Identity
Everyone is still motivated. So let's recreate the two main events from scratch.
Capitale Numérique
The story of a Québec digital ecosystem that refuses to die.
- 0employees, brands or clients on day zero
- 2,500+participants in the first year
- $1Min revenue
- $1.5Min economic impact for Québec City
June 2024. Québec numérique announces it is shutting down. The Web à Québec and the Semaine numériQC go down with it.
For years, these two events were where Québec City's digital people met, by the thousands every year. The nonprofit behind them ran out of money when the government funding it expected stopped coming. We never really found out why.
The community clearly didn't want the events to disappear. The announcement was shared more than 1,000 times. So we offered to help, from day zero. And day zero meant exactly that.
What do you do with… nothing?
There were five of us around the table: Jonathan Parent, Jean-Philippe Bonneau, Carole-Ann Labrie, Marie-Michèle Bouchard and me. We used EDGY to take stock of what was left.
It didn't take long. And then we looked closer. The events were 95% run by volunteers. Recreating a nonprofit isn't that complicated. We knew how to run events. And the community was still very much alive. The only real risk: if we didn't move fast, someone else would take the space.
- No employees
- No nonprofit
- No production capacity
- No brand
- No products
- No clients, no partners
- Great.
The pivot, facet by facet
One decision per EDGY facet. Together, they made a first strategy.
Brand
The old brands are blocked. So let's make new ones.
Experience
No confusion: say it plainly. We are the new version of the events you loved.
Product
Leave no room for anyone else. Book the dates and the venues right away.
Architecture
Bring together the people who still know how to run events.
Organisation
Keep it simple for everyone. Reuse the structure of the old committees.
For the record, it all wrapped up over poutine, with an action plan to start everything over. The result: a sold-out, paid launch event announcing the return of the events.
Diagnose. Use EDGY to see what was really left after the shutdown. Spoiler: not much, except the people.
Restart. A new nonprofit, new events, new names, and a sold-out launch to announce it all.
Mobilize. Game sessions with volunteers and partners to design the first edition of Interface.
Stabilize. Workshops with the new board: identity, ecosystem, brands, services and the attendee experience.
Play first, plan after
How do you kick off an event? With a game, of course. We were designing La Partie Prenante, the board game that became Boardroom Adventure. The first round: a fake wool-sock company with big data as its differentiator. If that sounds a bit wild, it's because it is. Everyone had fun, and had the conversations every organization needs.
The second round had no socks. The team played, and designed, Interface, an event that didn't exist yet. Three hours of play, three more hours of documentation on my end, and a shared vision of what had to be done. A few months later, Interface was born.
Case study within the case study: lunch
Enterprise design also works on small things. Here's one from our talk.
Before
Every talk ends at noon. Everyone lines up to eat at the same time. The line is long.
The diagnosis
No lunch, bad day.
The fix
Talks still end at noon. The bar opens. Lunch starts at 12:30, from restaurants instead of caterers.
Results
More socializing. Shorter lines. Restaurants cost less than caterers. And people liked the food better.
Return of the board
The first year was about speed. The second was about foundations. Events are concrete. A nonprofit and its board of directors, a little less. So we worked with the people who joined the new board: who is Capitale Numérique, where is it going, and what it will not do. In parallel, we mapped the ecosystem, the brands, the full range of services, and the experience of attendees, volunteers and speakers, using their satisfaction surveys.
“These maps are my guiding stars.”
Carole-Ann Labrie, Co-founder and CEO, Capitale Numérique. Translated from French.
Where Capitale Numérique is today
Within a year, the team hired a second employee and helped with a third event, in Montréal.
“Saved”
Radio-Canada reports that a new nonprofit, Capitale Numérique, takes over the Web à Québec and the Semaine numériQC.
Radio-Canada, in FrenchStarting from zero
The official launch. The old brands stay behind, so the events get new names: Rendez-vous numérique and Interface Québec.
Radio-Canada, in FrenchInterface, first edition
Three days at the cruise terminal, more than 40 volunteers and over 60 talks, opened by Scott Berkun.
Press release, in FrenchOn stage in Brussels
Carole-Ann Labrie and I told the story at Intersection 25: The Story of a Quebec Digital Ecosystem That Refuses to Die.
Intersection 25A webinar on the method
Carole-Ann explained how EDGY helped Québec's digital ecosystem come back to life, in a Rendez-vous Puissance d'Agir.
Event page, in FrenchThe city steps in
The Ville de Québec announces structuring support for Capitale Numérique, its Rendez-vous numérique and Interface Québec.
Ville de Québec, in FrenchRendez-vous numérique 2026
Three days at the cruise terminal, April 14 to 16, with more than 50 talks.
rendezvousnumerique.comTwo events a year
Capitale Numérique counts more than 4,000 participants since 2024, more than 950 participating companies and more than 150 volunteers a year.
capitalenumerique.comFrom nothing to 2,500 participants, $1M in revenue and $1.5M in economic impact for Québec City, in under a year.
Credits
- Enterprise design, game sessions and facilitation
- Jean-Sébastien Daigle · &friends
- Co-founder and CEO
- Carole-Ann Labrie · Capitale Numérique
- Co-founders
- Jonathan Parent and Jean-Philippe Bonneau · Capitale Numérique
- Volunteer designer
- Marie-Michèle Bouchard