Conference News: What happens in Vegas… and Texas; Talking with TNW
AdExchanging SF for Vegas: AdExchanger’s PROGRAMMATIC I/O is typically held twice a year, on the East and West Coasts respectively. In 2022, the integrated media and events company devoted to the digital advertising and marketing space, will host the spring edition of its conference in Las Vegas for the first time. The event was previously held in San Francisco, but the organizers said that they were ready for a change and had outgrown their regular venues. PROGRAMMATIC I/O West will be held on 24 – 25 May 2022.
Women in Tech-sas?: In moving to a 2022 regional event model, designed to meet the shifting demands of conference attendees, the creators of the Women in Technology World Series announced their inaugural Women in Tech Texas. Held at the Hilton Americas-Houston from 19 – 20 May 2022, this brand new two day hybrid event will convene 1,200 attendees from across Texas to build connections and develop core skills. Michaela Jeffery-Morrison, CEO & Founder of the Women in Technology World Series explains why the launch of the Texas program is an essential element of the organization’s return to in-person experiences: “Our collective experiences of the past year have allowed us all to realise the power of face-to-face interactions in creating real and valuable connection. Our theme for 2022 is Resilience; resilience in your career, resilience in business, resilience in the tech we are building and using, while making significant contributions to positive steps in the diversity and inclusion movement.”
Speaking Opportunity: Lately it seems everyone is talking about the automotive supply chain, an issue bound to be the elephant in the room at next year’s Digital Dealer Tampa. Held 9-11 May, this semiannual event brings together automotive dealers, OEMs, marketers, and other auto retail players for networking and best practices around three conference tracks: Dealer Ops & Leadership, Marketing & Advertising, and Sales & Variable Ops. Organizers are accepting speaker suggestions now and are especially keen on submissions with new approaches to help dealerships solve pain points or tap into new growth opportunities. Friday 17 December is the deadline to be considered. Note that a 60-second teaser video is a proposal requirement, and if selected, Digital Dealer may also use the video to promote the speaking session.
Conference Manager Q&A: Marina Favretto is Program Manager for TNW, which stands for “The Next Web” and produces a flagship conference exploring the future of tech annually in Amsterdam, called TNW Conference. We spoke with Marina who shared what it’s been like producing the event and what TNW looks for topically when they invite speakers.
Speaker Strategies: What are you doing to keep attendees safe as we move forward with live events?
Attendee safety is always a priority – even before the pandemic. While our flagship is called TNW Conference, it is a tech festival, balancing business and fun: Picture a Ferris wheel, food trucks, a vibrant exhibition floor, and packed stages. Safety is an integral part of delivering a high-quality event experience. The pandemic added another dimension to this, and it’s every event organizer’s responsibility to be on top of the changes and have the proper measures in place.
Speaker Strategies: What is the most important piece of a successful presentation abstract/topic description?
The most compelling description creates urgency – in other words, a session that I cannot miss! Digital events created a large influx of content that was easy to access. As we return to live events, it’s even more important to show how a session will deliver value, inspire, and is one to carve out time to attend. It’s not just about describing what you will talk about but drawing out why this will be of value to the audience.
Coming Up Next Week: When Forbes says they are convening a Power Women’s Summit on 9 December, they aren’t kidding about the “power” part. This virtual event will feature keynotes from Dr. Jane Goodall and award-winning filmmaker, director & producer Ava DuVernay, among renowned business and media leaders. At CB Insights’ online Future of Healthcare event (8-9 December), participants will meet to examine emerging tech like AI, new healthcare models, and innovations from both startups and Big Tech. Wall Street Journal convenes its annual WSJ CEO Council Summit on 7 December in Washington, DC. This flagship meeting of the CEO Council will also feature an opening reception the evening of the 6th. AI Summit NYC kicks off 8 December at the Javits Center, with 11 stages of content from companies like PepsiCo, JP Morgan, Wells Fargo, Walmart, and P&G, exploring best practices to “strengthen AI strategy in the commercial heartland of applied AI.” On 7 December, the Conference Board Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Conference begins its 2021 program online, operating under the theme: “Demanding Accountability, Delivering Solutions.” Finally, the Neural Information Processing Systems Conference – a.k.a. NeurIPS – will run tutorials, workshops, and other programming across the first two weeks of December. While highly technical, this ML event generates significant tech buzz beyond the academic world.