Happy New Year! Welcome to 2014, another great year of exciting innovations and discoveries.

A new year brings about new beginnings and a whole new line-up of exciting technology and startup events and conferences for innovators, developers, designers, entrepreneurs, and passionate fans of the technology and startup scene.

 

Technology and Startup Events and Conferences in 2014

I have tried to compile a list of scheduled technology and startup events and conferences for 2014 as follows:

(Please note that this list is not exhaustive. Feel free to suggest events and conferences to be added in the comments below!)

1. Technology.

• Consumer Electronics Show (CES), January 7-10.
• Mobile World Congress (MWC), February 24-27.
• South by Southwest (SXSW), March 7-16.
• CeBIT, March 10-14.
• Games Developer Conference (GDC), March 17-21.
• TED, March 17-21.
• Macworld / iWorld, March 27-29.
• Build, April 2-4.
• Hong Kong Electronics Fair (Spring Edition), April 13-16.
• VentureBeat Mobile Summit, April 14-25.
• The Next Web Conference Europe, April 24-25.
• Google I/O, May.
• Disrupt NY, May 5-7.
• VentureBeat DataBeat, May 19-20.
• TEDxTokyo, May 31.
• Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), June.
• COMPUTEX Taipei, June 3-7.
• LeWeb London, June 9-10.
• E3, June 10-12.
• Open Source Convention (OSCON), July 20-24.
• The Next Web Conference Latin America, August.
• Siggraph, August 10-14.
• IFA, September 5-10.
• Super Mobility Week, September 9-11.
• VentureBeat GamesBeat, September 15-16.
• Oracle Open World, September 28 – October 2.
• The Next Web Conference USA, October.
• Hong Kong Electronics Fair (Autumn Edition), October 13-16.
• D11, October 27-29.

2. Startup.

• DLD Conference: Digital-Life-Design, January 19-21.
• Entrepreneur Magazine’s Growth Conference, January 22.
• Startup Grind, February 3-5.
• Launch Festival, February 24-26.
• DEMO Enterprise, April 3.
• Crowd Sourcing Week, April 7-11.
• Big Omaha, May 7-9.
• Startup Asia Singapore, May 7-8.
• beLAUNCH, May 14-15.
• Startup Conference, May 15.
• Inc Magazine’s GrowCo Conference, May 20-22.
• DEMO ASEAN, July.
• International Startup Festival, July 9-12.
• Grow Conference, August.
• Business of Software Conference, September 15-17.
• DEMO Fall, November 18-20.

With so many technology and startup events and conferences to choose from, which ones will you be attending this year?

Deciding Which Events and Conferences to Attend

Based on conversations with friends and research online, I have identified a few factors to aid in your selection process:

1. Goals.

• What are the goals that you are trying to achieve at the events and conferences?
• What are the type of interactions required to achieve your goals?
• Is it to expand your network, to acquire funding, to formulate business partnerships, or to raise your brand awareness?
• When deciding the events and conferences that I need to attend for my job, I find it useful to refer to my Business Canvas Model and Marketing Mix to determine the goals for my company’s product and to align them with my marketing initiatives and my event attendance.

2. Reputation.

• How reputable is the event and conference?
• Is it aligned with your goals and the image of your product brand?

3.Quality of Interactions.

• Who is attending the events and conferences?
• Will they be able to assist you in reaching your goals?

4. Location.

• Is the event or conference located in a region that you are trying to break into?
• Can you plan your schedule to attend multiple events within a single location?

For working professionals at major corporations, the decision to attend events and conferences are usually based on location, time, and the company’s budget. However, for startups, the decision is based on a delicate time balance of building a company and expanding networks. Experienced business owners typically advise a maximum of two events per quarter to prevent unhealthy distractions from more important corporate tasks.

What do you think of the exciting lineup of events and conferences in 2014? Which will you be attending?

Please share your thoughts and comments below!

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