Which are the best conferences?
Some of my favourite events around the globe
For those who know me, it won’t be a surprise that I get asked quite often which conferences and events people should go to each year.
I am a conference junkie. I love dedicating an evening, a day, maybe even a week, to diving into a topic and unashamedly geeking out with keen enthusiasts and curious tourists alike. There’s something quite freeing about being able to get rid of all the ‘breaking the ice’ conversation you’ll get at general networking events — at the best conferences and events, everyone is there to learn, to meet likeminded people, and dive into deep conversations their family and friends at home are probably a bit bored of. So — I decided to write a post outlining my favourite conferences and events and why they are so awesome. Be warned: I’m the sort of person who is interested in everything, so there’s a variety of topics… I’ll update it as I find more cracking events as and when, so maybe bookmark? Without further rambling…
Hello Tomorrow Global Summit
I love this conference so much, I’m now part of the team of curators — but even before I got more involved in the summit, I was hooked. Hello Tomorrow is an organisation set up to advance science entrepreneurship through its startup challenge, its multiple events around the world and its Global Summit every October in Paris.
At the Global Summit, they bring together 500 top emerging science startups with investors, corporates, and already successful entrepreneurs. They have 10 tracks — from health and drugs to transport and agriculture — and in each track are a host of startups intent on changing the world through science. Every single pitch I watched was ground breaking. No pointless apps and social media analytics tools here — instead there was a flying car, a lighting tool to stop over-fishing, a tactile tablet for blind people and a company using all the waste coconut husks to build sustainable logistics pallets. Real stuff. Stuff that actually makes the world a better place. And I’ve not even mentioned the speakers, the attendees or the production yet. The speakers ranged from the President of CERN and a dude building an asteroid mining company, to an optogenetics researcher turning mice ‘on and off’ in terms of controlling their sleep — and the thing that united them is that they are all DOING all that stuff you hear about in ‘future trends’ reports. Genetic editing, space tourism, personalised medicine, renewable energy…it’s being DONE, not talked about, by the people at this conference.
There were hardly any media there my first year (2016) so the focus was on the attendees collaborating, and with the number of investors, corporate decision makers and entrepreneurs in the audience, it really wasn’t difficult. Then the production. Oh my the production. It was so slick. Music used beautifully, awesome stage design, trendy break out areas — this was a place you felt pretty impressed by, as well as comfortable in. This is a fab conference for scientists of all breeds — finding collaborators and new ideas is so damn easy here; for investors looking at emerging areas; for corporates operating in one of the 10 tracks — get your R&D team sitting in on the track pitches; and anyone generally curious about the future — as it’s genuinely being built by these people.
How much? Tiered depending on your profession (student / investor / startup etc)
Invite only? Yes — but you can request an invite on their website
When? October
Where? Paris, France
Website? https://hello-tomorrow.org/summit
Thought For Food
I found out about Thought For Food only 6 weeks before it kicked off (cheers John Cumbers!) and within a week of being connected to them, I was signed up for hosting podcasts and being a media partner. The team are so.damn.efficient. They also made the whole experience for speakers absolutely brilliant — not all conferences go above and beyond for speakers, but TFF made everything soooo smooth, I just had to mention. Anyway, TFF was amazing. It’s a conference on Food Security — or in other words, ‘how do we feed 9 billion people in 2050?’ Similar in vibe to Hello Tomorrow in that everyone is there to work together and collaborate, but with an emphasis more on the younger entrepreneurs, there was a general feeling of ‘ground up’ revolution! They too had a startup challenge — with the 10 finalists pitching on the final day. Every single pitch was inspiring and world-changing. When the theme of a conference around feeding the planet, it makes for such a humbling pitch competition. But with science and technology at the centre of everything, this is not a ‘green’ conference — this is a rational meeting of minds, with lots of fun and high production value thrown in to make it feel more like a carnival than an AgTech conference.
I especially liked how much they played with the conference format — both days had elements of 1 track keynotes as well as several track breakouts — so there were parts where everyone was together and then parts where you chose your own programming. And then the breakouts ranged from live podcast recordings and panels on future trends, to hands on bio hacking activities and ‘honesty circles’ where people could share experiences in small candid groups. While the judges chose the winners of the pitches, they put on high class workshops on personal branding, social media management, time efficiency (to name but a few), so personal growth was well weaved in. This is a fab conference for students looking for new ideas and opportunities; for investors looking for Next-Gen thinking and startups; for corporates operating in the food, logistics, agriculture, energy and health industries; and anyone wanting an awesome immersive 2 days into a critical topic woefully under-discussed.
How much? Tiered depending on your profession
Invite only? No
When? May
Where? Different locations each year — 2017 was in Amsterdam
Website? http://summit.tffchallenge.com/
WPP Stream
As ‘un-conferences’ go, Stream is right up there for me. This is a private conference organised by WPP — one of the largest advertising and marketing conglomerates — which is ran annually at a beach hotel in Marathon, Greece. Setting aside the choice of attendees — which is on the whole incredible, with a few ‘because they’re our client’ choices which makes it feel a little elite at times — this is definitely one of my favourite conferences. The way they’ve created a structure around chaos is both fascinating and really great fun. The schedule is formed on the first evening — attendees fill in a big white board with ideas for discussion topics. There aren’t any keynotes — just Chatham House discussions chaired by the person who put it forward, making for real, candid conversations about the future of the marketing industry. There is also a Stream band which forms from musical volunteers; PowerPoint karaoke, which is where brave soldiers have to get up on stage without any clue what the slides might be and riff off of what comes up on screen; ‘Midnight Cooking Madness’ where attendees from all over the world get together in the hotel kitchen to cook up some of their favourite dishes (they tell the conference ahead of time what ingredients they need) and then for dinner everyone walks around a makeshift food market trying all the global delicacies. There’s even a ‘ideasathon’ where some attendees form teams and try to solve a humanitarian brief over the course of the 3 days, with a pitch at the end.
The conference takes over an entire hotel and everyone stays there — I made some really tight friendships at Stream because of the totally immersive, open nature of it. The organisers are as much a part of it as everyone else (shout out to Sarah Baldock at Be Good events — they are the awesome masterminds behind the production and experience design), so it feels very welcoming. Apart from a few exceptions, no one really cares who you are — the fact that you are there is evidence enough that you are someone they should connect with, meaning you can approach anyone and strike up an ace conversation. This is a great conference if you are lucky enough to be invited — I was actually one of the ‘wildcard’ attendees which are offered each year (while I was still employed by a WPP company), so if you get the chance to go, I’d HIGHLY recommend saying ‘yes’.
How much? Free — attendees pay for their flights alone
Invite only? Yes
When? October
Where? Marathon, Greece (there are other Stream events globally, but this is the main event of the year)
Website? http://wppstream.com/
SXSW Interactive
Definitely a more obvious choice, but I wanted to highlight less ‘you should go’ and more ‘this is how I do it’ — as SXSW can be both incredible and not-so, depending on how you play it. SXSW takes over the city of Austin for 2 weeks every March. They have 3 streams — music, film and interactive. There is definitely lots of cross-over, but I always go for Interactive as I’m most interested in the future tech element that it focuses on.
For me, what makes SXSW great is how easily you can learn, be exposed to, and generally connect to, stuff which is outside your usual remit. I deliberately don’t go to any sessions remotely connected to my current work. When I was at Ogilvy, I didn’t attend one branding / marketing / social media / sales talk — I went for biotech, politics, robotics, drag queens, neo-nazis, meditation…and learnt way more than colleagues and friends who stuck to their employers’ focus areas. If you are there to bring back value for your employer, you get that from the people you meet outside of the programming (in the queues, at the music gigs, on the street, sitting next to you) and at some of the more relevant meet ups hosted by various companies all across town, which you can select based on your industry. I always leave SXSW inspired and with a wad of business cards of truly brilliant people.
If you are deliberate in not doing the done thing, SXSW is ace. If you go hoping to learn even more about what you are probably already quite good at, you will leave feeling exhausted and frustrated. You should go to SXSW particularly if you are a corporate, a startup, a government employee, a random freelancer of some description, a scientist or a student. It’s a different experience for everyone, but I feel like these are the types of people who I tend to meet there and who go back year on year.
How much? $700-$1350 (depending on when you book)
Invite only? No
When? March
Where? Austin, Texas
How To Academy — How to Change the World
I go to How To Academy evening events quite regularly — which range from keynotes, to panels, to interviews, to masterclasses — but the day-long conference ‘How to Change the World’ was a step above. What I loved about this conference was the focus on science and technology and its role in changing the world — but instead of startups and corporates pitching to gain business, this was very much more an entertainment event. Topics ranged from solar power and 3D computing, to cancer research and neural implants. Think ‘a day at the theatre’, mixed with fascinating university lectures, mixed with TED talks. The speakers were all brilliant communicators, which meant you didn’t need to do too much work unpicking what they were saying, and the venue (the Royal Institution Faraday Lecture Theatre) reeked of inspiration and grandeur. This wasn’t really the sort of conference you could expense to work due to its broad, educational nature, so it felt as if everyone in the room had truly opted-in to being there to open their minds. The crowd was very different from the usual tech conference — erring more on the middle-class theatre-goer side (which was both a pro and a con to an extent…) and the attendees ranged from entrepreneurs and corporate bods, to researchers and people simply taking a day out to go learn. Highly recommend for those looking for a day of speedy idea-injection — whoever you might be.
How much? £80-£250 (depending on when you book and VIP options)
Invite only? No
When? November / December
Where? London, UK
Website? http://www.howtoacademy.com/courses/how-to-change-the-world-2017 (previous event info here)
Sandbox Global Summit
I’m slightly reluctant to call this a ‘conference’ or an ‘event’, as — thinking back — it felt more like a cross between summer camp, what I imagine Burning Man to be like, and the coolest house party managing to attract both the indie art majors and the hardcore techies.
Sandbox is a “global and diverse community of young innovators who empower each other to build a better world.” There are hubs in cities all over the globe, and each year, they organise a Global Summit for all members to come together to learn, hang out, and generally have a glorious time together. This year (2017), it was hosted on a private island in Croatia called Obonjan, and they also invited guests — I was one such lucky individual.
What I immediately noticed about Sandbox, is that everyone hugs one another — all the time — and there’s generally a slightly ‘hippie’ feel to the members. That’s not to say the whole event was kumbaya and meditating on the beach (mind you, if that was your vibe, then there was plenty opportunity to get mindful and mystical), but instead, it meant everyone was already your pal before you’d said a proper hello, and the speed to which you arrived at a deep conversation with people was staggering.
So the event was 3 days and 4 nights — with talks, workshops and sessions on self development, entrepreneur how-to’s and health during sunlight, and performances, DJs and cracking food at night. But really, it was 300 ridiculously accomplished interesting people from all over the world on an island swapping stories and resetting for a week. The amount of times I had a ‘OMG SAME’ moment was astonishing. The amount of times I ended up talking about something I knew absolutely nothing about was equally frequent. I left feeling totally refreshed, completely inspired, and safe in the feeling that there are so many others on the same wavelength as me. Highly recommend for anyone with an open mind and an entrepreneurial spirit, who is happy to be thrown out their comfort zone and hugged a lot for 5 days.
How much? £500-£1500 (depending on type of accommodation and which year you go — I’m assuming different venues cost different amounts. There are options for sponsorship too)
Invite only? Yes (have to be a Sandbox member, or an invited guest)
When? May (again, depends on the year)
Where? Changes each year
Website? http://sandbox.is/ (previous event info here)
Some events I haven’t been to (yet) but I think look kind of intriguing
- Summit http://www.summit.co/ (I’m going to the LA Summit in November, so will report back…)
- ICE http://www.wired.co.uk/article/six-degrees-of-startups
- Goldman Sachs off the record internet conference https://www.recode.net/2016/11/4/13517400/goldman-scahs-conference-agenda-speaker-list
- Allen & Co’s Sun Valley conference http://www.businessinsider.com/sun-valley-photos-2016-7/#the-conference-usually-spans-the-first-week-in-july-and-is-something-of-a-summer-camp-for-billionaires-featuring-talks-about-business-and-the-economy--1
