ESI London 2018 – What you missed

25 September 2018

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ESI London 2018 – the biggest conference of its kind this year – has been and gone, and if you weren’t in attendance, then quite frankly you missed out. The Olympia London played host to the two-day extravaganza, making room for a whole host of sessions, plenty of discussions, and a fair few laughs, too.

Sessions, discussion and education 

We had a number of high-profile, inspiring, and knowledgeable panelists throughout the two days of ESI London. Here’s a glimpse at some of the speakers who came to share their thoughts and perspectives on some of the industry’s most pressing topics:

  • Jason Lake, CEO of compLexity Gaming
  • Julian Tan, Head of Digital Growth and F1 Esports at Formula 1
  • Nicolas Maurer, CEO of Team Vitality
  • Sophie Goossens, Counsel, Reed Smith
  • James Dean, Managing Director of ESL UK
  • Tomi Kovanen, General Manager CS:GO and Business Development at Immortals LLC
  • Christian Fuchs, Footballer at Leicester City FC and Owner of NoFuchsGiven
  • Moritz Maurer, CEO of GRID
  • Hicham Chahine, CEO of Ninjas of Pyjamas

You get the picture. Without sharing our entire list of 60+ speakers (you can check the full agenda here should you be so inclined), there was a wealth of knowledge across our numerous sessions and panels.

Free breakfast, lunch and drinks thoughout the day, and a number of booths from companies were all other aspects of the conference for those in attendance. If you wanted to find exactly what the likes of ChiliZ, PandaScore, UltraPlay, PwC, ESIC and Abios do in the esports space, this was the chance to speak face to face with the people who make those companies tick.

From left: Jason Lake, compLexity Gaming, Roman Dvoryankin, Virtus Pro, Nico Maurer, Team Vitality, and Patrik Sattermon, Fnatic. Credit: jakhowardphoto

Networking

Despite the fascinating sessions, there are some people who, understandably, attend with a priority on networking. Where else do you get to enter a venue full of like-minded individuals who work in or around the rapidly-growing industry of esports?

Whether you’re looking to learn more about the ins-and-outs of esports or want to try and make some all-important contacts to better your career or company, there are plenty of opportunities to do so and ESI London proved that.

From Paul “Redeye” Chaloner to Jacob Wolf of ESPN being just a couple of names of those in attendance, the opportunities to meet potentially impactful individuals were plentiful.

Credit: jakhowardphoto

Sam Cooke, Managing Director of Esports Insider shared his thoughts on the conference: “ESI London was our biggest event yet by some margin, and both the attendance and buzz around the conference were further indicators of the current excitement that surrounds this industry.

“The conference saw a number of solid debates and insightful talks from industry veterans, and we will have plenty of in-depth coverage, both editorial and video, covering these coming out soon. Heads up too for those that weren’t able to make it this time round, we have a lot more in the pipeline for 2019.”

After-parties

From Loading Bar: Server, to Skyloft at Millbank Tower an Esports Insider event isn’t complete without a swanky after-party. We saved the most swanky till last too and picked perhaps the best venue possible in the UK: the Natural History Museum. Not only were there free drinks and food (you heard that correctly) but this created even more networking opportunities in a world-renowned and simply stunning venue. Sounds good, right? You won’t get many other opportunities to discuss esports surrounded by models of dinosaurs while receiving drinks on the house.

ESI Hall of Fame

The after-party was also host to something entirely new, the ceremony for the inaugural ESI Hall of Fame. This new initiative, in partnership with Ginx Esports TV, was devised to identify and award those who have been a mainstay and prominent figures in the esports industry. If you’d like to see exactly who made it into the Class of ’18, and find out more about the ESI Hall of Fame, you can find out here!

FACEIT London Major

If you missed out on ESI London, there’s a good chance you weren’t present at one of the biggest events of the year (which just so happened to be hosted in the exact same city). The CS:GO Major’s finals commenced the day after our conference ended, with ESI London attendees getting access to the sold-out Major on Friday 21st, acting as a perfect segway into an important moment in UK esports and CS:GO generally. Astralis were the eventual victors in the event at the SSE Arena Wembley. 


Make sure you don’t miss out on another ESI event, you’ll have plenty of chances to attend next year! Keep up to date via our newsletter.