The best conferences and events for women in digital

Whether you’re launching a brand new business or nurturing an existing one, conferences provide excellent venues in which to network with potential clients, form relationships with potential collaborators, and gain exposure to the latest trends and innovations. 2019 has been a crazy ride so far at Digital 55, and a huge part of the learning, growing, and connecting we’ve experienced is thanks to the many conferences and workshops we’ve attended so far this year.

Not only does the conferences experience (or “CX”, as we like to call it!) offer you a chance to connect with other professionals in your industry—and possibly get some business out of it—but they also provide a huge learning opportunity. You’re able to take in some interesting talks and panels, find out what other companies are up to, and dig into some great conversations with other professionals from across the globe.

As a creative or an entrepreneur, you just never know where inspiration can strike, and conferences are a great way to get those gears moving! And once you start going to a few each year, you can begin to see which ones work best for you and curate your CX to ensure you’re making the most of every opportunity.

Here is a roundup of the conferences we’ve attended so far in 2019, what we’ve learned, and why you should make conferencing an integral part of your business strategy.

Create & Cultivate Vision Summit

Now this is a conference that was designed with CX in mind! Any C&C event is known to be an Instagrammable experience and Miami’s Vision Summit lived up to the reputation.

Not only was it held in a carpark (super edgy), the Vision Summit was a great example of working with a unique physical space to fully integrate branding and design into the entire conference experience. This level of thoughtfully curated design affects how you learn, what you learn, and even how attendees interact with each other. Plus, it’s smart marketing. When every attendee is photographing their experience, they are actively deploying content from your event, storytelling live, and ultimately, marketing the next event for you.

SXSWedu

South By Southwest is one of our favourite conferences and we look forward to visiting Austin every year for this not-to-miss conference. Depending on the track you choose, SXSW offers experiences in education and edTech, music, film and television, comedy, interactive and digital.

This year we focused on education and edTech, where SXSWedu explored topics in understanding the user experience across many different spectrums, utilizing exploration-guided digital learning design and culturally-responsive learning theory, which we found really valuable. We took in how important it is to create diverse and accessible content for all users, regardless of culture, background, and learning style. SXSWedu provides an environment for free thinking and this year was a great opportunity to think more about diversity, cultural shifts in learning experience and real-world content, & factual storytelling.

Adobe eLearning Conference

It’s always exciting to be at an Adobe event since some of the tools and platforms are so integral to our design and dev process. This one-day conference in Washington, D.C. was rich with connections and panel discussions. In 2019’s event, the conversation surrounded “rich intelligence.” How can we think about the many different models of AI in a way that creates more jobs and opportunities (as opposed to the media’s perspective that AI is killing jobs)? AI actually frees up existing talent to make room for more creativity, more innovation, and deeper thinking on problems that matter. Mic drop.

BDC WE Talk Business Boot Camp

Okay, so it wasn’t a conference per se, but an amazing workshop (offered Canada-wide) that was all about stepping outside your business. In this workshop, we learned a lot about the changing roles of women entrepreneurs and women in leadership positions. It was a great opportunity to talk about money and debt and the rhetoric surrounding raising capital & business funding for female entrepreneurs, curating and growing talent, leading authentically, and taking risks: A must for any woman embarking on a new venture as a business owner or leader.

Collision Conference

Collision took place in Toronto this year, for the first time ever, and the 6ix was met with a stacked lineup of celebs, politicians, and execs from top tech companies. In addition to the impressive roster of speakers, there were numerous opportunities to network, talk about your startup and the all around incredible work happening in tech, and seek learning and growing opportunities through workshops, panels, and night socials. And the three-day conference wasn’t just about tech. There were tracks on content marketing, the environment, and even cannabis (so obviously, Seth Rogen was sure to appear).

TO Tech Summit

We always look forward to the annual TO Tech Summit, this being our 5th year in a row attending. Not only is it great to be at MaRs for the day, soaking in all the entrepreneurial and innovative vibes of the space, but also listening to great speakers and panels talking about the latest in technology trends. This year there was a strong focus on AI and how it relates to customer and brand experience. It was very interesting to think about new ways of building in personality, empathy, and understanding when recording vocals for AI, which really spoke to the audiophiles in the room!

No matter what industry you work in or which events you choose to attend, there is always an opportunity for learning or connecting at a conference. Curate your schedule of speakers and workshops and come prepared with comfortable shoes, a purse full of business cards, and an open mind. What are your favourite tech, creative, or business conferences? What must-attend conferences should be on our radar for 2020?

BLOG

Posts tagged with techconference

STRATEGY_Digital 55 Conference Roundup