Conference News: A Big Move to NYC; Grace Hopper Celebration CFP; Milken’s New Symposium
Big News for the Big Apple: Lesbians Who Tech & Allies was founded in 2012 as an organization for queer women and their allies in the male-dominated tech field. They have hosted their Annual Summit in San Francisco the past several years but recently announced that the 11th Annual will be moving to the Big Apple! The Lesbians Who Tech & Allies Summit will be held from 17 – 19 September in New York. According to their announcement, they will “taking over the South Street Seaport, building a Sports & Livestream Park, using the breathtaking Pier 17 rooftop to host our Main Stage content, and using venues like the IPIC Theater to host breakout sessions and workshops.”
Milken’s Investment in APAC: The Milken Institute has announced that it will host an inaugural Global Investors’ Symposium taking place in Hong Kong on 25-26 March. Under the theme of Thriving Together: Bridging Global Markets, the event will gather global thought leaders for both public sessions and private discussions that help to “activate impactful capital and investments in meaningful solutions for people and planet” in the Asia Pacific region. The conference organizers noted that they will have sessions on how to solve economic challenges in areas such as Human Capital, Jobs and Education; Policy and Regulation; Security/Risk; Sustainability and the Environment; and Technology and Innovation, to name a few.
Submission Opportunity: Regarded as the world’s biggest conference for women and non-binary technologists, AnitaB.org’s Grace Hopper Celebration/GHC moves to Philadelphia this year and will run 8-11 October, with some virtual programming complementing the in-person content and meetups. Now through 6 March, GHC is seeking speaker proposals to inspire and lead an inclusive future in tech on a wide array of topics – from technical to career to big picture – as well as diverse formats. In addition to the new venue, GHC is switching up the call for speakers this year, reviewing proposals on a rolling basis and planning to send a first round of acceptances in mid-February and the rest by the end of April. Want to expedite your topic idea? Submit a two-minute video explaining your topic or provide an outline, PowerPoint, or promotional plans for the session along with your abstract. GHC is also accepting ideas for their Open Source Day, an all-day virtual codeathon kicking off the conference.
Lunchtime Learning: The World Economic Forum is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. At its annual meeting in Davos, the organization attracts more than 3000 political, business, cultural and other leaders of society from 125+ countries to shape global, regional and industry agendas. Even if you were not in Switzerland in January, you can still watch some of the conversations that happened across the various stages. These include Supply Chains of the Future; Recharging Growth in China; Industrial Policy 2.0; AI: The Great Equalizer?; Protecting Democracy against Bots and Plots; Facing a World without Antibiotics; Finding a Balance for the Amazon, and more.
Coming Up Next Week: Held 12 February in DC, the State of the Net Conference is the United States’ largest Internet policy conference, created to foster dialogue between civil society, nonprofits, government officials, research institutions, and the business community. Axios BFD – which covers top dealmaking news across both coasts – will add Miami to its lineup on 13 February for a half-day event where Axios reporters will host conversations with industry leaders who are driving headlines and making deals in 2024. At GreenBiz Annual Conference (12-14 February; Scottsdale), attendees can expect to learn what’s next in decarbonization, biodiversity, supply chains, and strategic communications for sustainability objectives. WSJ CIO Annual Network Summit gets underway 12 February in Palo Alto and features leading CIOs and prominent AI executives who are thinking beyond technology goals to drive real business value through AI, digital transformation, and cybersecurity. ITEXPO is part of Tech Super Show, which runs 13-15 February in Ft. Lauderdale, covering such topics as cloud, digital transformation, and managed services. And finally, there’s Geo Week – created in response to the changing needs of geospatial professionals in the era of increasing convergence of technology and held 11-13 February in Denver.