Product Managers, Here’s Why You Should Be at Unbox 2018
On October 12, Boston Product is presenting Unbox, an all-day event elevating frontline product managers and leaders. It promises to be a memorable day for everyone who attends. Here’s a few reasons why you should be there.
It’s Created By Product Managers
Unbox is shaped by empathy. We’ve been to good events and bad ones, and we have no desire to waste folks’ time or money. We treat the conference like any other product we’d build and we’re optimizing for a positive attendee experience that’s both useful and delightful.
As PMs ourselves, we’re good at incorporating feedback into an iterative process. Last year was our MVP—and a darn successful one—but we learned a ton along the way. Through the planning process, day-of execution, and post-event follow-up with the community, we got a good sense of what worked and what didn’t. We even had a retro meeting and went through the “keep doing” the “stop doing” and the “start doing.” (Notable keep doing: free booze.)
People get tired and disengaged listening to speeches all day, so we’re planning a more interactive agenda that leans on workshop and smaller discussion formats. Funbox, our dedicated lounge space to take a break and play games, will be returning. We’re also cooking up some new games for you.
Unbox 2018 promises to be a worthy follow-up to last year debut. As far as sequels go, think Incredibles 2 not Evan Almighty.
You’ll Meet Other Product Pros
We’ve heard this time after time from our community members: hearing how other PMs are tackling the problems you’re facing is hugely valuable. For starters, it’s assuring just to hear that you’re not the only person with that problem. Secondly, the varied backgrounds of people in the room will give you a new perspective on any issue.
You’ll hear from seasoned industry leaders like Gibson Biddle (former VP of Product, Netflix), Sam Clemens (CPO, InsightSquared), Amy Spurling (CEO, Compt), Nichole Mace (VP Product, BevSpot), and Jonathan Kim (CEO, Appcues)—just to name a few. Everyone at Unbox brings something valuable to share. We’re packing District Hall with as much intellectual horsepower as the fire code will allow.
If you’re the kind of person that thinks of networking as a four-letter word, have no fear. Unbox is introvert-friendly by design, so don’t feel nervous about bringing enough business cards or being “on” all day. You can always take a break in the Headphone Zone. We encourage folks to look for one new meaningful connection at Unbox, and we’re designing a day to make that as stress-free as possible.
We’re Focused on Serving High-Growth PMs
There are lots of other conferences for product professionals. This is undeniably great—the industry needs more professional development. However, “product management” means many things to many people, and there’s a lot of adjacent disciplines. The role has evolved significantly in the past few years, and some industries are still teaching from the old textbooks.
Boston Product is devoted to serving PMs from high-growth, technology-enabled companies. Our members represent some of the city’s largest tech companies, as well as companies still flying under the radar. What we all have in common, however, is a fast-paced work environment that’s comfortable with uncertainty and optimizes for rapid learning cycles. Many of us are embedded in teams with some combination of engineers, designers, marketers, and data specialists. Some of us run teams of other PMs.
Unbox aims to address the unique challenges that come with building the bus while you drive the bus on a road that you don’t have a map for.
In your next 1:1, talk to your manager—or your peers—about attending Unbox together. Thanks to our awesome sponsors (Accomplice, UserVoice, thoughtbot, and Appcues), we’re able to offer everything Unbox has to offer for an affordable price. It’s the best one day event for product professionals in Boston: You’ll have access to a room full of other smart people who understand the role. You’ll hear inspirational stories and learn about useful frameworks and other resources that you can bring to work the next Monday. Hope to see you there!
