Conference News: MWC in MENA; CES is Enterprising; Lowdown with BDL
MWC Comes to Doha: When GSMA wrapped its flagship Barcelona conference this spring, they announced the inaugural MWC25 Doha, which will build on the success of last year’s M360 MENA edition when it’s held 25 – 26 November. The Doha Exhibition & Convention Center in Qatar will serve as the event venue. The first MWC as part of a 5-year agreement between the GSMA and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology of Qatar, MWC Doha aims to bring together industry leaders, policymakers, and innovators who are focused on creating the next generation of digital societies in the Middle East and beyond. The Minister of Communications and Information Technology of Qatar stated: “This event aligns with our commitment to realizing Qatar’s National Vision 2030, as we continue to foster a thriving digital economy and a sustainable digital society.”
CES is Enterprising: Last week, the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) ® launched a new track at CES that will feature live demos, top-tier networking, and two stages of immersive content which will be focused on breakthroughs in AI, blockchain, and quantum technologies. Called CES® Foundry, it will be located at Fontainebleau Las Vegas, from 7 -8 January. According to the official announcement CES Foundry will “unite innovators, entrepreneurs, investors, media and industry leaders in exploring how these transformative technologies are defining the future.” This track will have two stages: The CES Foundry Stage featuring innovators for fireside chats and addresses and the CES Discovery Stage which will host “demos, pitch competitions, and Q&A sessions on topics like AI ethics, automation, decentralized finance, quantum, security, and tokenization.” Learn more about the new CES Foundry here.
Submission Opportunity: DMEXCO is where key players in digital business, marketing, and innovation gather to outline the future of the digital economy and drive market value. If you are a brand marketer, strategist, creator, or researcher shaping the future of marketing, commerce, and consumer engagement you may apply for a solo talk or a panel seat. Speakers should have a session idea that is relevant to one of the key topic ideas for the show, which include: Brand Growth & Engagement; Retail & E-Commerce; Marketing Measurement; AI in Marketing; Future of Advertising; Sustainability & Ethics; Creativity & Content; and Creator Economy. Speaker/topic suggestions should be made online before the 30 June deadline.
Conference Organizer Q&A: We recently caught up with Palesa Amadi, Conference Manager for Big Data LDN about the upcoming event 24-25 September in – you guessed it – London. Big Data LDN targets professionals working in data, storage, security, cloud and AI.
Speaker Strategies: What differentiates Big Data LDN from others in this space? From a conference offering perspective, Big Data LDN is unique because it is a free to attend event which offers true accessibility on so many levels! BDL is primarily a learning event, and our diverse conference agenda aims to address trending and current topics as well as highly technical areas of Data, Analytics and AI- across 14 theatres.
Speaker Strategies: What is the most important piece of a successful presentation abstract/topic description? Clarity is the most important thing in a successful abstract. I should be able to see exactly what value I will get from attending your session, so include any key take-aways, real life use cases, and avoid sales pitches.
Speaker Strategies: What do you love most about your job? I’m a people’s person and love meeting and engaging with new people, so meeting and talking to new speakers/ presenters and finding out about what they’re interested in speaking at BDL is always lovely. I’m also a bit of an adrenaline junky, so I would say the whirlwind of the live event is probably the thing I enjoy the most.
Coming Up Next Week: Looking for an early summer destination event? Over the next two weeks, you can choose from locales like Amsterdam, Barcelona, Dublin, London, and Vancouver! First up, Web Summit Vancouver replaces Collision as the organization’s main North American conference, scheduled for 27-30 May at the Vancouver Convention Centre. Dublin Tech Summit takes over RDS from 28-29 May, featuring speakers from OpenAI, Anthropic, Snowflake, and Databricks as its draws on the 2025 theme, “Connecting Innovators, Transforming Tomorrow.” SXSW London is the festival organizer’s first foray into the UK, taking over venues and spaces around Shoreditch in east London from 2-7 June. Meanwhile, at the Fira Gran Via in Barcelona, ShopTalk Europe runs 2-4 June, equipping Europe’s retailers, consumer brands, tech players, and investors to maximize retail innovation. And in Amsterdam from 3-5 June, Money 20/20 Europe convenes the region’s money ecosystem, including representatives from banks, payments, tech, startups, retail, and policy.