With Toronto Climate Week coming up - and conference season in full swing - I caught up with Nelson Switzer, Managing Partner at Climate Innovation Capital, to get his tips and tricks on making the most of TOCW.

Toronto Climate Week isn’t a conference. It’s a once-a-year market for attention, capital, and ideas.

Most people show up and drift through it. They hop between panels, coffees, and happy hours. The ones who get real value treat it differently. They treat it like a process.

The week is already won or lost before it starts. If you’re building your schedule on June 1st, you’re already behind.

Pick six to eight people you actually need to meet. Investors. Founders. Partners. People who matter to your next step.  

Start with relevance. Who is actively investing in your space - not who you wish was. Look at recent deals. Portfolio overlap. Published investment theses, articles and interviews. Then pressure-test the list. Ask yourself: who can actually change my trajectory in the next 90 days?

Visit the TOCW calendar and carve it up using filters that prioritize your objectives. Capital. Access. Partnership. Reviewing the speakers should act as your first lens. This tells you who you’ll meet. Teams tend to travel together. The room matters as much as the stage.

Small, curated formats outperform scale. Dinners. Roundtables. Invite-only sessions. That’s where connections happen.

Then think about location. Anchor yourself in one or two hubs, not ten. Proximity compounds opportunity.

Once you have identified your short list, reach out early and be specific about why you want to meet. This isn’t about maximizing volume. It’s about maximizing relevance. Quality over quantity.

During the week, the real work isn’t on stage. Panels educate and inspire, but they rarely create outcomes. The real conversations happen in the margins. In the hallways, small dinners, and side events. That’s where people actually talk. Use the sessions as the context and common denominator - not the main event. Be a flexible opportunist. Someone who can bend the calendar in response to who you meet - to move closer to your objective. 

If you spend the whole week sitting in rooms, you’re missing it.

… Don’t (I say this as a repeat offender). At least not the way most founders think. No one wants your full deck in a crowded room. And you’re not closing anything in a hallway. Your job is simpler…and harder. Earn the right to a second conversation. One clear sentence on what you do. One sharp insight that proves you understand your market better than most. Then stop. If there’s interest, it will be obvious.  

From an investor’s perspective, this is what stands out. Clarity beats charisma. If you can explain what you do, why it matters now, and why you’ll win - in under 30 seconds - you’re already ahead of most.  

(Watch this TED talk from Rebecca Okamoto if you want to master the skill) 

After the week, this is where it actually counts - and where most people drop the ball. Follow up within 48 hours. Email. Text. Phone. Yes, phone. Reference something specific from the conversation. Do not send your pitch deck or your ask. The objective of the follow-up is the same as the first conversation. Not to sell, but to build the foundation of a relationship. Secure the meeting - the one you’re after. 

A quality follow-up feels like a continuation, not a reset. Short. Specific. Easy to respond to.

TOCW compresses the ecosystem into a single week with investors, founders, policymakers, all in the same rooms. Moments like that don’t come often.

The question isn’t whether you attend. It’s whether you show up with intent.

[Build your game plan - check out the TOCW calendar of events →]