Conference News: Semafor World Economy Summit Grows; SXSW London Seeks Speakers
Inaugural ComNet Global Summit: In June 2026, The Communications Network will convene foundation and nonprofit communications leaders from the U.S., U.K., and across Europe for a first-of-its-kind summit in London. This gathering will create a space for connection, peer learning, and shared strategy at a time when social good communicators are navigating exceptional turbulence. Stay tuned in here for more detail in the coming months.
Semafor Wants More: The team at independent news platform Semafor recently announced that it would be expanding its signature World Economy Summit in the US – and building out its international programming. Justin B Smith, Semafor CEO noted that the team had hired Lyndsay Polloway from the US Chamber of Commerce, Nino Gruettke from Informa, Andy Browne most recently with Bloomberg, and Clay Chandler from Fortune Asia to “accelerate revenue growth and spearhead international expansion beginning in the Arabian Gulf before scaling to Africa, with Asia and Europe on tap”. The team will also grow the signature US event, the World Economy Summit in 2026. The Conference, held in Washington DC, will run from 13 – 17 April 2026.
Submission Opportunity: SXSW London returns for a second time in 2026, and from now until 7 December, anyone with an idea can submit to speak at the festival when it’s held 1-6 June in Shoreditch. Want your proposal to stand out from the crowd? Be sure to carefully review the submission guidelines and understand next year’s conference tracks. Solicited session formats include presentations, panels, fireside chats, and workshops. Remember that, like SXSW Austin’s PanelPicker tool, the London speaker submission process includes a period of public voting (8-23 December).
Lunchtime Learning: In June of this year, the Games for Change Festival took over the Parsons School of Design at The New School in New York under the theme “Designing for Tomorrow.” The event brought together “diverse voices from industry veterans to next-generation innovators to explore how games and XR can break down barriers between generations, perspectives, and sectors.” Even if you are not a game developer, the lessons shared on the conference stage are relevant to anyone trying to understand how collaborative design and play can transform entertainment into measurable impact across critical areas like education, health, sustainability, and more. Check out some of the 2025 talks here, including a panel on why The Future of Games Is Built Together, how Minecraft and Twitch are Improving Mental Health Literacy Among Young Gamers, and How UN Agencies Are Partnering with the Games Industry for Impact.
Coming Up Next Week: Advertising Week New York returns to the Penn District from 6-9 October for this gathering of today’s changemakers across marketing, media, tech and culture. Advertising Week NY 2025 promises more than 500 sessions across 28 content tracks. Also in New York next week, CNBC Workforce Executive Council is held 6-7 October and the second annual Athena Project Founders Salon is held 9-10 October. On the 7th, Elevate Festival gets underway to shine a global spotlight on Canada’s tech and innovation ecosystem. Financial Times Future of Retail Summit celebrates its tenth anniversary on 7 October held in London at Convene at 155 Bishopsgate, where it will explore the key trends and new ways retailers must engage with customers and adapt their business models. And from 7-9 October, SEMICON West makes it Phoenix debut for leaders across the microelectronics supply chain.