Conference News: Wired for ESG; Next for the WORLDZ; Connecting with DataConnect Conf.
WIRED for Impact: Earlier this year Wired’s deputy global editorial director, Greg Williams, said that events are a “really important as a growth area” for the publication after they held a super-successful WIRED Health event (live and in-person) in May. And to that point, the publication has launched a new live conference for the fall called WIRED Impact. The one-day confab will be held on 2 November in London and will focus on sustainability, ESG and other trends reshaping the business environment.
Different Worldz: PTTOW! brings brands, media, artists and amplifiers together to help shape tomorrow’s culture. They were the producers of both PTTOW! Summit, an annual invite only C-Level event, as well as the Worldz Conference. There have been a number of changes to their event line up and membership collective over the past three years. And now they have announced that the WORLDZ Collective has officially changed its name to PTTOW! Next. What used to be an organization mostly focused on live events is now a “private year-round community for leading brand marketers and creatives who are looking to build long-term relationships with a highly curated group of like-minded peers from culture-shaping brands.”
Submission Opportunity: The Interaction Design Association/IxDA – created to help its member interaction designers create meaningful relationships between people and the products and services that they use – is currently planning its annual flagship Interaction conference 25 February – 3 March in Zurich. Have a diverse perspective, specific case study, or hands-on design to share with this audience? Interaction seeks speaker proposals for 7, 15, or 35-minute talks, and half-day or full-day workshops that explore issues like lowering the environmental impact of technology and establishing design ethics. Interaction’s approach to curation prioritizes inclusion and parity – they encourage non-native English speakers to apply and even offer 1:1 coaching and translation assistance. Interested presenters should submit now through 4 September.
Conference Manager Q&A: The DataConnect Conference will celebrate its 6th anniversary when it returns to Columbus, OH on 20 – 21 July 2023. Kelsey Dingelstedt, Managing Director Women in Analytics & DataConnect Conference, sat down with Speaker Strategies to chat about the event and explain their recent name change.
Speaker Strategies: You rebranded the event in 2022. What was the reason behind the name change? We rebranded from The Women in Analytics Conference to the DataConnect Conference for many reasons, but the most impactful one being inclusion. Although our core message and goal of providing women a platform in the data and analytics space hasn’t changed, we wanted data professionals of all genders and backgrounds to feel included, appreciated and connected in our space.
Speaker Strategies: How did you determine the location of the event? We love Columbus, Ohio! It’s affordable to travel to and within driving distance of a lot of major cities. It has a diverse mix of neighborhoods, which offer a ton of great food options. We also have a great relationship with our friends at the Hyatt Regency there. But if someone is unable to make the trip, they can still join us virtually, as our conference will be hybrid in 2023!
Speaker Strategies: What is the most important piece of a successful presentation at your conference? Our audience is extremely technical and loves to hear the nitty-gritty of the talks they’re attending. They also want to be engaged. Knowing how to balance both throughout a presentation is very important, at least in our conference setting.
Coming Up Next Week (actually the next 2 weeks as we won’t publish the Friday before Labor Day): What was once known as VMworld has been re-envisioned for 2022 as VMware Explore and will run 29 August-1 September in San Francisco and with some virtual elements. The company’s annual ecosystem event, VMware Explore is designed to be a one-stop-shop for all things multi-cloud. While PAX as grown to host expos around the world including Boston, San Antonio, Philadelphia, and Melbourne, Australia, PAX West – scheduled for 2-5 September in Seattle – is the original celebration of gaming and gaming culture. Kicking off 2 September, IFA Berlin is one of the largest consumer electronics trade fairs in the world. Both in-person at the Montreal Convention Center and online, the GoSec Cyber Security Conference spans 7-8 September and covers topics like hacking, advanced threats and vulnerability management to machine learning and artificial intelligence. Finally, it’s Kara Swisher’s last year as the host of Code 2022, which runs 6-8 September in Beverly Hills and convenes leaders across tech, politics, policy and media to uncover and explain how our digital world is changing, and changing us.