCH final
Channel 1: Centre: 11:00AM – 11:15AM
“The secret life of remote teams”
Featuring: Jason Fried (Basecamp) + Jessi Hempel (LinkedIn)
Channel 1: Centre: 11:25AM – 11:50AM
“The racial dilemma”
Featuring: Cornel West + Tricia Rose
Afternoon fix
Channel 4: Builders: 12:00PM – 12:20PM
“Space: Where will we be in 2050”
Featuring: Jonathan McDowell (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics) + Peter Martinez (Secure World Foundation) + Dave Mosher (Business Insider)
Channel 2: Creators: 1:15PM – 1:45PM
“Good times: Nile Rodgers and Mereck Mercuriadis”
Featuring: Nile Rodgers + Mereck Mercuriadis + Rob Schwartz (Billboard)
Channel 2: Creators: 2:25PM – 2:45PM
“The new live”
Featuring: Laura Marling + Ric Salmon (Driift) + Phil Hutcheon (Dice)
Channel 2: Creators: 2:45PM – 3:15PM
“Grimes and Richie Hawtin: Living with technology”
Featuring: Grimes + Richie Hawtin + Ben Beaumont-Thomas (The Guardian)
A presentation recorded by Portuguese band Dead Combo will close out the event on December 4. The live performance was part of Portugal Day.
The full schedule can be found here.