WORLD BLASTING INNOVATORS
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Client: O-Pitblast
Date: 7-8-9 October 2024
Venues: Alfândega do Porto Congress Centre
Porto Cruise Terminal
Preparation: 15 months
PCO: THE
AV: NEW Audiovisuais
Catering: Só Catering
250 people from almost 40 countries attended the event in Porto with the aim of discussing innovative solutions to make the mining industry more sustainable.
Event agenda
Organised in a format that included a conference, workshops and an interactive exhibition area, the event brought together a growing community of mining professionals committed to making the world a safer, more efficient and more sustainable place. Over three days, speakers from various companies and countries organised talks sharing innovations and problems currently faced by the industry. Multidisciplinary working groups were set up to think about solutions that can be applied over the next 30 years.
The Infante Hall at the Alfândega do Porto Congress Centre - a beautiful room overlooking the Douro river - was the setting chosen for the first day of the event. Over the next few days, the Archive Hall won praise from the participants, proving to be the perfect venue for an event of the magnitude of World Blasting Innovators. The event's gala dinner was held at the Porto Cruise Terminal, considered an icon of modern architecture in the region.
Theory into practice
Under the motto that you learn better by doing than by just listening, World Blasting Innovators didn't limit itself to theory and also included a very practical and interactive part. A group of people had the opportunity to take part in a parallel activity in a quarry run by DST Group, one of the event's partners. A route was created with cutting-edge technology and participants were able to interact with state-of-the-art machinery, with drones equipped with sensors that facilitate the mining operation and they were also able to ask questions directly to the manufacturers.
Networking
Speakers from all over the world took part in the event to share their innovative ideas and experiences in the field. One of the highlights was a Design Thinking workshop, which resulted in great networking and learning opportunities with other professionals in the sector. In this activity, participants were asked to solve a series of timed challenges, leading to a lot of fun and bonding moments among the group.
Shared organisation
THE, one of Meet Porto's partners, was responsible for all the logistics of the event, selecting venues, suppliers, dealing with the social programme and all the costs inherent in organising the congress, from badges to signage, among others. As a PCO, THE also had the task of contracting hotels and agreeing rates to make them available to participants. The World Blasting Innovators team was also in charge of attracting sponsors and participants.
The challenges
With only three large mines in the country, Portugal has little significance in the mining sector worldwide. And the initial challenge was to attract people to take part in the event, since there was no history or tradition. The difficulty was clearly overcome with the participation of big names in the industry and the presence of the five largest explosives companies in the world, positioning World Blasting Innovators (and Portugal) as a benchmark event for the area in its very first edition. And the greatest proof of this success is the fact that more than 10 people, from different nationalities, have expressed an interest in replicating the event in their own countries.
A taste of Porto and Portugal
The event's social programme included a welcome cocktail and various performances during the gala dinner, including a band, a Portuguese folk dance group and a student musical group, in what was a clear opportunity for foreign participants and guests to get to know a little about the customs and traditions of Porto and Portugal. The menu, designed by renowned chef Hélio Loureiro, also showcased and valued the local gastronomy.
Sustainability put into action
The workshop included in the event's programme aimed to create new products to make the industry more sustainable, i.e. specific products to make a more efficient operation that reduces the mining industry's environmental impacts. The materials used in the workshop were ‘rubbish’ that had been saved over the course of a year by the World Blasting Innovators team, thus giving them a second life and a new purpose. At the same time, all the waste generated at the event was separated and taken for recycling. The water bottles were made of reusable glass, the use of plastic was avoided as much as possible, and the backdrops were made from recycled material and eco-friendly paint.
“A perfect symbiosis”
Francisco Sena Leite, director of World Blasting Innovators, emphasises the spirit of collaboration and mutual help both in preparing the event and during the three days it took place. “It was a perfect symbiosis how World Blasting Innovators and THE fitted together. You get the feeling that they're a machine. Everything flowed so well and so quickly that there was almost no time to adapt because they automatically understood what we needed and gave it to us. We even discussed the possibility of THE contacting our industry, but our industry is very particular, so they took care of everything else. The fact that this happened and that we were completely unconcerned about all the logistics of the event, gave us time to reach these 250 people, sponsors. That's what made this event work, we divided up the tasks”.
Porto: a safe, welcoming and geographically well-located city
Porto's “interesting strategic position” was one of the reasons the client chose the city for the event. “What's more, Porto - and we're not the ones saying this - is a warm city, everyone who comes, who goes out for dinner, says that they were well looked after, that it's a safe city, that the people are friendly”. “Porto gives you that feeling of well-being”, says the client.
