The first Nest Summit — held at Javits Center in 2019 — was intended to provide an outlet for companies to hold meetings during Climate Week NYC, which had been held in the city for 11 years and focused on sustainability solutions. Spearheaded by the Javits Center and NYC & Company, it consisted of a single day of hosted meetings between companies interested in advancing sustainability and investing in the future. 

This year, reimagined as a five-day virtual event held Sept. 21-24, The Nest Summit at Climate Week NYC featured nearly 50 sessions produced live-to-film out of the new broadcast studio at Javits Center. According to Britton Jones, founder and CEO of NXT Events Media Group, which was brought on to organize this year’s event, the summit’s growth was the culmination of a unique set of partnerships dedicated to producing one of the world’s top climate-action gatherings. 

Jones said the first decision they made when planning this year’s event was to transition the summit from an unofficial day of meetings alongside Climate Week NYC to an official partner of The Climate Group, the U.K.-based nonprofit behind Climate Week NYC. “Becoming the official event partner of The Climate Group and the official event of Climate Week NYC was a monumental step in taking the summit to the next level,” says Jones. 

They also formed an agreement with Molinari Media, owners of fintech.tv and producers of TheIMPACT, a newly launched channel on fintech.tv devoted to sustainability. That meant that the content they produced on the stage in Javits Center’s new broadcast studio could be carried across their outlets in addition to The Nest Summit website, Climate Week NYC website and Facebook Watch.

“[This] added value for the companies participating,” says Sharon Enright, president and COO of NXT Events Media Group. Enright reported the event received high engagement, with more than 12,500 users and 70,000 page views, not including numbers from Facebook Watch.

Jones says the synergy among the various partners — from their own graphics team to the fintech.tv broadcast team to the production crew in the new studio at Javits — was key, as was the Javits Center’s image as a symbol of sustainability. “The environment really brought out the best in everybody,” says Jones.

Producing the content at Javits Center’s broadcast studio also meant some of the team and speakers could physically be on-site (keeping within strict health and safety guidelines) as they produced the content, which included one-on-one interviews, fireside chats and panels that included a mix of live and virtual participants.

Fred Dixon, president and CEO of NYC & Company, participated in the NYC & Company Talks part of the summit. “We are proud to have collaborated with The Climate Group and Javits Center to safely and successfully produce this year’s Climate Week NYC and Nest Summit during a most challenging year,” says Dixon. “Despite the pandemic, bringing global attention to the ever-important topics of climate action and sustainability was paramount.”

Looking forward to 2021, Jones and Enright say they hope to help continue to grow the event by adding back the in-person component. “Virtual is important and it was successful, but we can’t wait to couple that with a dynamic in-person event,” says Jones. “Both are going to be equally important as we educate, inspire and activate people to climate action.”