Collision tech summit is moving to New Orleans

SAN MATEO, Calif. — The Collision conference is coming to the Big Easy.

After calling downtown Las Vegas its U.S. home the past two years, the international tech show is moving its annual get-together to New Orleans in April 2016.

Collision — the U.S. version of the popular Web Summit, which started in Dublin in 2010 — will take place at the New Orleans Morial Convention Center, April 26-28, sandwiched between Jazz Fest weekends. Collision events will be scattered at night across the city's bars, restaurants and streets.

The relocation of Collision to the South is a coup for the city of New Orleans, which has spent several years trying to establish itself as a major tech hub.

"Come for tech, stay for jazz," Web Summit founder Paddy Cosgrave said in a blog post.

"Collision in the United States is growing even faster (than the Dublin show)," said Cosgrave, who looked at a dozen cities before deciding on New Orleans. "That growth requires a much larger community."

This year, attendees from 89 countries descended on Las Vegas in early May. Organizers expect reps from more than 100 countries in 2016.

Collision is a small-scale version of the Consumer Electronics Show, the sprawling, mega-tech show that dominates the Strip in January.

Cosgrave insists that Collision will maintain its ties to Sin City. It plans two events in Las Vegas next year, he says.