Conference News: More Diverse Digital Health; Content Marketing World CFP; SXSW on Deck

GSMA back in MENA: At Mobile World Congress last week, the GSMA revealed that they will bring back M360 MENA in 2024. The event, hosted by the GSMA in partnership with Ooredoo, will take place in Doha, Qatar, from 18-19 November 2024. According to the announcement, the agenda will cover topics such as “the role of initiatives such as the GSMA Open Gateway in fostering industry-wide collaboration, the importance of policy frameworks that ensure fair and equitable contributions to mobile infrastructure upkeep, and progress in closing the usage gap in MENA and bringing the benefits of mobile internet to all.”  The M360 series was established in markets around the globe to unify the regional mobile ecosystem. You can find the entire lineup of these gatherings here.

Women In Healthcare Conversation: Reuters is curating a series of special events that will be co-located with their healthcare conferences to help healthcare professionals to accelerate their DEI progress within the sector. This started as a workshop at the Total Health Conference in Chicago last November. In 2024, both the Digital Health (14 – 15 May/San Diego) and Total Health (8 – 9 October/Chicago) events will include a workshop with an off-the-record panel of women who will discuss how to advance diversity, equity and inclusion in their field. Reuters also plans to host a 6 June. webinar on DEI in the Healthcare industry.

Submission Opportunity: The team behind Content Marketing World (21-23 October/San Diego) are accepting speaking submissions until Monday, 1 April.  The conference is produced by the Content Marketing Institute and gathers more than 3,500 marketing leaders, content creators, communications experts, agencies, and creative professionals from around the world. They are seeking speakers for a variety of sessions (40 min breakouts, workshops and industry masterclasses) across several tracks, such as AI in marketing; Content strategy; Measurement & ROI; and SEO/search. If you have a topic to share, please be sure to read over their submission tips so that you know what to expect before drafting a speaking proposal.

Lunchtime Learning: Last October, GreenBiz Verge gathered thousands of leaders from business, government, solution providers and startups at the San Jose Convention Center to address key solutions to the climate crisis. Sessions included a discussion with Google and Microsoft around how they are investing billions of dollars in artificial intelligence, climate tech and other innovations to meet their corporate climate goals; How California plans to achieve its ambitious climate change goals equitably; and a VC’s perspective on where climate tech goes from here. You can also hear from the federal chief environmental justice officer at the White House Council on Environmental Quality explain the Biden-Harris Administration’s vision for environmental justice. Watch all the keynote sessions here.

Coming Up Next Week: Where can you see The Black Keys play a set, screen a new documentary, take in a keynote by The Duchess of Sussex, AND hear from one of the Internet’s original architects on eliminating barriers to media consumption that those who are seeing or hearing impaired may experience? None other than SXSW, of course! SXSW takes over Austin from 8-16 March and features hundreds of conference sessions on topics like AI, the creator economy, climate change, health tech, startups, sports, and tech, alongside its music, TV, and film festivals. The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society – better known today as HIMSS – holds its annual conference 11-15 March in Orlando, convening health professionals from around the globe to harness a new era of information and technology. Aspen Ideas: Climate gets underway 11 March in Miami. This climate solutions-focused event is designed for the public to interact with and learn from climate leaders whose ideas and actions are critical to addressing our collective future. And on 14 March, women across the Northeast U.S. will join the Women Impact Tech Accelerate Conference virtually. While this program is held online, it is designed to inspire, educate, empower, and advance women in technology across Greater Boston, New England, and beyond.