The two-day conference was extremely successful, both in terms of promoting Nova Somor, and in gathering information as well as creating new relationships. At Bologna’s CNR I was able to get to know some of the people who work for the network of services in support of innovative SMEs, which Emilia Romagna has been organising for years. The latest measures, such as the Starter fund and the Energy fund, will help many innovative start-ups to launch their activities. The programs within Horizon 2020 were also very interesting, in particular Nova Somor’s participation to “Innovation for small enterprises” could be very useful.

In Catanzaro, in an amazing and beautiful university campus nestled in a landscape of green hills, full of wind turbines and sheep grazing, I attended a meeting with a completely different agenda. I was able to meet and listen to professors of law, notaries, and experts in marketing and corporatists who discussed the evolution of the rules for crowdfunding. The testimony that I brought regarding Nova Somor’s experience was greatly appreciated and it proved, if ever it were needed, that practical experience is worth a thousand theories.

I found getting to know some details of the new laws that extend the ability to raise funds from the crowd also to innovative SMEs very valuable. The reports of the last frontiers of marketing based on “crowd sourcing” were also interesting, a new way to produce and sell. In short, catching 4 planes for one single trip may not be environmentally friendly, but it was very useful. The picture shows a “person of a certain weight” who significantly lowered the level of elegance of the speakers, but who returned the favour by bringing a contribution of practical experience in a field of purely theoretical relationships and contents.