Slush – start-ups, networking and the time of my life

When I heard about Slush for the first time, I decided right away that someday I’d be a part of that out of this world like event. Slush is a non-profit event basically for start-ups and investors to meet each other. Other visitors can discuss about their business ideas, share their thoughts and what’s most important: make connections to business world and network. The event was like a tiny magical world of its own with special atmosphere.

Nowadays the importance of networking has become more and more crucial. No one can do everything by oneself. Making new contacts and building one’s social network is nearly a condition to make it in today’s business world. Coping with constant change and never ending battle against ever-growing need to work harder. Multitasking might be an admirable feature for someone but for me it means that when multitasking one can’t do anything properly.

In Slush I was one of the 1,500 volunteers and a part of the sustainability team. My job was to take care of sustainability during the event. I also managed to see some of the inspiring events, to hear innovative pitches and make few valuable connections. My language skills played an irreplaceable role while enjoying all the magical things Slush had to offer. All speeches were held in English and most of the participants spoke some other language than Finnish. Also during my first touch to Slush, which was a video interview, I had to speak English and be convincing at the same time – what a challenge! All in all this was an amazing and valuable experience for me. Experience Slush as a volunteer made possible for me to see much, much more compared to a “regular guest”.

What the future holds for us? Is it possible to make it on your own? What we can learn from all the success stories from the past is that the key factor to becoming successful is to learn how to ask for help. It’s not a sign of weakness to accept the truth and say: ‘Could you give me a hand with this?’

For here to eternity the main point in surviving through life is to gather around you people who are willing to help you to navigate through every obstacle life has to offer. To help you in this mission there are all sorts of events like Slush. So, open your mind – someone might need especially your help.

Text by Jenni Lunttila, a student of Independent Study in English course