It's unfortunate when good ideas are ruined by terrible execution. LEAP in KSA is the perfect example of this.
It competes with GITEX and aims to bring the technology world to Saudi Arabia, which makes sense as an initiative for the Saudi government to be backing (and they do, with tens of millions of dollars). Unfortunately the execution is maybe the worst I've seen of any conference, ever. The logistics last year were a nightmare (as in 2 hours to get from the conference to my hotel 5 minutes away). And worst of all, this year they made up some rule that prevents any previous LEAP speaker to speak at the conference again.
The message this sends to the market is that Saudi Arabia isn't interested in anyone who is committed to that market. They aren't interested in continuity. Commitment and continuity are the 2 major holes in Saudi's current strategy of opening up to the world. Many people go there thinking they are going to secure the bag, but with little care or investment in the long-term success of the country.
In the long run, this will come back to bite them. In the short term, I advise anyone on the fence about LEAP to save your time and money and attend other conferences (such as GITEX in Dubai!).
#LEAP #LEAP24 #gaming #conference #networking #ksa #saudiarabia #uae #leadership #management #esports #technology #tech #riyadh #gitex
