CeBIT gets Innovative: Following the 2017 show, the team behind CeBIT announced that it would be reinventing itself in 2018.  For the first time, the event will take place in summer (11–15 June) and instead of a conventional trade fair, CeBit will become “an innovation festival for fans of all things digital.” This will consist of a new content across three areas: d!conomy – the main event for digital transformation in business and public administration; d!talk – which will set the digital agenda for the future; And d!tec -bringing together creatives and tech gurus. More information may be found here.

Black Hat’s New Track: Black Hat US will celebrate its 20^th anniversary in Las Vegas from 22 – 17 July, again providing attendees with “the very latest in information security research, development, and trends.” This year, the event has added a new Applied Security track.  Per the conference organizers, briefings in this track will cover “breach incidents, phishing, social engineering, nation state threats, and ransomware, plus present cutting edge tools for tackling real-world challenges.” Much of the Black Hat content is driven by the feedback provided by the security community.

Speaking Opportunity: The NEXT Conference will gather marketing and product leaders, digital economy executives, innovative corporations and start-ups in Hamburg from 21 – 22 September. The goal of the event is to identify trends “that have the power to transform – and to have them presented by digital experts on a large stage, in workshops or experience formats.” If you have a topic or speaker that may be a good fit, submit a speaker proposal before 17 April here.

Lunchtime Learning: There has been a lot of buzz around Virtual Reality and how this hot technology will affect businesses across all industries. If you want to learn more, spend some time watching leaders in this space at VRX and VRX Europe, self-described as the most senior level VR industry event. Some of the topics covered include: The true potential of Social VR; Creating cinematic VR content in film and TV; Visual integrity in VR; and Design considerations for mixed reality.

Coming Up Next:  On Tuesday, The Atlantic will hold its third annual Education Summit in D.C. to consider the challenges and opportunities facing the American education system. Content Marketing Conference will take place from 11 -13 April in Boston, gathering 300+ marketers, advertisers and content developers from F1000 size companies, advertising/PR agencies, and even SMBs, to discuss best practices in content marketing.  Also in Boston next week, the Simmons Leadership Conference, a leading professional development event for women, will convene under the theme Leading with Purpose. Sessions will focus on “the many ways that women are redefining the meaning of power and success.”  The Digital Dealer Conference happens next week in Tampa. The event brings together professionals and decision makers from automotive dealerships around the country to learn about new technologies and trends.