Ben Franklin once said, “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” Build up those knowledge reserves by attending these can’t-miss conferences of 2019.
North America
SaaStr Annual | February 5-7, San Jose, CA
Photo source: SaaStr Blog
SaaStr is an annual conference that brings together the best & brightest minds in SaaS. It’s the largest gathering of its kind in the world and this year they’re expecting 12,500+ attendees and 300+ speakers. Even if you don’t live in the U.S., if you’re looking to scale and grow your business, SaaStr is the place for you.
IBM Think | February 12-15, San Francisco, CA
Photo source: IBM Think
IBM Think is a four-day conference that tech junkies dream about. Inspiring sessions, professional development—and did we mention they’re expecting 30,000 attendees this year? Talk about endless networking opportunities! From AI to cloud infrastructure to security and beyond—whatever you can think up, chances you can learn more about it at IBM Think.
DX3 | March 6-7, Toronto, Canada
Photo source: DX3
DX3 is Canada’s largest conference for marketers that showcases best practices and insights on all things digital marketing. Their attendee list includes a wide range of notable companies like Uber, Starbucks, Adobe, Apple, Samsung, Twitter, and Toyota. The DX3 agenda consists of keynotes and breakout sessions, networking opportunities, and an interactive show floor where attendees can try the latest tech innovations.
SXSW | March 8-17, Austin, TX
Photo source: SXSW
A conference? A music and film festival? A conferestival? A festiverence? Whatever you want to call it, SXSW is where creative minds come together to drive the conversation and engage in creative problem solving around tech, entertainment, and culture. This year’s conference will cover trends like blockchain, cryptocurrency, intelligent future, VR/AR/MR, and much more.
Technology & Services World (TSW) | May 6-8, San Diego, CA
Photo source: TSW
If your business runs on a subscription model, you need to be at TSW. Once inside, expect to be surrounded by peers who are working towards the same goals as you: improving growth and becoming profitable. TSW, hosted by Technology Services Industry Association (TSIA) covers a wide variety of topics like customer success, expansion selling, support/field/professional services, and beyond.
Pulse 2019 | May 21-24, San Francisco, CA
Photo source: Pulse 2018 Recap
Keeping happy customers coming back is nothing new, but the way we do that is advancing rapidly. Pulse, hosted by Gainsight, is the definitive learning and networking event for customer-driven professionals looking to grow their business and career. Pulse tracks offer cutting-edge best practices, thought leadership, and real-life case studies and use cases. Pulse also offers hands-on classroom-style courses in the form of Pulse Academy Live, which takes place the day before Pulse.
Gartner Catalyst Conference | August 12-15, San Diego, CA
Photo Source: Onelogin blog
Are you using the same tech you used five years ago? Chances are you aren’t even using the same tech you used five months ago. If you want to understand the newest advances, Gartner Catalyst Conference has your back. Hosted by Gartner, this conference equips attendees with the skills and answers to take advantage of the latest technology trends. Some of the topics they tackled in 2018 included AI and machine learning, SaaS and enterprise apps, Internet of Things, and cloud-native solutions.
VMworld US | August 25-29, San Francisco, CA
Photo source: VMworld blog
If you want to “be part of a thriving ecosystem at the forward edge of digital technology,” VMworld is your home base. With more than over 21,000 attendees in 2018, this conference hosted by VMware provides a fantastic atmosphere to learn from peers and experts alike. VMworld also offers Hands-On Labs so you can learn practical skills directly from subject matter experts.
INBOUND | September 3-6, Boston, MA
INBOUND, hosted by Hubspot, brings together over 24,000 marketing, sales, and customer success professionals to share and discover new ways to delight customers. At INBOUND, you’ll find over 200 breakout sessions, networking events, and keynotes from notable names like Shonda Rhimes and Deepak Chopra.
BoxWorks | October 3-4, San Francisco, CA
Photo source: Box blog
Wondering what the future of work looks like? Attend BoxWorks (hosted by Box) to get insight into what lies ahead. This conference explores important subjects like team collaboration, increasing efficiency in your processes, and keeping critical data safe. Past speakers include Emily Chang (Bloomberg TV), Stewart Butterfield (CEO, Slack), Kimberly Bryant (CEO and Founder, Black Girls Code), and David Kenny (SVP, IBM Watson and IBM Cloud).
Dreamforce | November 19-22, San Francisco, CA
Photo source: Dreamforce
If you’re reading this blog, chances are you’ve heard of Dreamforce. Hosted by Salesforce, this conference is the largest software conference in the world. With over 2,700 sessions, training opportunities, hands-on demos and more, Dreamforce has no shortage of learnings. Whether you’re in B2B or B2C, a startup or a Fortune 500 company, you’ll find relevant content at Dreamforce.
Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA)
Dublin Tech Summit | 10-11 April, Dublin, Ireland
Photo source: Dublin Tech Summit Instagram
DTS is two days of development, knowledge sharing, and networking with over 10,000 tech leaders and practitioners. At Europe’s “fastest growing tech conference,” you’ll find speakers from notable companies like NASA, Google, Amazon, Ethereum, WP Engine, and much much more. If you’re a startup, their startup programme provides the opportunity to showcase your business and meet potential investors, customers, and media opportunities. DTS content is suitable for executives and individual contributors alike, for companies of all sizes.
SaaStock | 14-16 October, Dublin, Ireland
Photo source: SaaStock Instagram
If you’re in SaaS, you’ll fit right in at SaaStock. Once there, you’ll find yourself surrounded by over 4,000 of your fellow founders, executives, and investors. This global event has over 40 hours of content and is comprised of a main conference and a pre-event accelerator with workshops, bootcamps, and other fringe events.
SaaS Monster @ Web Summit | 4-7 November, Lisbon, Portugal
Photo source: Web Summit Instagram
Part of the larger Web Summit, SaaS Monster focuses their agenda on four curated content streams: cloud, big data, enterprise technology, and security. Network with peers, attend roundtables, and learn in sessions with speakers from companies like Intel, Microsoft, and P&G.
Australia and Asia Pacific
EmTech Asia | January 22-23, Singapore
Photo source: EmTech Asia Instagram
Who’s driving the next generation of technological breakthroughs? You might just meet them at EmTech Asia. A large global community, EmTech has become one of the most influential conferences throughout the US, Europe, South America, India, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Attend EmTech and meet other CXOs, entrepreneurs, investors, and R&D professionals.
B2B Rocks | June 6-7, Sydney, Australia
Photo source: Kochie’s Business Builders
B2B Rocks is the largest conference in Australia for B2B and SaaS startups. This event brings together SaaS professionals to learn best practices and actionable insights from founders, executives, venture capitalists, and journalists. Each session is only 20 minutes long so you can get right to the good stuff. B2B Rocks also holds a conference in Paris as well.
DigiMarCon Asia Pacific | October 9-10, Singapore
Photo source: DigiMarCon Apac
Held at the iconic Marina Bay Sands Expo, DigiMarCon covers the latest digital marketing best practices. On the docket for 2019 are over 24 different topics including marketing and sales automation, engagement strategies, growth hacking, and content marketing. Techspo, the exhibition hall that runs concurrently with DigiMarCon, showcases the next generation of technology and innovation in SaaS. DigiMarCon events can be found around the world in cities like Dubai, Johannesburg, and Chicago.
So how many events did you register for? Stay tuned for more as we update this throughout the year. Happy learning!
