Conference News: Sustainability at SEMI; MWC APAC CFP; Aspen Institute Shares their Ideas

Under my Umbrella: Open Source Summit is self-described as “the premier event for open source developers, technologists, and community leaders to collaborate, share information, solve problems, and gain knowledge, furthering open source innovation and ensuring a sustainable open source ecosystem.” Last week, the event organizers announced that in an effort to continue to evolve with the open source ecosystem, The Open Source Summit now be “a conference umbrella, composed of a collection of events that will always cover the most important projects, technologies and topics in open source today.” Therefore, Open Source Summit North America, happening in Austin, TX from 21- 24 June will include 13 events: LinuxCon; Embeded Linux Conference; CloudOpen; ContainerCon; SupplyChain SecurityCon; Critical Software Summit; Community Leadership Conference; Emerging OS Forum; Embedded IOT Summit; Diversity Empowerment Summit; Open AI+Data Forum; and Open Source OnRamp.

SEMI Gets Sustainable: In response to interest by their members, SEMI, the global industry association representing electronics manufacturing and supply chain professionals, has launched a Sustainability Initiative to “raise executive awareness of the role of the SEMI industry in sustainability and expectations from customers; learn from other industries on decarbonization pathways; and launch collaboration initiatives across entire manufacturing supply chain to decarbonize the industry.” The group will convene to discuss these issues with a half day of programming on 13 July at SEMIcon West (11-14 July 2022) at Moscone Center in San Francisco.

Speaking Opportunity: Mobile World Congress Shanghai returns to the Shanghai New International Expo Center (SNIEC) from 29 June – 1 July 2022. The  conference brings together professionals and decision makers from across the Asian mobile ecosystem to “redefine what it means to be connected.” MWC Shanghai is attended by 25,000 global mobile operators, device manufacturers, technology providers, vertical industries, and content owners. The event organizers are accepting speaker suggestions until 31 March across five key areas of interest: 5G Connect; Advancing AI; CloudNet; Internet of Everything; and New Tech. Within the online Call for Speakers form, be sure to indicate “why you, your product, or your company is pushing the barriers of connectivity.”

Conference Manager Q&A: The Aspen Institute – which was founded in 1949 to promote the creation of a free, just, and equitable society– is known for producing the annual Aspen Ideas Festival, which convenes leading minds from around the world to share and speak on global issues in a nonpartisan and nonideological setting. The 2022 event will run 25 June – 1 July onsite at the institute in partnership with NBC Universal. We recently spoke with the Institute’s Vice President, Public Programs and Executive Director Kitty Boone to learn more about current year plans and what makes a memorable Festival speaker.
 
Speaker Strategies: What is the most important trait of a good speaker?

Good speakers are really prepared, but not so much that they’re not listening to audience, and they need to have a sense of humor throughout talk. Stories bring topics to life, so the more a speaker can integrate storytelling, the better. Be prepared to take questions, be excited about what you’re talking about, and bring your own humanity to the talk. Talking about failure is not a bad idea. Nobody’s perfect, so be transparent.

Speaker Strategies: What are you doing to keep speakers and attendees safe in 2022?

We are all about health and safety at the Institute. We employ a risk leader on our team to help keep employees safe and that mentality extends to attendees at our events. In Aspen this summer, we are adding an additional outdoor tent and only using indoor venues that offer open-air ventilation. We’ve used mobile onsite testing and are committed to following all state and CDC protocols that are issued for that time.

Speaker Strategies: How do you determine when/where to host your conference?

The Ideas Festival is in Aspen because that is where the Aspen Institute was founded in the 1950s and it has always served our community well. Our new Climate Summit will be in Miami because a few members suggested that we bring this conversation to Southern Florida – which is ground zero for climate change. We want to share positive stories of those developing innovations and solutions to fight this global challenge. (The event will now be held from 9- 12 May.)

Coming Up Next Week: 40,000 delegates will take the “LEAP” in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to learn why global technology event is reshaping the way we live. Informa’s LEAP Summit will run 1-3 February at the Riyadh Front Expo Centre. The goal of ENIGMA (1-3 February; Santa Clara) is to clearly explain emerging threats and defenses in the growing intersection of society and technology, and to foster an intelligent and informed conversation within the community and the world. On 2 February, you’ll discover more than whether the groundhog predicts an early spring if you join HCI’s Optimize Your Talent Strategy Virtual Conference for insider info on Mapping Your Future Workforce with Strategic Workforce Planning. Finally, find out why Happy Employees Don’t Equal Happy Customers at this Conference Board webinar, held 3 February in EST.