EVENT INDUSTRY
Winter s rolling to a close, and if your 2016 conference dance card isn t full, you might consider sticking your nose in to some of these snazzy industry to-dos. Events inside events about events: it s so meta.
Cvent Connect
June 26-30, Las Vegas
We love the CVent website. You love CVent website. This event is like the CVent website, only IRL. Expect to hear from 50+ globally recognized industry consultants, executives and influencers , participate in training and certification courses, and get access to 100+ focused breakout sessions. Plus, it s in Vegas, so you can do all that while blowing your children s college fund on strippers and bellinis. Get $400 off if you snag tickets before the Early Bird rates expire on March 18.
Experiential Marketing Summit
May 4-6, Denver
No? Not into cabarets and poorly-considered marriages? How about trail hikes and power bowls and workshops on virtual reality? That s what I thought.
SXSW: Experiential Event Series Mega-Events
March 17-19, Austin
SXSW is such a herculean undertaking, it can hardly be called an event . It s more like a bunch of smaller robot events that came together to form a Voltron event. Ever wonder what it takes to keep all those moving pieces moving? If you re curious, sign up for MPI s Experiential Event Series at SXSW. You ll get to interact and meet with Mike Shea, SXSW Executive Director and other SXSW staff who will share operational insights from the SXSW teams that plan, program and produce these 9 days of conferences, festivals and exhibitions . You ll also get a bunch of behind-the-scenes tours. Highly recommended.
BizBash Elevate New York
April 27, New York
BizBash calls itself the summer school for event planners , but I don t know about that. Summer school sucks. Summer school is a thing you have to do when all your friends are eating Fruit Loops in their PJs at 11am. I see Elevate as more of a summer camp where you spend the first hour crying in your bunk bed, but then they let you loose at the macaroni art table, and by the time your folks come to pick you up, you ve forgotten their names.
EventTech 2016
November 14-16, Las Vegas
Yeah, I know, we don t really even know what we re doing tomorrow afternoon, much less in November. But this one s worth an early buy, if you re feeling on the ball today. This is the event of the year if you wanna catch a glimpse of the industry s future. Demo the latest technologies, embrace the hottest trends, sharpen your digital+live skillset. It s a conference unlike any other. Amen.