The annual Greenwich Economic Forum, restricted last year to a virtual-only conference, is offering a hybrid model this year ”” with future expansion very much on its agenda.
Bold-name speakers at the Sept. 21 to 23 event, being held again at the Delamar Hotel in Greenwich, include Ray Dalio, founder of Westport-based Bridgewater Associates, the world”™s largest hedge fund ”” who”™s been a perennial presence since the GEF began four years ago ”” former U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan, Revolution Chairman and CEO Steve Case, and Gov. Ned Lamont and his wife, Annie, the co-founder and managing partner of Oak HC/FT, which focuses on growth equity and early-stage venture opportunities in health care and fintech.
“We were very pleased” with how last year”™s edition turned out, GEF co-founder and co-chairman James Aiello said.
“We had about 2,300 people register and 1,500 attend and almost 50% of them were from outside the United States. It”™s really a very global event ”” there were 86 countries represented.”
Aiello said those numbers will probably be fewer this year, in part because “We don”™t want to pack people into the Delamar for obvious reasons. There will probably be 200 to 250 people attending in person, instead of the 400 we”™ve had in the past, and we”™re going to use their outdoor patio to increase the fresh air that”™s available.”
Aiello and GEF co-founder Bruce McGuire also decided to move this year”™s event up from November to better capitalize on the warmer weather, he said.
Aiello did not have registration numbers as of Sept. 14, as “Everything comes together at the last minute, especially in the digital format.” The first two days will involve in-person presentations, with the third day entirely online; registrants can also view the entire conference on that day on a video-on-demand basis.
“Our biggest focus has been to bring people back in a safe and exciting way,” he said. “Everyone has had a hard time over the last 18 months, so we”™re trying to be mindful that, for some people, this will be the first big event they”™ve attended” since the pandemic began.
Measures include requiring all attendees to provide proof of vaccination or a recent negative Covid diagnostics test. Per Greenwich”™s regulations, masks must be worn indoors.
Often likened to the World Economic Forum held in Davos, Switzerland each year, Aiello said the GEF is meant to be a “thought leadership conference with some of the best minds in finance, business, media and government, discussing the defining issues of our time ”” and the financial impact of those issues.”
Unlike conferences that revolve around a single theme, the GEF takes on a multitude of topics, with this year”™s edition featuring views and predictions on the national and global economy in a post-pandemic world; China/U.S. relations; climate change and environmental, social and corporate governance; investing; and the acceleration of digital assets such as crypto and blockchain.
Aiello said that, due in part to Covid-19, Connecticut has been emerging at last from the long business and economic shadow cast by New York City. “The pandemic showed the value of being in a less dense, more sylvan, seaside setting,” he said. “It”™s no longer just a place to maybe raise a family.”
As the GEF has grown ”” notwithstanding last year”™s events ”” could it eventually move out of the Delamar or from Greenwich entirely?
“I don”™t think so,” Aiello said with a laugh. “We like our boutique size. But we might eventually do something at the Roger Sherman Baldwin Park, which is across the water (from the hotel).”
The event”™s brain trust is also considering “taking the GEF on the road,” Aiello said, which in this case might mean a wintertime event at a southern U.S. site in 2022 or 2023. “We”™d probably bring a lot of people from Connecticut down with us, as well as tapping into the local community.”
Davos, after all, has meetings at places besides Switzerland, he noted.
There has also been talk of launching a “breakfast club” style series every other month at different venues around the state, featuring speakers and investors, as a means of further expanding the GEF brand.
“We”™re always toying with different ideas,” he said.
