Conference News: What I learned this week – August 23, 2019
TC ExtraCrunch: This year, TechCrunch is introducing a new stage to Disrupt: The Extra Crunch stage. It will feature “experienced operators giving practical, real-world advice on how to launch, run and grow a successful startup.” Some of the topics they plan to include how to raise your first dollars, how to be good at hiring, how to design a brand and how to iterate a product, and more. The event happens on 2 – 4 October in San Francisco.
UN Media Zone at Web Summit: Web Summit announced that the 2019 event (4 – 7 November) will mark the beginning of their official collaboration with the United Nations. This means that Web Summit will welcome the UN Media Zone to Lisbon, with a stage on the planet:tech floor where three days of interviews and content relating to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will be hosted by the UN. It will be accessible to all attendees. For more on this initiative, read this interview with Lise Kingo, CEO of United Nations Global Compact on the SDGs and the role of technology in the future of our planet.
Speaking Opportunity: For each of their flagship event call for papers, the GSMA publishes a blog post explaining the content team’s thought process – how they came up with that year’s themes, the topics that fall within those themes, and the kinds of perspectives they want to hear on each. This is no different for Mobile World Congress, which returns to Barcelona from 24 – 27 February next year. Since the GSMA goes out of their way to provide potential speaking candidates with a blueprint for submitting, do your part – be sure to read it thoroughly! Also be sure submit here by the 13 September deadline.
Lunchtime Learning: CB Insights is a machine intelligence company that provides its clients with fact-based insights. Its annual event, The Collective event brings together senior leaders from companies with revenues greater than $1B who have responsibility for corporate development & corporate strategy, R&D, product to discuss best practices for driving innovation and growth in their organizations. Hear from speakers such as the Head of Corporate Strategy and Ventures at Bose; the Chief Innovation Officer of the NBA; Senior Vice President Strategic Development at Comcast on how they are accelerating new business model development, optimizing corporate venture capital, and creating effective M&A strategies.
Coming Up Next Week: The summer conference season comes to a close, but not without a couple heavy hitters that take place this last week of August. At VMworld in San Francisco (25-29 August), you can join 22,000 other tech and business professionals for direction on the latest innovations for accelerating toward a software-defined business. If can’t make it to SF (or even just Moscone!), check out the keynote sessions live on the VMworld stream site. GameDaily Connect USA runs 27-29 August at Disneyland, exploring “investment, innovation, and creativity” in the games industry, where you’ll hear from studio execs and indie developers alike. And let’s not forget PAX West (30 August – 2 September; Seattle), which will again feature the pre-conference and press-free PAX Dev (27-28 August). There, developers are invited to speak freely and focus on their trade in a safe and comfortable environment.