The CBEA competition will reward Europe’s best events for the 14th time

As tradition dictates, European event organisers kick off the autumn event season at the Conventa Crossover festival in Ljubljana. The jubilant 10th anniversary of the event will be all the more unique thanks to an unmatched venue – the Ljubljana Castle. From 8 to 9 September 2025, the event will convene over 150 attendees. Since the first edition, the festival’s philosophy has been captured by the event slogan “No More Boring Events”. The speakers, content, format, and moderators all follow this principle. The organisers believe this is why the festival annually convenes representatives of the leading European event agencies.

15 speakers will explore how to transform boring events into transformative experiences this year. The final lineup of speakers is available in the event programme.

The organisers also presented the idea behind this year’s event, connecting three interconnected segments:

We ENGAGE minds through CO-CREATION
CO-CREATION stimulates the SENSES
SENSES open the heart and ignite EMOTIONS

Creating transformative events

According to the organisers, this is the recipe for success for creating transformative events. Bo Krüger, an exceptional Danish moderator from Moving Minds, will guide the attendees through this metamorphic process. He is known as the father of the Danish way of organising events – “Meeting Design”.

This year’s programme will be marked by speakers who will seek answers and solutions to the main event dilemma. The speakers include world-renowned American neuroscientist Carmen Simon, the Chief Science Officer at Corporate Visions, who will speak about the neuroscience of persuasion in her talk.

Ljubljana will also host Goc O’Callaghan, an Irish expert in crafting memorable experiences, the co-founder of the ArcTanGent festival, and Experience Analyst at Crowd Dynamics. Her presentation will underline why experiences are non-negotiable, from the business and attendee perspectives.

If you ask Google how Gerd de Bruycker is, countless articles related to Cisco will crop up. As the former head of the corporation’s largest global event, and now a renowned consultant, Gerd will face attendees with the following challenge: Can authentic intelligence still tower over AI today?

Conventa Crossover will also share the latest industry trends. On behalf of Europe’s largest network of event agencies, 27Names, Ivo J. Franschitz (ENITED, Austria), Lana Bedeković Rosandić (Alert, Croatia), and Boštjan Prijanovič (New Moment, Slovenia) will present the findings of the 27Names Barometer.

One of the highlights of the programme will be the Pitch Arena, where event organisers will face potential clients and exchange insights and know-how. The agency side will be represented by a dream-team trio: Jens Oliver Mayer (Jack Morton Worldwide), Alexandros Makris (Magna Events), and Thomas Kenyeri (KESCH event agency).

Conventa Crossover would not be the festival of creativity if not for bold new ideas and unveilings. In 2025, Crossover will set the stage for the debut of a European pitching methodology, the Tender Canvas, presented by Bart Kokke from Tender Canvas.

The Mediterranean Cradle

The afternoon part of the programme will take attendees on a journey to the Mediterranean Cradle. They will take inspiration from the ancients and apply it when organising their own events. Two extraordinary Slovenian guests will share their thinking – Gregor Pobežin, PhD, and Nejc Pohar. Mr. Pobežin, a distinguished historian, will prompt attendees to consider what they can still learn from ancient cultures, while Nejc Pohar, the author of the regional bestseller “The Adriatic for Slovenians and Slovenians at the Adriatic”, will delve into the underbelly of mass tourism and events in the Adriatic.

Commenting on this year’s event, Gorazd Čad, the co-founder of Conventa, said: “Jubilant anniversaries are an opportunity to look back at the beginning. I am convinced that countries intent on being global leaders in the events industry must organise their own festival and competition awarding the best events. Without such events, they cannot consider themselves global leaders. As nothing similar had existed in our region and still does not, we decided to create the festival ourselves. Today, as I recall the choppy waters we had to navigate, I am filled with pride, knowing our decision was just. Exceptional speakers who were once reluctant to join our festival now come willingly and attest to the evolution of our festival into a recognised platform. That is why I am excited to welcome the next decade of our festival and look to the future with optimism.”

What will Crossover bring in 2025?

THE HUNT FOR EUROPEAN UNICORNS
The CBEA competition will award the leading events in Europe (unicorns). The winners will be selected by a 24-member international jury. On Monday, 8 September 2025, the finalists will be pitching live to convince the jury members. The projects will compete in four main categories: B2B, B2C, B2E, and Crossover, and have the chance to seize eight jury awards. The competition is a one-off place for exploring best practice cases across Europe. This year, 54 events from 16 countries will compete for the coveted unicorn awards. The lineup of finalists is available here.

THE SELECTION OF THE BEST SLOVENIAN EVENTS
Alongside the winners in the official categories, the best Slovenian event will also be announced. Six exceptional projects will compete for the esteemed award.

THE GRAND AWARD CEREMONY FOR THE BEST EVENTS
At Ljubljana Castle, Europe’s best event organisers will claim their hard-earned accolades in four main categories and eight special jury categories. The gala award ceremony is scheduled to take place at Ljubljana Castle on Tuesday, 9 September 2025, at 20:00.

F*!#UPS
Mr. Murphy awaits behind every corner when organising events, or so seasoned experts say. That is why the organisers decided to invite accomplished event organisers who learned that the hard way. They will present a few typical examples that can happen to event organisers. Following the presentation, the speakers will have a discussion with the attendees.

CROSSOVER WORKSHOPS
For creative minds craving even more practical knowledge, two parallel workshops will be hosted in Centre Rog on Wednesday, 10 September. The first, titled “Train the Moderators: Become an Engaging Host“, will be hosted by Juraj Holub and will cater to aspiring moderators, facilitators, and public speakers looking to up their game. The second workshop, titled “From Spectator to Creator: Design Meetings That Matter”, will be hosted by Bo Krüger.

CROSSOVER = PLANET POSITIVE EVENT
The organisers will host the event in accordance with the event’s Green Pledge and Planet Positive Event‘s principle of sustainable event organising. In addition, the organisers have pledged to accurately measure the carbon footprint of the event and set goals to reduce it based on acquired data. The event’s carbon footprint will be calculated with the help of Planet Positive Event’s carbon calculator, which enables event organisers to calculate their events’ carbon footprint in accordance with the GHG Protocol (Scope 1, 2, and 3) and the ISO 14064 Standard (1-6) for the event’s entire lifecycle.

TWO EXPERT MODERATORS
The event will be moderated by two legendary event facilitators: Bo Krüger, an event creator, moderator, facilitator, coach, and international expert in motivation, learning, and gamification. He will be joined by Juraj Holub, an experienced moderator and meeting designer who has stood on countless international stages in the past decade.

QUARANTEE OF QUALITY
We all want time and money spent on events to be used wisely and efficiently. Measuring the results of events is thus crucial. We prove that we are serious about our promise with our quality guarantee: “If you are not satisfied with the event, we will refund your ticket.”

Conventa Crossover is organised by Toleranca marketing and Conventa trade show in partnership with Ljubljana Tourism, the Slovenian Tourist Board, and the Slovenian Convention Bureau, together with international partners Enited, Bea World, and BEIC (Business Event Industry World). Learn more here.