Tech Conferences for the Year
Things move fast in the world of tech, that’s a fact. Because the technology industry is ever-changing, tech professionals are required to continuously upskill throughout their careers. However, keeping your technical skills up-to-date can feel like a daunting task for many. Thankfully, there are numerous avenues for continued education in the technology field, one of the most popular being tech conferences. But why are conferences worth attending? How can you make the most out of your experience? What are the biggest tech events of the year? Let’s find out.
Why Should You Attend Conferences?
From networking to learning new skills, tech and IT conferences have a lot to offer. Here are just a few reasons why attending a conference should be on your professional to-do list.
1. Conferences Keep You Informed About Developments in Your Field
Technology conferences are an ideal way to stay up-to-date on the latest developments, discoveries, and challenges in the tech industry. Although many vendors do attend and host these events, tech conferences serve a purely educational purpose. Every individual presenter or group is there to share innovations and provide their own unique insight, hoping to educate and effect positive change within the industry. Even smaller, more informal tech conferences have a lot to offer. For example, getting involved with a local tech conference is a great way to experience and be part of innovations happening in your own community.
Additionally, attending a tech conference with your coworkers is a great bonding experience and allows you to learn and grow as a team.
2. Conferences Are Great Networking Opportunities
Getting to connect with other great tech minds is a unique benefit associated with attending conferences. Since tech conferences are so popular, you have the chance to meet and bond with a wide range of like-minded tech professionals who can enlighten you with new perspectives. Since the purpose of attending a conference is to gain and share knowledge, everyone in attendance will be more than willing to share their insight and also learn from you. Every time you go to a conference you can expect to walk away with valuable connections in your industry.
3. Conferences Are Extremely Accessible
Another benefit of conferences is their accessibility and affordability. Since 2020, many conferences have decided to move to a fully virtual or hybrid format, giving people the chance to learn from a distance. This means that the high cost of traveling to a conference is no longer a barrier. Virtual meeting capabilities have invigorated collaborative efforts within the tech community, allowing talented professionals from all over the world to share ideas and connect with one another.
4. You Get To Learn From the Best
Lastly, the main appeal of conferences is that they provide the opportunity to meet and learn from all types of leaders in the tech industry. Conference organizers book seasoned tech professionals who are happy to offer their knowledge, expertise, and guidance. You will also get the chance to ask questions and gain additional insights from the presenters, something you would not be able to do anywhere else. Additionally, if you have research or a project that you would like to share, you can connect with event organizers and become a keynote speaker yourself.
What Are Some of The Top Tech Events You Should Attend This Year?
Although it would be impossible to list all of the biggest tech conferences in 2022, we have compiled our favorite tech events of the year.
Microsoft Inspire
A virtual conference that focuses on Microsoft Cloud and the opportunities it provides Microsoft partners.
Red Hat Summit
A free virtual conference that is designed to help IT professionals learn, collaborate, and innovate on technologies.
SolarWinds THWACKcamp
SolarWinds is an in-person conference featuring interactive sessions with IT industry experts, offering insights into the current state of IT.
Datacloud Global Congress
The Datacloud in-person conference specifically focuses on data centers, digital infrastructure, AI technologies, and cloud industries and discusses future-facing topics related to current trends and overall market outlook.
Running Remote 2022
Optimizing remote work is more relevant now than ever before. This conference covers ways the technology industry can innovate to streamline remote work tech and best practices.
How Do You Prepare for a Technical Conference?
After reading all of those benefits, we bet you’re excited to attend the next available conference. But before you book your seat, you should make sure everything is in order. To help you get started, we created a conference preparation checklist for you:
Thoroughly Assess the Conference: The first thing you should do before committing to a conference is thoroughly assess what they offer. This includes:
Researching the key speaker(s) of the event by watching their previous talks on YouTube or reading their published articles.
Determining if the overall objective of the conference aligns with your professional goals.
Reviewing the conference agenda to determine if the information could be relevant to anyone else in your organization. If you get enough people interested, then your employer will be more apt to fund your excursion.
Come Prepared: After researching the conference itself you should handle some preparations on your end. Here are just a few steps you should take:
Organize your questions based on the topics being discussed. Asking insightful questions always leaves a good impression.
If the conference is in person, you should bring your business cards.
Follow the event organizers and key speakers on social media, and start commenting and offering up your opinions and insights on their posts when applicable.
Choose Your Events Ahead of Time: Usually conferences come with a packed agenda, which means you need to pick and choose which sessions you want to attend. This really depends on your preference, but it’s always a good idea to try and attend at least one session that discusses something completely new to you. If you feel dissatisfied at any time, or if the session wasn’t what you were expecting, you are always welcome to leave and jump into another session. This is especially easy when attending virtual or hybrid conferences.
Be Ready to Strut Your Stuff: If you have completed projects or research related to a specific session, you should be ready to present or discuss your work when applicable. When you share your ideas at a conference you will receive valuable feedback from your peers, which will help you refine your own processes. Additionally, sharing your own research and enhancing discussion that way will make a more memorable impression.
Ready to attend your tech conference? If none of the conferences we listed grabbed your attention, don’t give up! There are plenty of other tech conferences and events that are well worth your time. If you’re hungry for more information about the latest developments and hot topics in the tech industry, give the Moser ASCII Anything podcast a listen! Our latest episode discusses the intricacies of Human-Centered Design and Design Thinking and explains what makes Moser's approach to Human-Centered Design unique.
