Upcoming Tech Conferences

Keeping up with the latest coding languages and emerging trends in your industry can be a challenge, especially if you’re usually head-down in code. One of the best ways to stay up to date is to attend an industry-focused conference.

Whether you’re in charge of your company’s architecture or looking to network and explore job options, here’s a list of six upcoming conferences to get you started. You may not have time or budget to attend them all, so we’ve broken down location, costs and focus.

Microsoft Ignite

WHEN: Feb. 4-5, 2019

WHERE: Washington, DC

PRICE: Free

FOCUS ON: Cloud

The big Microsoft Ignite conference takes place in November of 2019 but Microsoft also produces a series of free-to-attend events around the world called “The Tour.”  They’re intended for developers and technology professionals and the next one in the US takes place in Wash DC. The focus is on best practices in the future of cloud development, data, IT, and business intelligence. There are over one hundred deep-dive sessions and workshops to choose from while also having the opportunity to connect with the developer community.

CES

WHEN: Jan. 8-11, 2019

WHERE: Las Vegas

PRICE: $300; access to show floor, keynote addresses, SuperSessions and select conference tracks

Starter Conference Pass: $900 gives you all of the above plus more conference tracks. Good for splitting time between walking the show floor and catching a few sessions.

Deluxe Conference Pass: $1,700 All of above plus almost all the conference tracks. This is the best option if you want full days of conference programming in a variety of tracks.

FOCUS ON: Consumer Electronics, AR, VR, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence

Formerly knows as the Consumer Electronics Show, CES is an event for those affiliated with the consumer technology industry. Regular consumers, despite the name, are not permitted to attend. CES is where countless emerging (for their time) technologies such as the VCR, compact disc, Microsoft’s Xbox and driverless car tech have debuted. More than 4,550 companies exhibit at the show, showing the latest in AI, VR, robotics, drones and the popular start-up section known as Eureka Park. The conference program offers over 250 conference sessions and the show hosts more than 180K attendees from 150 countries.

IBM Think

WHEN: Feb. 12-15, 2019

WHERE: San Francisco

PRICE: Full conference pass: $2,295 One-day pass: $895

FOCUS ON: Cloud, AI, data and analytics and more

The IBM Think conference is part professional development and part networking. Attendees can attend high-level discussions or take a deep dive into AI, cloud, data and other emerging technologies. Education is also a huge part of the conference. Web Developers can get hands-on experience and take classes in topics ranging from How AI and Blockchain Will Change the Game to Working with Data in Modern Data Architectures. It’s a great way to enhance your skills; IBM offers certification exams in AI, cloud, security and much more.

DataWorks Summit

WHEN: March 18-21, 2019

WHERE: Barcelona

PRICE: Early Bird $850 (ends 12/31)

$1,025

FOCUS ON: Big Data

Hear about the latest developments in AI, machine learning, IoT, cloud, and more at the DataWorks Summit in Barcelona and get the opportunity to network with industry peers from all over the world. There are over 70 track sessions and crash courses in AI, data science, cloud, architecture and operations. Learn everything from how to build modern data architectures to how DevOps practices can help speed solutions into production.

If you can’t get to Barcelona, DataWorks is holding a US-based summit in Washington DC. May 20-23, 2019

Developer Week

WHEN: Feb. 20-24, 2019

WHERE: San Francisco

PRICE:  Early Bird $50 - $745 (various entry points)

$50 -$1,345

$35 for an Expo Pass to $1,999 for a DevExec World Pass

FOCUS ON: Developer innovation

If you’re a developer, head to San Francisco for DeveloperWeek 2019. This developer conference hosts dozens of week-long events including the Conference & Expo, a hackathon, a tech hiring expo, and a series of workshops, open houses, and city-wide events. Over 8,000 developers, engineers, software architects, dev teams, and executives from all over gather to discover the latest in developer technologies, next-gen languages, platforms, and tools.

Workshops offer intro lessons on technologies like VR Dev, Artificial Intelligence Dev, Blockchain Dev, IoT Dev, Serverless technology, Microservices technology, new JavaScript frameworks, and more.

DW 2019 is introducing DevExec World, two days of roundtable talks, educational talks, and networking events for engineering managers, tech executives, and lead developers.

SXSW

WHEN: March 8-17, 2019

WHERE: Austin, Texas

PRICE: Full conference pass: $395 - $1,650

Rates go up each month

FOCUS ON: Film, Music, Digital Creativity, Innovation

SXSW has evolved from a music and film festival into an interactive conference focused on startups, innovations and digital creativity. Most notably, Foursquare and Twitter’s live video streaming app, Periscope, made their debuts at SXSW. The conference attracts creative type as well as entrepreneurs, all getting a glimpse at the newest startups, websites and games.

Keynote speakers and panelists have included Melinda Gates, Senator Bernie Sanders, Steve Case, Vint Cerf and even former President Barack Obama. This year, Kevin Systrom, former CEO and co-founder of Instagram is scheduled to be on the keynote stage, as is Jaron Lanier, known as the “godfather of Virtual Reality.”