Conference News: New GreenBiz event; A Digital Duo; Chat with CES

Packaging Cutback Confab: On 7 December, GreenBiz will debut a new online event called Reuse. Reuse is described as “an online experience exploring the success stories, strategies and thought-provoking ideas for moving away from single-use packaging towards a thriving system of reuse.”  GreenBiz notes that they will cover several themes throughout the event including Design, Climate, Justice, Metrics, Finance and Collaboration. They expect the audience to include entrepreneurs, marketing and packaging professionals, retailers and policy makers.

Deutschland’s Digital Drive: DIGITAL X, Deutsche Telekom “leading cross-industry digitalization initiative,” and DMEXCO, self-described as “Europe’s leading digital marketing & tech event,” will be held simultaneously in 2023. They plan to include a joint ticket arrangement, which will allow visitors to attend both events and highlight the drive towards digitalization. The conferences will both be held on 20 – 21 September in Cologne. 

Submission Opportunity: The Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2024 which will take place from 18 – 22 March in San Francisco has opened its Core Concepts Call for Submissions through 10 August. The conference organizes state that they want to hear from “game developers, researchers, educators, and thought leaders eager to share what works, what should change, and where the future of video games is headed” and from “new creators, new stories, and new ideas—with a focus on diversity of voice, experience, and perspective.” Be sure to read over the submission FAQs before drafting your idea and note that the GDC Summits and Game Career Seminar Call for Submissions are held separately and won’t open until 24 August.

Conference Manager Q&A: Melissa Clubb is an Event Content Specialist at the Consumer Technology Association, producer of CES®, which just opened its Call for Speakers. We sat down with Melissa to get the inside scoop on this iconic event which held its first show in 1967 and has grown to regularly attract more than 100,000 attendees!   

Speaker Strategies: What about your next event excites you the most?

CES 2023 was a huge success and as we launch our call for CES 2024 speakers, I’m looking forward to reviewing another incredible slate of candidates. We are always inundated with compelling speaker candidates but expanded conference programming in 2024 means more speakers will be joining us onstage – an especially exciting prospect!

Speaker Strategies: How do you decide which topics to include each year?

The CES conference program spans dozens of technology sectors. We have 5-year plans, which help us forecast new innovations and emerging technology trends, and also stay on top of new developments and breakout categories from prior shows. For instance, at CES 2023, we introduced a new web3 and metaverse section on the show floor based on growing interest at the previous year’s show, which also fed into conference conversations.

Speaker Strategies: What do you think is the biggest misconception about how you develop the conference content?

At CES we focus on cultivating what we call ‘earned thought leadership’ for the sessions we produce. This means that we do not pay speakers and that surprises some people. We also work to ensure that each year, our CES conference programming offers a fresh perspective and introduces new and diverse voices. Our Call for Speakers is truly an open opportunity, and we’re always looking to find speakers from the technology community with a unique perspective on the latest trends.

Speaker Strategies: Why did you decide to host the event a week later this year?

Our dates for CES are booked years in advance, to ensure that we can secure access to the many venues required to host the show in Las Vegas. Our CES 2024 dates (9-12 January) happened to fall later than our CES ’23 and CES ’22 timing. While it wasn’t a deliberate strategic decision on our part, some additional separation from the New Year’s holiday might be a good thing!

Coming Up Next Week: LEAP HR Tech Talent runs 24-27 July in in-person Austin, exploring how the most people-centric, future-focused HR strategies are enabling agile tech companies to turn opportunity into reality in the face of industry uncertainty. Meanwhile, virtual events remain popular during traditionally slow conference weeks, starting off with the MassBio Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Conference (20 July), run by the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council and shining a light on the topic of health equity and how clinical trial diversity is a meaningful and achievable step toward the equitable delivery of health care. Following the next day is Techonomy’s online program on Securing the Future: How AI is Revolutionizing Cybersecurity (21 July), with input from security experts on how to manage AI-related risks, opportunities, challenges, and critical regulatory developments on the horizon. Finally, Digital Summit: Deep Dive into Analytics runs virtually on 25 July and offers its attendees masterclasses, breakouts, and how-to sessions for marketing analytics best practices.