Choro Mulhereil at Bar Bugio – Floripa Conecta – Photo: Gabriel Vanini

Floripa Conecta ceased to exist in 2023, but the movement continues to be felt in the city. After a long-awaited marathon of more than a hundred events held throughout August in Florianópolis, the initiative is now counting the results. The presentation of the final report and results of the third edition will take place on October 4 at 8 am at Sebrae/SC (gen. 401).

The third edition attracted more than 120 thousand people in August 2023. A preliminary survey of participating organizations shows that the impact on the capital’s economy during this period amounted to more than 100 million reais.

In total, from August 1 to 31, the movement brought together 160 events in the fields of technology, music, entrepreneurship and marketing, fine arts, sports, audiovisual media and games, and others.

Good attendance and number of events are just one indicator of the strength of a city’s event zone. But there are other important lessons: Floripa Conecta manages to further stimulate the potential of the creative sector with each release through community mobilization, education and training of new event professionals and a wealth of ideas.

The movement is already a model for the rest of Brazil.

The events that were part of the movement in 2023 attracted tourists from all over Brazil and more than 20 countries. “August was an important period for the city’s economy. In just a few days, we have reached the maximum capacity of the hotel chain in the center of Florianópolis,” says Tainan Mariano, CEO of Floripa Conecta.

What started as an idea to revitalize August in Floripa has become a nationally recognized brand, mainly thanks to the alliance of organizations and partners that work together towards a common goal: developing the value chain of the creative economy of Florianopolis. .

Cinema Club Trilhas de Criança – Photo: Gabriel Vanini

“The 2023 edition made history and further increases our responsibility for 2024. Floripa Conecta is more than a movement that concentrates events in one month, it is a brand that has conquered the city and we will work to make it recognizable at an international level,” says Sebrae/SC Regional Manager for Greater Florianópolis Roberto Tavares.

Through the merger of the city’s main organizations – Florianópolis City Hall, ACATE, ACIF, CDL and SEBRAE – Floripa Conecta was created with the aim of strengthening the economic development of the capital and the region by bringing together important players in the technology sector, tourism and the entire creative industry. This union has borne fruit.

For the Executive Secretary of Economic Development, Science and Technology of Florianópolis, Giuliano Richter Pires, this alliance is one of the legacies of Floripa Conecta: a joint action of private and public institutions that have joined forces to promote attractions for residents and tourists.

“We have witnessed connections, the exchange of ideas and the opening of new horizons of opportunity. The creative economy of Florianópolis has stood out even more, confirming its vital role in the city’s business scene,” says Celio Bernardi, President of ACIF.

Visitors from more than 20 countries and hotel chain occupancy in winter

In 2023, unlike the first two editions held in 2019 and 2022, Floripa Conecta included events throughout the entire month, rather than just a few days in August. This was reflected in the record participation of participants and innovation enthusiasts.

Startup Summit 2023 alone, for example, one of the events on the Floripa Conecta schedule, attracted more than 10 thousand people and made it into the international press. “This was just one of many actions that reached different people and places, from the north to the south of the island,” says Yomani Engelmann, president of ACATE.

Startup Summit 2023 – Photo: Gabriel Vanini

In addition to connections, the influence is noticeable in the development of trade in the city. For CDL Florianópolis president Julio Jeremias, it is clear that August no longer holds the title of “worst month of the year” in terms of activity in the capital. “It was a great honor for us to be one of those who opened the Floripa Conecta program with the INOVA+AÇÃO event. We made meaningful connections that positively impacted more than 2,200 participants,” says Geremias.

The movement continues

One of the new products of the third edition of Floripa Conecta is a new free course “Management and organization of cultural events”, the first class of which will be formed by the end of September. Another new development is the launch of CoCeation Lab Floripa Conecta, a publication dedicated to proposals related to the creative economy.

Other projects and ideas continue to be heard and will soon bear fruit. One such finding is an unprecedented survey of key figures in the city’s creative sector involved in the 2023 movement. The results of the survey will be made public by October.

Black Film Festival – Photo: Gabriel Vanini

It was also possible to identify some bottlenecks that will be taken into account in future editions. The pedagogical exercise to understand the dynamics of the creative economy in Florianópolis is ongoing and will continue to resonate.

The more than 160 events included in the Floripa Conecta 2023 program highlighted how diverse and plural Florianopolis is. The movement has managed to attract manufacturers, companies and suppliers from different segments, and the next step is to expand and break the bubble even further so that the movement reaches more people and is even more representative of this multitude.

Futuro and Floripa Konekta

In the future, the organizations and people who make this initiative a reality dream of a gigantic movement that will become an example for the whole of Brazil in terms of relevance, active and significant impact that will lead to a culture for all.

“We want and must reduce the distance between culture and population, and Floripa Conecta has been trying to do this for three editions. This is why we view the movement as centralizing so that it can then be distributed. We converge and then we separate. And thus, distribute attention,” says Floripa Conecta PR Director Fabricio Faustin from Balaclava Studio.

In the future, Floripa Conecta will have priority in organizing this area between private and public institutions, the population and public policies in the fields of culture and the creative economy. This is done because the movement covers most of the sectors that produce events, but does not forget the basics, which is that the movement exists by the people and for the people.