Hrvoje Prpić – member of CRANE’s Board of Directors gives a lecture at Harvard

On March 16 and 17, the Innovation project 2016 panel was held at the prestigious Harvard University, gathering over 80 speakers from around the world, namely founders, directors and key individuals from the most successful companies, such as PayPal (CEO Dan Schulman), Visa (CEO Charles W. Scharf), Amazon (VP Patrick Gauthier), Google, Intel and many others. One of the many lecturers was also Hrvoje Prpić, a member of CRANE’s Board of Directors and the founder of Trillenium, presenting the use of virtual reality for commercial purposes – online shopping, selling expensive apartments, offices, 5 star hotels, first-class airplane tickets and the transfer of knowledge from the company’s warehouse to the endpoint of its business.

The Innovation project is a panel gathering 40 successful and fast-growing start-ups, giving them a chance to demonstrate, in professional conditions, their unique way of changing the future of payments and stores. Without big stands, marketing material and tricks, the Innovation project puts the emphasis on the idea itself and success is measured without the influence of marketing activities.

The conference at Harvard achieved a unique combination of tradition and culture and the modern world of start-ups. The entrance itself, known as The Memorial Transept, 240 square meters in size, consists of 18-meter high gothic pillars extending over a marble floor, black oak panelling and stained-glass door. The Memorial Transept is a monument to Harvard alumni who died in the Civil War, whose names are written on 28 white tablets.

The main part of the conference was held in Harvard’s biggest auditorium – Sanders Theatre, with the seating capacity of over 1166, where, throughout history, some of the most influential people gave their speeches, namely Winston Churchill, Theodore Roosevelt, Martin Luther King Junior and Mikhail Gorbachev.

The awards for best start-ups were also given at the conference, and the award ceremony was held in the Alumni Hall auditorium, 830 square meters in size, with massive wooden beams and a blue ceiling decorated back in 1874. For over 50 years, the Alumni Hall was used as the main dining room for Harvard students, and lately it has been used for dances, banquets, exhibitions and other cultural events.