Conference News: What I learned this week – May 17, 2019

FT Finance Field Trip: After a successful launch of the CFO Dialogues conference last year in London, the Financial Times has decided to host the event in both London and New York in 2019.  The New York CFO Dialogues is designed for CFOs and senior finance executives across all sectors in North America and will take place on 17 September. Some of the topics on the agenda are: How to be an inspirational leader; Effectively navigating changing stakeholder metrics; and The role of the CFO in effectively owning data.

Not Next Up: The Wall Street Journal announced earlier this year that they would be creating a new leadership community and annual event called Next Up. The gathering was to take on the topic of modern leadership for the next generation of CEOs. While the conference was originally scheduled for 4 June in New York, it has been postponed to March 2020 in order to give the conference organizers more time to consider how best to consider the most appropriate audience and format.   

Back to Class: The team behind Chicago Ideas Week has introduced a new event series for lifelong learners called Electives. The idea behind Electives is to offer masterclasses which explore a single subject and is led by an expert in that field – giving attendees access to that “course in college that you always wanted to take but never had the time.” And just like a college course, attendees will be prepped with materials like reading lists, syllabi, breakout groups and more. If you plan to be in Chicago over the next few months, you may want to consider checking out the full Electives schedule.

Speaking Opportunity: Globoforce Workhuman Live has opened its Call for Speakers for the 2020 event, happening from 11 – 14 May in San Antonio, TX. The conference organizers are looking for “experienced and engaging professionals who are passionate about sharing expertise and primary research topics in HR, leadership, and building a best place to work.” Topics of interest include: Recognition; Gratitude; Feedback; Diversity; Equality; Innovation; Culture; Mindset; Motivation; Recruitment and Leadership. Speaker submissions must be made via their online form before 31 May. Note that a link to a video sample is required as part of the proposal and accepted speakers must be available to attend the entire conference.

Lunchtime Learning: Just as the Aspen Ideas Festival has grown and morphed over the years, the way we interact with digital content has changed too. With that in mind, Aspen recently unveiled its new editorial and media platform geared toward all levels of curiosity. For example, don’t have 50 minutes to watch an entire session video? Or maybe you can’t use the audio on your device? No problem. The site now offers super cool “Session Rundowns” which are basically Cliff’s Notes versions of some of Aspen’s most buzz-generating talks. Other new functionalities help you stumble upon topics you didn’t even know existed. And don’t worry, the full sessions are still there for when you want a more immersive Aspen experience!

Coming Up Next Week: In its Toronto debut, Collision (20-23 May) kicks off to a crowd of over 25,000 innovation-minded attendees. Called “North America’s fastest-growing tech conference,” Collision is the sister event to Europe’s Web Summit and promises yet another year of blockbuster keynotes across 17 tracks. Not to be outdone, NYC will host the WSJ Future of Everything Festival on the same dates, where “future thinkers and rising talent” will meet to grapple with the future of… well, you get it. For more tangible lessons aimed at IT professionals, Interop ITX (20-23 May; Las Vegas) promises its audience unbiased and commercial-free strategies in cloud, data, security and other areas of IT focus. “Lead Beyond” is the theme for this year’s IEEE Women in Engineering (WIE) International Leadership Conference, which begins 23 May in Austin. Digital Hollywood Spring gets underway 21 May in LA, with its signature panels covering entertainment, innovation, VR/AR, and now sports and wellness. And in Washington DC on 22 May, US News STEM Solutions Conference convenes industry, education, and government for fresh ideas on workforce development.