On 6th and 7th June, InnoEnergy France and InnoEnergy Iberia organised a joint “Partners Day”, an event dedicated to their communities. This event was an opportunity for over 100 attendees to push the pause button and to (re)connect with people they either didn’t know, or knew through screens only. It gave all participants a chance to get a better grasp of who makes up the InnoEnergy community, and to see if more bridges can be made.

Partners Day was the second edition for InnoEnergy Iberia and the fourth edition for InnoEnergy France. It took place in Grenoble, France, and was organised jointly by two countries for the first time. The programme’s goal was to connect, network, exchange, reflect, discuss, share… and pitch!

On Tuesday 6th June, the evening was spent at the InnoEnergy France office. Pauline Vettier, Marketing and Communication Officer France and organiser of the event, was the Master of Ceremony, and specifically thanked the many guests who flew in from Spain and Portugal. CEOs Richard Biagioni of InnoEnergy France and Mikel Lasa of InnoEnergy Iberia welcomed and noted the diversity of the participants’ profiles.

One-minute pitches were then given by over fifty participants, so as to introduce themselves and their company or organisation. CEOs of start-ups and SMEs, Managers of energy clusters, Head of departments of large energy corporations, business Coaches, Education Programme Directors, Open Innovation Directors, VC and many more… showed the variety of the InnoEnergy community. Their profiles from the CommUnity platform were projected as they pitched (The CommUnity platform is the InnoEnergy online community for networking and knowledge exchange.) A buffet dinner followed the pitches, which allowed maximum networking and interaction.

The second day was spent at the Bastille Fortress, the main tourist site of the Grenoble area with 600 000 visitors per year, which offers a breathtaking panoramic view of the city. Keynote speaker Grégoire Jeanmonod opened the day with an interactive conference on Art history and Change. Does this topic sound funny in a business event? He actually encouraged us to tear down our mental barriers, cultivate our differences, take advantage of any constraint and make failure a step forward. In a word, reframing the way we look at the world can lead to stunning breakthroughs. Nine participants coming from Formal and Associate industrial partner companies then gave reverse pitches, presenting their company’s or department’s needs to the audience. EDF, Total, Gas Natural Fenosa, EDP, Schneider Electric, Galp, Comsa, Engie andIberdrola took part to the exercise. The morning ended with a presentation by Mr. Serge Khavessian on the Chamrousse project, a major operation of energy and aesthetic renovation of a local mountain resort where InnoEnergy is the pilot of the project energy scheme. After lunch, an afternoon of indoor and outdoor leisurable activities allowed the participants to relax, mingle and better explore the Bastille Fortress site.

Business connections took place during the event, which was the number one goal!