As an IT professional, attending a conference is a great way to connect with like-minded people through networking, as well as learn from some of the best in your own industry. The good news is that there are loads of different conferences you might consider attending.
The bad news is that because there are loads of different conferences you might consider attending, you struggle to know which ones are going to benefit your business. When it comes to picking the right conference, you need to think about:
Location: Where is this conference located? Do you need to travel overseas to get there, or is it local to you?
Cost: How much does it cost to attend this conference? Can you get a bulk package for your entire team to attend or is it too expensive and only one person will be able to go given your budget?
Speakers: Who’s booked to speak at the conference? If you’re just there to soak up knowledge, you need to make sure there are the right number and type of speakers who will help you learn what you don’t already know.
In this post, we’re taking a deep dive look into the different conferences you can attend in 2019 as an IT professional. To make it easier to find the right one for you, we’ve broken them down into conferences by month.
Let’s go!
JUNE
Monitorama
Date:
2rd - 5th June
Location:
Portland, USA
Cost:
$700
Description:
Monitorama tries to separate itself from other conferences by placing less emphasis on vendors and more focus on technical content. Because of this, you’ll find the conference attracts people from the open-source industry as well as various speakers on new development techniques used across the globe.
Cisco Live
Date:
9th - 13th June
Location:
San Diego, USA
Cost:
$625 to $3195
Description:
Cisco hosts this conference every year with the aim to educate attendees about the companies' new products and vision for the future. If you’re involved with Cisco at any capacity within your business, this conference is a must to get up to date knowledge early.
Velocity
Date:
10th - 13th June
Location:
San Jose, USA
Cost:
$2500
Description:
The Velocity conference tries to shy away from theory and looks closer at real-world best practices. It’s a conference for advanced IT professionals who are in the business of using, deploying and running complex distributed applications and systems.
Big Data Toronto
Date:
12th - 13th June
Location:
Toronto, Canada
Cost:
It’s free to attend to expo but tickets for the conference range from 500 to 1000 Canadian dollars.
Description:
Big Data Toronto is not just a conference but a trade show too. Because of this, you can expect to see and meet a range of different types of people from analyst to decision makers. There will be over 100 different speakers and a variety of exhibitors all covering the core topics of big data and how you can use that within your organization.
Cloud EXPO
Date:
24th - 26th June
Location:
Santa Clara, USA
Cost:
$195
Description:
This conference brings together industry experts to help others choose and evaluate different cloud-based systems. The two-day conference will help organizations who are thinking about moving to the cloud and need resources and learning for how to do this in the best way.
IDUG Tech Conference
Date:
2nd - 6th June
Location:
Charlotte, USA
Cost:
From $1865 to $2295
Description:
This independent conference is there for the user-driven community who work within the DB2 field. It hopes to bring together professionals from all walks of life and backgrounds.
Digital Workplace Experience
Date:
17th - 19th June
Location:
Chicago, USA
Cost:
From $1495 to $2495
Description:
It’s the third year of this conference, and it’s set to bring together a range of different enterprise-level digital leaders to share their learnings and knowledge. If you’re looking for a conference that includes speakers, live demos and co-working sessions, this conference is for you.
Gartner CIO & IT Executive Summit
Date:
3rd - 5th June
Location:
Toronto, Canada
Cost:
$3475 Canadian dollars
Description:
This conference is set to help CIOs, and IT professionals learn better ways to adapt to the fast-paced changes within the digital world. You'll learn how to apply new concepts and techniques to your digital business as well as how to source and retain top enterprise talent.
AUGUST
Gartner Catalyst Conference
Date:
August 12 - 15, 2019
Location:
San Diego, USA
Cost:
From $3050 to $3575
Description:
This conference features over 50 Gartner Analysts. Because of this, you can expect an expert opinion on topics such as mobile cloud architecture, data analytics, and how to use these within your business. The conference aims to provide people with enough resources that after the conference they have a blueprint for how too move their organization forward.
VMworld
Date:
25th - 29th August
Location:
San Francisco, USA
Cost:
$1795
Description:
This five-day conference looks at key trends within the IT industry. There will also be breakout sessions, group discussions and keynote talks from industry experts. It’s a particularly useful conference for Sysadmins and IT engineers.
TechMentor
Date:
August 5 - 9
Location:
Microsoft HQ, Redmond, WA, USA
Cost:
$1,595 - $2,495
Description:
For more than two decades, TechMentor has offered IT professionals at nearly every level an event filled with workshops, networking and education, and this year is no different. Learn about emerging tech in specially curated sessions, and then try it out yourself in one of the new Hands-On Lab. (Psst! If you can’t attend the event in August, there’s another TechMentor event in Orlando, FL from November 17 - 22.)
DEFCON
Date:
August 8 - 11
Location:
Paris, Ballys and Planet Hollywood, Las Vegas, NV, USA
Cost:
$280
Description:
Often referred to as the leading conference for hackers, this event is now in its 27th year. Attended by more than 20,000 tech professionals, hobbyists, students, and media representatives, DEFCON offers tons of sessions, networking events and more than a few raging parties.
SEPTEMBER
Spiceworld
Date:
23rd - 25th September
Location:
Austin, USA
Cost:
$199
Description:
This three-day conference brings together IT professionals vendors as well as tech marketers to give you a practical look at how you can better use IT within your own business to achieve your overarching organizational goals.
Pure/Accelerate
Date:
15th - 19th September
Location:
Austin, USA
Cost:
$495
Description:
This conference helps to change the way we think about storage, data and the cloud. Alongside keynote speakers from industry experts, you can expect breakout sessions and opportunities to network with your peers.
OCTOBER
Gartner Symposium/ITxpo
Date:
October 20 - 24, 2019
Location:
Orlando, FL, USA
Cost:
$6000
Description:
This conference is aimed at the enterprise and as such has a price tag to suit. If you’re a CIO, this conference is geared for you. It will cover topics such as cloud mobilty, cybersecurity and application architecture amongst others.
Oracle OpenWorld
Date:
22 - 25 October
Location:
San Francisco, CA
Cost:
$1450 - $2050
Description:
This summit is for those who are interested in the world of AI and how it can apply to modern-day organizations. You’ll have opportunities to hear industry speakers as well as network and take part in various discussion groups.
NOVEMBER
Salesforce Dreamforce
Date:
19th - 22nd November
Location:
San Francisco, USA
Cost:
$1999
Description:
This conference is one of the largest IT conferences you can attend. There are over 2700 breakout sessions that feature industry leaders as well as salesforce experts.
Microsoft Ignite
Date:
4 - 8 November
Location:
Orlando, FL, USA
Cost:
TBD (Not yet public)
Description:
As Microsoft’s flagship event, this conference offers a variety of sessions for tech pros across the spectrum. Learn about the future of business intelligence, cloud computing, data and much more. This event also offers an immersive experience with plenty of hands-on opportunities so you can learn about new tech from the people who create it, and then test drive products for yourself.
DECEMBER
AWS re:Invent
Date:
December 2 - 6
Location:
Las Vegas, USA
Cost:
$1799
Description:
This conference is the Amazon Web Services annual conference for their customers. They hope to bring together as many customers as possibe to encourage networking, shared learning as well as learning more about how to make best use of AWS.
comments