Conference News: What I learned this week – February 19
Immersive Experiences Vs Events: One of the more recent conference trends is to break all of the traditional agenda-speaker-venue rules to create a more immersive experience. You can read more about how groups like Fast Company and NewCo have pioneered this concept here. Now IIR is getting into the action with its Insight Immersion series. There are three “imaginative ethnographic journeys” to chose from – all happening this year in New York City. The first of these experiences, The Experience Exchange, takes place next week. According to the organizers, The Experience Exchange will allow attendees to “engage with Brands who have mastered the art of customer seduction.” For more information on the series, click here.
More Global Mobile 360: The GSMA will continue its popular Mobile 360 event series in 2016, finally revealing the dates and locations this week. With more than 1600 attendees across four events in 2015, the organization is hoping to repeat its success with additional forums this year. The series will return to Atlanta, Dubai and Brussels and, for the first time, host events in Delhi, India, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Mexico City, Mexico. The full schedule of Mobile 360 events can be found here.
FC Event Announcements: Fast Company also announced its event lineup for 2016. The media co. plans to host two stand-alone events this year. The first will be the FC/LA Creativity Counter-Conference (23 -24 May) which is described by Fast Company as a celebration “of all things creativity across business, design, technology and entertainment, perfectly timed to the 100 Most Creative People in Business launch.” Later this year The Innovation Festival will return to New York City (31 October – 4 November). This event not only takes place across two stages, but also utilizes local company headquarters and unique venues to showcase workshops and performances.
Lunchtime Learning: This year, the Entertainment Gathering Conference (e.g.) celebrates its 10 year anniversary from 28 -30 April. Taking place in quaint, Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, the event explores an eclectic mix of creative ideas. To gain a better idea as to the types of topics represented on the agenda, check out the videos from previous gatherings.
Coming Up Next: Mobile World Congress takes over Barcelona next week for the 11th year in a row. It is again expected to attract more than 90,000 attendees. Also this week, IBM hosts its InterConnect cloud and mobile conference in Las Vegas. In Palm Springs, eCommerce and multi-channel retail innovators will gather from Monday through Thursday for eTail West.