Jun 2, 2026

BERLIN: Pre-Show Day

With the first 100 attendees in town, the conference has already started. At the earlier editions, we've never seen such numbers arriving a day early – and to be honest, it feels like a great functional space: a pre-show day where you still get to do your Monday office emails, but also catch the news out of Africa and South America in a no-stress mode, before we all start to drink from the hose of the main event.

Here's a short report from last night's rooftop gathering, followed by a few snippets of actionable items for the attendees.

Drinks on the Roof

Thanks to everyone who came up to the roof to say "Hi" last night. The weather was kind to us, with sun and some clouds (though things change at a moment's notice this week in Berlin).

Alex got to test the guitar, and approved it.

You could tell that some people have their roots in the development scene, because they mostly wear industry swag (to be fair: another reason is lost luggage; a number of suitcases decided to stay in Frankfurt for their own mini-conference in the guts of the sorting machine).

Another fashion subset is, of course, heavy metal – the Summit's classic look (our hearts rejoiced when we saw the head of the audio crew arrive in a "Manowar" t-shirt: Manowar, Manowar, living on the road!).

Serious industry people had serious industry conversations.

Meanwhile, in the back alleys...

...secret deals were brokered out of sight. What was promised? What will transpire? And who has the number of the red chip regulatory authority?

It wouldn't be a Berlin rooftop without the view of the TV tower (above). And it wouldn't be a Simas Bernotas gallery without the iconic sunset shot (below).

Some of the co-panelists used this opportunity to align their parts of the presentation, like Gregor and Marc of the "Out of Sync" session –

Did you know that the Berlin office of Gregor (left) is right next door to the embassy of Singapore, where Meryl (right) is from? (and now I'm itching to check how far Meryl's office in Singapore is from the German embassy there...)

Okay, I just checked and it's also almost next door. What does this make Taylor Wessing and Drew & Napier into, ambassadorial cousins?

Anyways, some people worked...

Others caught up...

And then it was time to go back to the rooms, and do more emails.

I think we should do this again, in June 2027, just maybe in a more organized fashion (we're discussing a possible wine tasting, which we'll cover).

Super Pass 2026

The Super Pass items (this year: KPM's handmade porcelain cups with the red Summit design) have arrived. If you're a Super Pass holder, you'll find a box like this in your attendee bag. The cups were made right here, on the premises!

Custom Label beers (0.5%)

Some dreams come true, and we just had one of ours fulfilled: a custom label beer, brewed here in Berlin by the wonderful team at FUERST WIACEK.

While all the regular beer will be draft...

...the non-alcoholic option (which has different storage requirements) had to come in cans. Given the size of the order, the brewery offered to produce a custom label for the event – and here we are, with these beautiful cans delivered last night.

The style is helles, 0.5% alc. max; many commercial non-alco beers these days come with sweeteners or additional flavorings, but this beer has just 4 ingredients: water, barley, hops and yeast. This year we offer not 1, but 2 non-alco beer options – the other one is a 0% IPA.

Relay Race Batons

The Relay Race, scheduled for tomorrow, has 5 teams in the competition –

🟡 Banana Splits
⚫️ Pace Invaders 2.0
🔵 Sub-Zero
🟢 The Conquistadores; and
🔴 Mario's Pixel Devils, each with their own color.

Thanks to the breadth of choice at the shop of Computerspielemueum, we now have the matching team batons for the race.

🏃‍♂️ PSA: there's a 6th team in the making, at the 11th hour – 🟣 The Backup Runners. They are missing just 1 more runner. If you're in the mood for a run at 07:00 on Wednesday, please reach out to Luke Maunder or Andy Ramos or Evelina Georgiades.

Taylor Wessing x Nike

You may be familiar with collaborations like Marvel and Fortnite, but how about a product that combines a law firm and a sports brand?

Taylor Wessing has produced a limited number of Nike dri-fit technical running shirts (come in sizes labeled as "mens S", "mens M" & "mens L"), which we're happy to share – 25 of these are available from the Summit's minivan tomorrow (or from me and Alma today, if you email us your size).

The Summit's Social Game starts today, from the moment you get the albums and the stickers. You're free to trade and complete the series during the Opening Reception: 3 albums that yield 1, 2 and 1 chips each, plus 1 extra chip if you bring all 3 series together.

The prize desk, though, opens only tomorrow. From 08:00, you can exchange completed albums for the red chips, and then use the chips to get one of the prizes (like this book here). Good luck!

Garden Dinner: Bring Your Tickets!

A reminder, as always, that your Garden Dinner ticket (June 3, Wednesday) is in your attendee bag, and you will need it to access the venue. The color matches your main course type. Please proceed to the table with the indicator of the same color:

And that's about it for today – see you in a few hours, at the Reception!

– S|CO –