Conference News: What I learned this week – May 20
Lighting a FUSE: After more than 20 years of success in the US, IIR will produce the first ever FUSE LONDON conference from 30 November to 2 December. FUSE “celebrates a collaborative approach to building brands that marries design, culture and strategy.” The London event will focus on graphic design, industrial design, service design, digital design and social media, brand strategy, packaging, leadership, trends and culture. The website is not yet available, but you can get an idea as to what FUSE is all about from the 2016 April conference site.
Going Digital: The Cloud Business Summit, which has gathered senior business and finance executives, marketing strategists and technology leaders since 2010, recently changed its name to the Digital Business Summit in order to reflect the transformation that business are experiencing through new technologies like cloud, mobility, IoT and social analytics. Another reason for the timing of the name change – the conference producer, Saugatuck Technology, was acquired by Stamford, CT-based Information Services Group (ISG) last year. In 2016, the Digital Business Summit will take place in three locations: Berlin on 27 October, Greenwich, CT on 17 November, and Chicago on 1 December.
Crossing the Country: Quartz, the digitally native news outlet, has been hosting The Next Billion (TNB) conference since 2013. Although they have hosted the event in several cities around the world, they have been holding their annual flagship TNB in New York. In 2016, Quartz has announced that it is moving The Next Billion from the Big Apple to the City by the Bay. The Next Billion 2016 will take place on 13 October at the San Francisco Jazz Center.
Speaking Opportunity: After a successful debut in 2015 RSA Conference will return to Abu Dhabi from 15 – 16 November 2016. Have an innovative topic idea related to information security? The call for speakers process will be open until 20 June. Make speaker submissions following guidelines found here.
Lunchtime Learning: When is it OK to watch “Silicon Valley” star Thomas Middleditch and Mike Schur, the co-creator and executive producer of “Parks and Recreation” and “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” at work? When they are being interviewed on the Bloomberg stage, of course! As you gear up for the 2016 edition of Bloomberg Technology Conference (14 June in San Francisco), watch the 2015 session on “How Pop Culture Views Coding” here. Entertaining and educational!
Coming Up Next: If you like acronyms – and connecting with others who are interested in advancing women in technology –check out the IEEE Women in Engineering (WIE) International Leadership Conference (ILC). Event will take place from 23 – 24 May at the San Jose Convention Center and focuses on “providing leading-edge professional development for mid-level and senior women.” Also in the Bay area from 23 – 24 May, the MIT Technology Review EmTech Digital Conference will gather more than 600 business leaders, investors, developers, entrepreneurs, policy specialists, and innovators to discuss new technologies and their impact on the business landscape. The conference will be held at the St. Regis Hotel in San Francisco. If jewelry and handbags are more your thing, head over to the Ritz-Carlton for the Financial Times Business of Luxury Summit. It will also be in San Francisco from 23 – 24 May.