Speaking from the stage while introducing the second iteration of the Financial Times’ now-annual Camp Alphaville festival, editor Paul Murphy welcomed everyone to “the world’s hottest financial conference.” He wasn’t kidding: temperatures hovered in the upper 30s Celsius (that’s upper 90s, Fahrenheit). Still, almost 700 attendees packed into the Artillery Garden at London’s HAC to hear speakers on topics as diverse as the Greek crisis, short selling, and immortality.
This range of topics is fitting for Alphaville, the FT’s snappy and irreverent finance blog. Launched in 2006 by Murphy, it was one of the earliest places on the internet live-blogging breaking news events. It’s been fostering a lively and engaged community of readers in policy and trading circles for years, who have just begun meeting in the real world through events like Camp Alphaville and pub trivia nights.
Inspired by the format of a classic British summer music festival, Camp Alphaville featured over 80 keynote speakers and panelists, ranging from central bankers to football finance pundits, speaking simultaneously across a variety of tents and stages. There were dedicated fintech exhibits, bigger breakout spaces than in its first year, great entertainment, the return of drones, and an Oculus Rift.
FT Alphaville editor and Camp Alphaville founder Paul Murphy said: “Camp Alphaville is a place for all the world-class strategists, economists, financiers, asset managers and academics who read Alphaville but never get a chance to meet outside the office to discuss some serious ideas. But there’s no reason it can’t be in a fun setting. This is the future of finance conferences – tents, igloos, robots and all.”
See our full coverage of Camp Alphaville here.
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Christopher Chafin
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About Alphaville
FT Alphaville is a daily news and commentary service and ideas exchange for finance professionals. It includes live commentary on market moves and corporate announcements, and an invite-only private forum, the Long Room, where members can engage in spirited debate. Launched in 2006 by Paul Murphy, a financial journalist who has spent more than a decade commenting on financial sector developments and breaking large takeover news, FT Alphaville is staffed by a global team of writers offering continually updated insight and comment.
About the Financial Times:
The Financial Times, one of the world’s leading business news organisations, is recognised internationally for its authority, integrity and accuracy. Providing essential news, comment, data and analysis for the global business community, the FT has a combined paid print and digital circulation of 720,000. Mobile is an increasingly important channel for the FT, driving almost half of total traffic. FT education products now serve two thirds of the world’s top 50 business schools.