Conferences are a perfect, innovative and interesting platform for entrepreneurs to network. As an entrepreneur, you get to meet like-minded people, get trained and even learn new techniques of running businesses. Your business can benefit from topic insights and advice shared by industry experts to help enhance your organization. Furthermore, you can gather statistics, actionable tips and other essential information that can prove valuable to your clients, employees and relevant groups in your firm.
Although conferences can be expensive, it’s a form of investment you gain from through the varied benefits at your disposal. In fact, the more the people you can get to attend, the higher the value you gain. Innovative techniques are adopted in conferences to maximize the level of knowledge you gain, making it one of the top benefits of attending conferences. With the question-answer sessions and group discussions, you can have all your problems solved and doubts (regarding the topics under discussion) cleared.
What’s more, you meet other professionals in conferences and interact and even share experiences. Networking enables you to comprehend your profession better, further integrating you into your professional community. However, before embarking for a conference, you need to prepare in advance and come up with the goals for the type of contacts you need to make. As you initiate new connections, reinforce existing ones and plan on how to make follow ups.
The right conference brings you closer to your ideal customers, connects you with industry leaders and provides you with the information you need to attain your business goals. With the year coming to an end and 2017 beckoning, it’s time to take a look at what conferences the New Year has in store for you.
Here are the top 5 conferences to look forward to in 2017.
5 Conferences to Look Forward to in 2017
- The World Domination Summit (WDS)
When: July 11-17, 2017
Where: Portland, Oregon
Why: WDS is an annual conference aimed at ensuring every attendee enjoys a ‘remarkable life in a conventional world’. During the conference, various topics are covered in mini-academy series, spanning book publication and language labs to rekindling the passion needed to get projects done and overcoming rejection. Some events to be featured in the conference in 2017 include: Big Adventure, Attendee-Led Meetups and Academies.
- The Entrepreneurs’ Un-Convention
When: March 5, 2017
Where: Sydney, Australia
Why: Un-convention is the largest annual conference for entrepreneurs in New Zealand and Australia. It’s aimed at linking entrepreneurs with like minds to help them expand their existing networks and develop momentum in their businesses. The conference is held in Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide, Perth and Auckland, each lasting a day.
- DENT
When: March 19-22nd, 2017
Where: Sun Valley, Idaho
Why: Executive directors, CEOs, scientists, entrepreneurs and political leaders with the drive to become better and effective leaders to change the world meet at the DENT conference. Ground-breaking success and visionary leadership’s science and magic are explored at the conference. Talented and highly motivated leaders meet at nightly dinners (with a max of 25 people) to connect and develop meaningful networks.
- PopTech
When: October 19-21, 2017
Where: Camden, Maine
Why: At the PopTech conference, more than 600 innovators and entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds meet to connect and share insights to enable them work towards creating lasting change. Leaders don’t just work in complementary white spaces, but get out of their comfort zones to share high-impact collaborative ideas to solve some of the toughest challenges in the world. With an aim of creating disruptive change, PopTech is among the top-rated conferences worldwide.
- SXSW Interactive Conference
When: March 10-19, 2017
Where: Austin, TX
Why: SXSW Interactive conference brings together tech entrepreneurs for unmatched networking, discovery and inspiration. The most creative minds in emerging technology meet to exploit their digital creativity and cutting-edge technologies to come up with the best tech products that can help entrepreneurs find solutions to their day-to-day business problems.
What Now?
These are just a few of the top conferences in 2017 to get you started. All in all, you need to take note of the new contacts you make and record session discussions for follow-ups and future reference. After all, the success of the conference you attend is only as good as the follow-ups you do!