The Economic Development Board of Singapore (EDB) issued us a challenge: Find a way to take the pressure off networking at business conferences, and do it in a memorable way that would get jaded C-suite executives talking about Singapore.

So we built a coffee machine. One that only dispensed two cups of coffee at a time.

The Coffee Connector works when it intelligently detect two people standing in front of it, giving conference attendees an excuse to start a conversation with a fellow attendee. The Coffee Connector then engages the pair of new-found friends in a visual spectacle as they watch the high-tech machine grind, brew and dispense their coffees. A personalised coffee cup sleeve complete with their names finishes the journey, and reveals that their connection was brought to them by Singapore.

In a tech-savvy world where connections are constantly devalued by LinkedIn and Likes, we used tech instead to physically connect people over the warmth of a cup of coffee.

The Coffee Connector was built in partnership with EDB and Tellart. It continues its trek around the conference circuit. Look out for it at the next North American business forum!