Fiare Global Summit 2018: Round-Up

It was a beautiful sunny day in Helsinki on Thursday 17th May, 2018 – providing the perfect conditions for the Fiare Global Summit. Guests arrived to a private area within the Clarion hotel’s conference facilities, for a day filled with sessions on different trends, themes and sectors of marketplace business.

The day began with introductory words  and a run through of the agenda by event host Walter Lees. He then passed over to our CEO, Tommi Heikkonen to give a brief update on the company as a whole and words of thanks to the guests who had travelled.

Guests mingle on the sun-drenched balcony during a coffee and networking break

Fiare CEO Tommi Heikkonen welcomes the guests and explains the journey towards holding the event for the second year

This was followed by Dr Mari-Sanna Paukkeri from Utopia Analytics, who spoke about AI moderation in marketplaces and how their tool is managing this more effectively than humans! They have developed a tool which continuously teaches itself – has mastered all languages and reduces the need for human moderation by up to 99%!

Dr. Kristian Ovaska (Senior Data Scientist, Valuemotive) then gave a talk on data analytics in the case of marketplaces. He explored how analytics can provide improved UX, new data-based products, guide for investment and product prioritisation.

After a networking break, we were then given insight into the future of FiareAds by Jan Bechstein, Product Manager. He walked through the short, medium and long term aims for developing the product, including announcing exciting new company initiatives. The guests then moved downstairs  for lunch, followed by more networking up on the balcony.

The scene was set for a day of learning, idea exchange and gaining new contacts

Hannu Käki, CEO of Real Source, gave insight into the commercial real estate market – including the challenges and opportunities with regard to silent selling in that sector. He explained how his company are trying to encourage a shift in the deal flow process, towards more transparency and greater sense of community.

The day included a late addition to the speaker lineup. Aatu Mällinen (Cleac) gave us a live demo of his video technology, which could be used for marketplaces in a range of sectors with one simple click (showing around a car/aircraft/property live – part of the marketplace portal so no need for external video-chat platforms).

Group photo on the island of Suomellina after the day’s sessions had come to a close

Katja Riefler, Principal Managing Director of AIM Group, then arrived to give her talk on learning to live in a landscape dominated by Google and Facebook. She suggested achieving this by three core strategies: international scale, content & community (building a loyal following through quality content) and expanding along the value chain.

The sun sets on another memorable Fiare Global Summit

Thank you to everyone who attended. We had a fantastic group comprised of talented individuals from Dennis Publishing, Time Inc. UK, Metropolis International, AvBuyer, Kelsey Media, Badische Zeitung, NettiX, Karjalainen, AIM Group and many more.