10 Best Conferences For Ideas and Entrepreneurship
01. DEMO
SILICON VALLEY, CALIF.
Demo is an ideal place to launch a new product or technology. In front of an audience of venture capitalists, journalists, M&A specialists and tech companies, you have precisely six minutes on stage to sell your idea (with no help from PowerPoint or other presentation tools). Hundreds apply for this opportunity, few are chosen and the alumni are notable: E*Trade, TiVo, Adobe Acrobat and Skype were all debuted at Demo.
Date: Sept. 12 to 14, 2011
Cost: $18,500 (if selected)
Contact: registrar@demo.com, 800.643.4668; demo.com
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02. GLOBAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP WEEK
VARIOUS LOCATIONS
GEW casts a wide net: The weeklong movement involves 100 countries, 40,000 events and over 10 million people. Playing on entrepreneurs’ competitive instincts, GEW hosts several contests during the week to identify and reward the world’s most promising new ventures. Past winners include Boston’s Resolute Marine Energy, a company dedicated to commercializing ocean desalination systems to provide water for developing nations; Lebanon-based MIMIX, a maker of web-based translation technology; and Abeo of Denmark, a manufacturer of eco-friendly building materials.
Date: Nov. 14 to 20, 2011
Cost: Varies dependingon event
Contact: Brenden Chaney, bchaney@unleashingideas.org, 202.467.2778; unleashingideas.org
03. MILKEN INSTITUTE GLOBAL CONFERENCE
LOS ANGELES
For the past 15 years the Milken Institute, the think tank founded by junk-bond pioneer Michael Milken, has hosted an event revered in business, finance and policy circles. Bringing together more than 3,000 people, from C-level executives and government officials to entrepreneurs and tech innovators, the conference hosts ambitious conversations on business and social policy, with abundant networking opportunities.
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Date: April 29 to May 2, 2012
Cost: To guarantee attendance, join Milken Institute Associates (minimum donation of $6,000)
Contact: Bryan Quinan, bquinan@milkeninstitute.org, 310.570.4638; milkeninstitute.org
04. OPPORTUNITY GREEN
LOS ANGELES
For those interested in making green business part of their corporate strategy, this two-day event is a must. The largest business-focused sustainability conference in the U.S., it attracts both start-ups and Fortune 500 companies, all with an interest in balancing the triple bottom line of people, planet and profit. New products and policies introduced at this event include PeopleTowels (reusable hand towels made of organic cotton for public restrooms) and Coca-Cola’s PlantBottle (a recyclable bottle made in part from plant-based material).
Date: Nov. 10 to 11, 2011
Cost: $595 (early bird), $995 (full price)
Contact: Casey Ly, registration@opportunitygreen.com, 310.765.2233 ext. 711; opportunitygreen.com
05. SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST
AUSTIN, TEXAS
Originally famed as a music festival, SXSW has evolved as a showcase not just for music, but also for independent films and emerging technologies. The highlight for entrepreneurs and innovators is the “interactive” portion, the first five days of the 10-day festival. In past years, it has served as a coming-out party for companies such as Twitter and Foursquare, and has attracted entrepreneur celebrities such as Mark Zuckerberg and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman.
Date: March 9 to 18, 2012
Cost: TBD (2011 price was $1,250 for a “platinum” walk-up badge)
Contact: Amin Simms, reg@sxsw.com, 512.467.7979; sxsw.com
06. TED AND TEDGLOBAL
LONG BEACH, CALIF. AND EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND
The nonprofit focuses on “ideas worth spreading” from the worlds of technology, entertainment and design at its two annual conferences, the winter event in Long Beach and its European summer counterpart, TEDGlobal. More than 1,000 people register early for each (they sell out months in advance) to hear speakers give the “talk of their lives” in 18 minutes or less.
Date: February 27 to March 2, 2012 (TED); June 25 to 29, 2012 (TEDGlobal)
Cost: Starts at $7,500 for TED; $6,000 for TEDGlobal
Contact: registration@ted.com, 212.346.9333; ted.com
07. TIECON
SANTA CLARA, CALIF
Entrepreneurs attending this two-day conference hosted by TiE, a 20-year-old Silicon Valley networking organization, can customize their participation by selecting the track that best aligns with their interest: mobile, social media, cloud, life sciences and healthcare, energy or international. As perhaps the largest entrepreneurial event, TiEcon emphasizes start-up success: Presentations range from how to monetize your mobile app to investing in clean-tech ventures to fundraising strategies.
The nonprofit focuses on “ideas worth spreading” from the worlds of technology, entertainment and design at its two annual conferences, the winter event in Long Beach and its European summer counterpart, TEDGlobal. More than 1,000 people register early for each (they sell out months in advance) to hear speakers give the “talk of their lives” in 18 minutes or less.
Date: May 18 to 19, 2011
Cost: $595 for members, $745 for nonmembers (on-site price)
Contact: Harini Krishna, harini.krishna@tie.org, 408.567.0700; tiecon.org
08. WBENC NATIONAL CONFERENCE AND BUSINESS FAIR
VARIOUS LOCATIONS
Entrepreneurs attending this two-day conference hosted by TiE, a 20-year-old Silicon Valley networking organization, can customize their participation by selecting the track that best aligns with their interest: mobile, social media, cloud, life sciences and healthcare, energy or international. As perhaps the largest entrepreneurial event, TiEcon emphasizes start-up success: Presentations range from how to monetize your mobile app to investing in clean-tech ventures to fundraising strategies.
The nonprofit focuses on “ideas worth spreading” from the worlds of technology, entertainment and design at its two annual conferences, the winter event in Long Beach and its European summer counterpart, TEDGlobal. More than 1,000 people register early for each (they sell out months in advance) to hear speakers give the “talk of their lives” in 18 minutes or less.
Date: June 19 to 21, 2012 (in Orlanda, Fla.)
Cost: TBD
Contact: Cristy McCullough, cmccullough@wbenc.org, 202.872.5519; wbenc.org
09. WEB 2.0 SUMMIT
SAN FRANCISCO
As venture capitalist John Doerr put it at last year’s Web 2.0 Summit, “Ideas are easy—what’s really dear is execution.” Executing ideas is the unofficial theme of this conference: This invitation-only event helps tech and web industry insiders share what works and what doesn’t in their fast-evolving world. Web-celebs from Facebook, Google, Foursquare and LinkedIn offer their insights, but it’s really the chance to see what the tech stars of tomorrow are doing that draws attendees. (The Web 2.0 Expo, more of a trade show than the San Francisco event, takes place in New York from Oct. 10 to 13.)
The nonprofit focuses on “ideas worth spreading” from the worlds of technology, entertainment and design at its two annual conferences, the winter event in Long Beach and its European summer counterpart, TEDGlobal. More than 1,000 people register early for each (they sell out months in advance) to hear speakers give the “talk of their lives” in 18 minutes or less.
Date: Oct. 17 to 19, 2011
Cost: $4,195 ($4,395 on site)
Contact: confreg@oreilly.com, 800.889.8969; web2summit.com
10. WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM ANNUAL MEETING
DAVOS, SWITZERLAND/h3>
In one sense, attending Davos is just a way of announcing your status in the global economic community; if you’re a player, you’re there. But it also provides a valuable forum for articulating urgent or imminent realities in finance, economics and technology. Davos attracts some people for the wrong reasons—to see and be seen—but it remains a locus of international power brokers and problem-solvers.
Date: Jan. 25 to 29, 2012
Cost: N/A (annual meeting by invitation only; open forum for the public is first come, first served)
Contact: annualmeeting@weforum.org, 212.703.2300; weforum.org
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