Last week MCON 2016 kicked off at National Geographic headquarters with event hosts The Case Foundation & Achieve, bringing together leaders, activists and social entrepreneurs interested in turning interest into action around the millennial generation. The three day convening brought together over 600 in-person attendees and thousands more online through the livestream.
Day One Highlights
The first day of MCON began with a morning Questival competition hosted by Cotopaxi followed by a Political Town Hall, presented by The Washington Post Live, the release of Wave 1 of the 2016 Millennial Impact Report, a keynote by Michael Smith from My Brother’s Keeper, and a discussion about politics and humor with Funny or Die’s Brad Jenkins and David Litt.
MCON’s opening night party at Renwick Gallery, hosted by Case Foundation and Washington Life Magazine, featured an Instagram installation with curated election photos. Food was catered by Jose Andres’s Cuba Libre. In attendance: Chef José Andrés, Gary Knell (President and CEO of National Geographic), David Litt and Brad Jenkins (Funny or Die), Kiki Burger (Rock The Vote) and John Tass Parker (Instagram).
Day Two Highlights
Day two started with an exploration panel with famed National Geographic explorer Sylvia Earle and millennial explorer Erin Spencer. The morning wrapped with Jean Case, chairman of National Geographic & Case Foundation CEO, daring the audience to “Be Fearless.” After the lunchtime screening of Chris Temple’s “Salam Neighbor,” Miki Agrawal encouraged the crowd to “let their freak flag fly,” and “Do Cool Sh*t.” MCON attendees also experienced DELL’s new virtual reality simulator, “Cry Out, The Lonely Whale Experience.”
DeRay Mckesson closed out the daytime programing with a keynote on the current state of the #BlackLivesMatter movement, saying “people aren’t born woke, something wakes them up.” Day two ended with a Club MCON party at Soundcheck, hosted by NYLON, Rock The Vote and Tumblr, in partnership with BYT, with a performance by The Dolls. The event was catered by STK and featured giveaways from Nylon Shops.
Day Three Highlights
Day three began with breakfast from Shake Shack followed by Katherine Kallinis Berman & Sophie Kallinis LaMontagne sharing how they took their business-savvy skills and passion for baking to start Georgetown Cupcakes. DC Mayor Muriel Bowser took the stage to discuss innovation in Washington DC and introduce world renowned chef José Andrés. Lunch was provided by Cava Grill and Taylor Gourmet. Other highlights include keynotes from Jay Newton-Small and Clif Bar CEO Kevin Cleary, an AFI filmmakers panel and ending with Ryan Leslie, recording artist & CEO of Disruptive Multimedia. Daytime programing wrapped with Matt Bellassai roasting the millennial audience on millennials. MCON’s closing night celebration was a block party at the Nat Geo campus hosted by Comcast and the Independent Journal Review with UFO Harpoon beer, local food trucks and DJ Mathias.
The event was made possible by our three-day food and beverage partners including Clif Bar, Boxed Water, Owl’s Brew, Heritage Distilling, Denizens, Flying Dog, Port City and Layer Cake wine.