C2 Montréal

C2 Montréal is a nonprofit organization which holds an annual 3-day international conference in Montreal, Quebec. Its intention is to stimulate the economy in the province of Quebec by facilitating collaboration and networking within the business and creative communities. The conference was conceived by the Montreal-based creative agency Sid Lee in partnership with Cirque du Soleil and has been held every year in May since 2012.[1] C2 Montréal is subsidized by profits generated by C2 International Inc.[2]

Conference

Intended to represent an "intersection of commerce and creativity"[3] (the "Cs" of C2), C2 Montréal was founded in 2012 by Jean-François Bouchard from Sid Lee and Daniel Lamarre from Cirque du Soleil,[4] with Benoît Berthiaume appointed as executive producer at the time.[5] It is held every year in Montreal, Quebec in the month of May. Over 72 partners currently sponsor the conference, including Royal Bank of Canada, Cirque du Soleil, Solotech, BMW, and Facebook.[6] Formal minutes following the conference have been made available since 2015.[7]

The conference requires active participation from the attendees. Participant activities include attending speaker segments, participating in workshops, and one-on-one meetings with other participants (referred to as “Braindates”).[8] Due to the media exposure generated by the conference, attending participants are required to agree to a recording and image waiver.[9]

History

Year	Theme(s)	Speakers			Attendees
2012	Thinking Pattern Multi-disciplinary Thinking Creative Spaces Corporate Culture Flexible Business Models Research and Development Success Indicators Collective Creation Path Dependency Startup Mentality	Francis Ford Coppola Marc Chapman Patrick Pichette Arianna Huffington Michael Eisner Robert Safian	Winy Maas Daniel Lamarre Ian Schrager Jennifer Yuh Nelson Robert Wong Bertrand Cesvet	Dr. Rex Jung Carl Bass Lotfi EL-Ghandouri Sakchin Bessette Jonah Lehrer Deborah Dugan	1,500 participants[10]
2013	Connection Inspiration Experimentation Celebration	Sir Richard Branson Barry Diller Philippe Starck Neri Oxman Diane von Fürstenburg Arkadi Kuhlmann Chris Bangle	Fred Dust Tom Gentile John Mackey Tracey Bleckzinski Blake Mycoskie Andy Nulman	Stephan Ouaknine Nicole Piasecki Will Travis Hilary Mason Sanjay Poonen Steve Brown	2,500 participants[11]
2014	Inspiration Experimentation & Connection Celebration	James Cameron Prof. Muhammad Yunus Tony Hsieh Abigail Posner Bobby Dekeyser Stefan Sagmeister Bjarke Ingels Zita Cobb Simon Berry Esther Lee	Ray Davis John Hardy Denys Lapointe Noreena Hertz Philip Sheppard Andrew Wilson Jonas Tåhlin James Murphy Nathalie Bondil Jonathan Becher	Kevin O'Brien Marie Saint Pierre Rad Hourani Welby Altidor Graham Douglas Rafik Belmesk Catherine Hoke Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud George Stromboulopoulos	4,000 participants[12]
2015	Choices	Alec Baldwin Chelsea Clinton Andre Agassi Carolyn Everson Kimbal Musk Leilani Münter Jonathan Martin Phyllis Lambert David Shing	Morten Albæk Bertrand Piccard André Borschberg Marika Anthony-Shaw Terry Stuart Adam Garone Jane McGonigal David Rose Kara Medoff Barnett Michelle Dennedy	Ayah Bdeir Marije Vogelzang Alex Kazaks Joe Kiani David Edelman Carsten Thoma Jordan Brown Rangu Salgame Robert T. Cancalosi Sean McDonald	5,000 participants[12]
2016	The Many	Massimo Bottura Dr. Kate Darling Suroosh Alvi Prof. Nick Bostrom Tim Brown Paul Bennett Chad Dickerson Martha Stewart Dr. David Suzuki Chip Conley A.J. Paron-Wildes Ali Velshi David Davies Dr. Beth Altringer Alex Fiance Hon. Bardish Chagger Byron & Dexter Peart Christine Renaud David Johnston David Manela Diane Bérard Doreen Lorenzo Elke Govertsen	Emily Chang Estelle Métayer Esther Song Elizabeth Plank Elizabeth Tobey Elora Hardy Harley Finkelstein Guy A. Lepage Guy Crevier Hicham Ratnani & Ethan Song Hugh Evans Jake Barton James Cooper James Jackson Joanna Peña-Bickley Joel Simkhai Jonathan Glencross Justin Kingsley Kimberly Bryant Lakshmi Pratury Marie-France Bazzo Marc Blanchard Mark Brand	Dr. Maxwell Anderson Michel Laprise Mike Yapp Prof. Muhammad Yunus Nadya Hutagalung Nanxi Liu Nyla Rodgers Olivier Royant P.K. Subban Patrik Frisk Paul DeLong Paul Gray Rangu Salgame Ricky Solorzano Sandy Speicher Sébastien Turbot Stowe Boyd Tara Hunt Tasha McCauley Tatiana Fraser Thomas John Muthoot Wanjira Mathai William Zhou Will Travis	6,000 participants[13]
2017	Ecosystems	Steve Wozniak Jade Raymond Dr. Rajesh Aggarwal Paul Allard Navdeep Singh Bains Assaf Biderman Linda Boff Jean-François Bouchard JF Bouchard Ben Boyd Joel Beckerman Prof. Yoshua Bengio Brian Behlendorf Dror Benshetrit Ian Bernstein Eric Boyko Monika Bielskyte Chris Burch Leonard Brody Richard Brown Harout Chitilian Kirpatrick Day Simon Da Baene Sukhinder Singh Cassidy Wesley Chan	Magaly Charbonneau Katie Emery Nicola Farinetti Harley Finkelstein Cal Fussman Jean-François Gagné Frank Giustra Farah Ramzan Golant Gabriella Gómez-Mont Erik Grab Peter Grimaldi Mindy Grossman Claude Guay Laura Henderson Tom Herbst Amanda Hill Christine Jacovcic Hon. Mélanie Joly Dean Kamen Brad Keywell Tim Kring Félix Lajeunesse & Paul Raphaël Nathalie Le Prohon Amy Liu Miguel McKelvey	Dario Meli Prof. Gautam Mukunda Maestro Kent Nagano Kyle Nel Jimmy Nelson Prof. Dava Newman Joanna Peña-Bickley Valérie Pisano Howard Pyle Dr. Naveen G. Rao Karim Rasheed Bob Richards Fernando Romero Georges St-Pierre Daisuke Sakai & Takashi Kudo Gary Shapiro Michael Slaby Sean Stanleigh Dr. Michelle Thaller Angela Tran Kingyens Neilson Vignola Lauren Wesley Wilson Christian Yaccarini Prof. Muhammad Yunus Randi Zuckerberg	6,000 participants[14]
2018	Transformative Collisions	Snoop Dogg Chelsea Manning Noelle Acheson Dr. Foteini Agrafioti Suroosh Alvi Hon. Dominique Anglade Dan Ariely Bertrand Badré Katie Bardaro Sébastien Bazin Rev. Dr. Christopher Benek Sakchin Bessette His Excellency Omar Bin Sultan Olama Alex Bodman Jean-François Bouchard Diane Brady Brian Braiker Mark Brand Edward Burtynsky Emma Carrasco Stephanie Carrulo Bertrand Cesvet Buffy Childerhose Ted Chung Alexa Clay Louis-Yves Cloutier Kim Cope Frank Cooper III Jim Coulter Her Excellency Hon. Linda Dessau AC Ryan Detert Dr. Sylvia Earle Robert Elliott Annalisa Enrile Harley Finkelstein Jean-Martin Fortier Daniel Franklin Ping Fu	Jean-François Gagné Luca Gamberini Erik Gatenholm Timnit Gebru Alan Gertner Suzanne Gibbs Howard Lex Gill Françoise Girard Anna Gong Adam Greenblatt Sophie Grégoire Trudeau Kelsey Halling Charles Hamelin François Hamelin Arlan Hamilton Kyle J.J. Kemper Hon. Mélanie Joly David Jones Dennis Kastrup Tunde Kehinde Justin Kingsley Tom Klein Tim Kobe Normand Laprise Jessica Lauretti Shira Lazar Dominique Leclerc Eamon Leonard Bruce Linton Andrew Lufty Arwa Mahdawi Heather Mann Dr. Carl Marci Bentley Meeker Philippe Meunier Christofer Mowry Sean Mullin Jessica Neal	Jimmy Nelson Anna Neistat Craig Nevill-Manning Andy Nulman Jowan Österlund Her Excellency the Right Hon. Julie Payette Marie-Joëlle Parent Dr. Joëlle Pineau Elizabeth Plank Valérie Plante Jean Raby Dr. Noah Raford Holly Ransom Guto Requena Andrew Revkin Katerine-Lune Rollet Michael Sabia Colombe Saint-Pierre Richard St-Pierre Martine St-Victor Beth Schechter Siim Sikkut Craig Silverman Jordan Soles John Stackhouse Sean Stanleigh Christine Sunu Dr. Robert Sutor Dawn Taketa Riordan Skylar Tibbits Ciara Trinidad Illiana Oris Valiente Stephanie van der Wiel Corrine Vezzoni Austin Wang Freya Williams John Winter Russell Lauren Yoshiko Terry Dave Zaboski	6,500 participants[15]
2019	Tomorrow	Angela Ahrendts Dr. Foteini Agrafioti Alexandre Amancio Anousheh Ansari Daniel Arsham Samarth Athreya Cam Battley Conn Bertish Carolina Bessega BINA48 Michael Birkin Marc Blanchard Daniela Bohlinger JF Bouchard Laura Bourbeau Tom Brunet and Yoan Prat Jessica Brillhart Bertrand Cesvet Jason Chen Sarah Cooper Jacomo Corbo Hope Cowan David Cox Gordon Cox Jon C. Flint Ian Daly Dax Dasilva Isabelle Depatie Stephanie Dinkins Pedro Domingos Rena Effendi Emily Eisen Layla El Asri Steve Ellis Ian Ernzer Ayaan Esmail	Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild Dominique Fularski Dr. Pauline Gagnon Mitch Garber Piera Luisa Gelardi Sabrina Geremia Isabella Grandic Katherine Graham Sophie Grégoire Trudeau Loren Grush Kate Heartfield Dr. Brent Hecht Nicole Jacek Lisa Jackson Sarah Jenna Michael Jung Prof. David Keith Guy Laliberté Daniel Lamarre Pierre Laramée Shira Lazar Spike Lee Génifère Legrand Jean-François Lépine Lisa Lindström Selena Lu Shagun Maheshwari Jamie Margolin Samaira Mehta Charles Melcher Estelle Métayer Dr. Luke McKay Rob McLaughlin David McMillan Debbie Millman	Angelique Mohring Amanda Parris Elizabeth Plank Jane Poynter Paul Propster Diane Quinn Jui Ramaprasad Sandrine Rastello Ruth Reader Jacy Reese Jenny Rooney Daan Roosegaarde Dr. Martine Rothblatt Olivier Royant Michael Sabia Richard St-Pierre David Saint-Jacques Bozoma Saint John Bekah Sirrine Marcus Samuelsson Dr. Justin Sanchez Aithan Shapira John Stackhouse Elissa Strome Tom Standage Sean Stanleigh Humza Teherany Mark Tercek Valentine Thomas Alicia Tillman Afo Verde Manish Vora Jameson Wetmore will.i.am Dave Williams	7,500 participants

Governance

Fourteen administrators govern C2 Montréal, two of whom are representatives from the organization’s cofounding partners (Sid Lee and Cirque du Soleil).[16]

Board of directors (as of 2018)

• Jean-François Bouchard - Chairman and Co-founder of Sid Lee - Chairman
• Richard St-Pierre - President, C2 Montréal - Treasurer
• Michel Boislard - Partner, Fasken Martineau - Secretary
• Claudine Blondin Bronfman - Co-Chair Claudine and Stephen Bronfman Family Foundation
• Jade Raymond - Group General Manager, Electronic Arts
• Jean Novak - President Vidéotron Business Solutions, Vidéotron
• Luc Bernard - Chief Executive Officer, Groupe Multi-Prêts
• Michel Leblanc - President and Chief Executive Officer, Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montréal
• Myriam Achard - Director of Communications and Public Relations, Centre Phi
• Pierre Larochelle - Vice-President, Power Corporation
• Roger Duguay - Managing Partner, Boyden
• Simon Olivier - Senior Vice-President, Agropur
• Stephane Lefebvre - Chief Financial Officer, Cirque du Soleil
• Yves Lalumière - President and Chief Executive Officer, Tourisme Montréal
• Richard Masse - Director of Public Health for Montreal

Leadership team (as of 2018)

• Richard St-Pierre - President and Chief Executive Officer
• Génifère Legrand - Chief Creative Officer
• Anick Beaulieu - Vice President - Growth and Partnerships
• Chris Cowley - Vice President - Digital Innovation and Technology
• Julia Cyboran - Vice President - Marketing and Audience
• Yannick Bocquet - Vice President - Production
• Thomas Guité - Vice President - Finance
• Martin Corbo - General Manager
• Linda Leroy - Vice President - Talent and Culture

Funding

As a nonprofit organization, C2 Montreal receives its funding from corporate sponsors and from the Government of Canada. For its first conference in 2012, the organization received grants totalling 40% of its total budget from the federal government. In 2017, the grants had been reduced to 15% of the organization's total budget as C2 Montréal had successfully secured more significant funding from their private sponsors.[17]

The Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions, an agency working within the Government of Canada providing assistance to Quebec-based organizations,[18] has awarded a $1.5 million non-repayable grant to C2 Montreal, with half of the amount allocated to the 2018 conference and the other half allocated to the upcoming 2019 conference.[19]

C2 International Inc.

Created in 2015, C2 International Inc. specializes in the facilitation and logistical services for international high-profile events. It is owned by the Montreal-based creative agency Sid Lee. Earnings gained by C2 International finance C2 Montréal. The for-profit company shares expenses with C2 Montréal, which includes employees. C2 International also produces the Movin' On Summit and C2 Melbourne (now cancelled).[17][20]

C2 Melbourne

C2 International was preparing for the C2 Melbourne conference, scheduled for October 2018. Arrangements for this event came to a halt upon an announcement from its creator Martin Enault, claiming health issues.[20] It would later be confirmed by current president of C2 Montréal, Richard St-Pierre, that low ticket sales and the retraction of a major partner were the cause of cessation of C2 Melbourne. Thirty employees were discharged from C2 International as a result.[21]

Criticism

Economics professors François Vaillancourt of Université de Montréal and Amine Ouazad of HEC Montréal stated that C2 Montréal's $167.5 million economic impact affirmed in a 2017 study conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers produced "exaggerated" claims. The professors declared issues with the study, one being that C2 Montréal doesn't follow the method mandated by Tourisme Québec to calculate economic impact, and the other being that the value of the contracts between the participating Québec institutions and C2 Montréal is unknown.[17]

References

1. "C2 Montréal: 126,1M$ in economic impact - Economic Return Increases Over Previous Year". Newswire. April 6, 2016. Retrieved 2018-11-14.
2. Brousseau-Pouliot, Vincent (May 25, 2018). "Subventions à C2MTL: retombées importantes ou impact exagéré?". La Presse (in French). Retrieved 2018-11-14.
3. "C2-MTL: The business of storytelling, and how to make a circus". mediaincanada.com. Retrieved 2018-11-12.
4. "C2-MTL: faire de Montréal le "Davos de la créativité" | Vincent Brousseau-Pouliot | Économie". La Presse (in French). 2011-10-05. Retrieved 2018-11-12.
5. "This is not business as usual: C2-MTL's first edition a success". www.newswire.ca. Retrieved 2018-11-12.
6. Poiré, Anne-Sophie (May 25, 2018). "C2 Montréal: des activations pour engager la connectivité". Infopresse (in French). Retrieved 2018-11-14.
7. "C2 MONTRÉAL COMMERCE + CREATIVITY 26 – 28 MAY 2015" (PDF). Cdn.coverstand.com. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
8. Plamondon Emond, Etienne. "L'innovation sociale à C2 Montréal". Le Devoir (in French). Retrieved 2018-11-14.
9. "Recording and image waiver - C2 Montréal". C2 Montréal. Retrieved 2018-11-12.
10. Hinse, Geneviève (June 18, 2012). "Bilan de la première édition de C2-MTL : Événement surprenant et innovant, promesse tenue". www.newswire.ca/fr. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
11. Ducas, Marie-Claude (May 24, 2013). "C2-MTL : un bilan, des suites". L'actualité. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
12. Jolicoeur, Martin (June 18, 2014). "Nouveau président chez C2MTL". Les Affaires (in French). Retrieved November 14, 2018.
13. "C2 Montréal a accueilli 6000 participants". Le Journal de Montréal (in French). 2016-05-27. Retrieved 2018-11-14.
14. Houdassine, Ismaël (May 27, 2017). "C2 Montréal: un bilan au-delà des attentes selon les organisateurs". www.quebec.huffingtonpost.ca. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
15. "C2 Montréal 2018". www.economie.gouv.qc.ca (in French). May 22, 2018. Retrieved 2018-11-14.
16. "Governance - C2 Montréal". C2 Montréal. Retrieved 2018-11-12.
17. "Subventions à C2MTL: retombées importantes ou impact exagéré? | Vincent Brousseau-Pouliot | Québec". La Presse (in French). 2018-05-25. Retrieved 2018-11-12.
18. Regions, Government of Canada, Canada Economic Development for Quebec. "Home - Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions". www.dec-ced.gc.ca. Retrieved 2018-11-12.
19. "Financement public pour C2 Montréal | Direction Informatique". www.directioninformatique.com (in French). Retrieved 2018-11-12.
20. "C2 Melbourne cancelled as creator suddenly steps down | Conference News". www.conference-news.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-11-12.
21. Orfali, Philippe. "Trente emplois en moins chez C2". Le Journal de Montréal (in French). Retrieved 2018-11-12.