In celebration and support of YOU, each of our readers, fearlessly architecting your individual careers this “Back to School” season, Women Communicators of Austin has compiled a list of local professional development conferences that we hope will provide value and accelerate you on your path.
Read on for additional notes/highlights about each upcoming conference (organized below based on date).
- #FreeCon, Freelance Conference
Dates: September 10-14, 2018
Venue: Varies
Price: FREE
Visit: https://freecon.sched.com/
Austin’s week-long, citywide freelance conference is currently underway. Covering a variety of subjects (business development, freelance business, marketing, financial, and legal just to name a few) and featuring a variety of notable speakers (including Lani Rosales, Darlene Templeton, and our very own WCA Board Members, LuAnn Glowacz and Jenny Magic), this is one conference you don’t want to miss.
- Women Who Code Austin’s 4th Austin Diversity Hackathon, Women’s Tech Conference
Dates: September 14-16, 2018
Venue: Capital Factory
Price: FREE
Looking to build your tech portfolio? Or perhaps you’re eager to try your hand at something new? Women Who Code Austin will be providing a space for new and advanced coders alike. Come ready to code, to attend a workshop, or to volunteer. All are welcome!
- Chrys Media’s Instagram Marketing Conference
Dates: September 19, 2018
Venue: Online
Price: $37-$147
Visit: https://chrysmedia.com/instagrammarketingcon/
Business owners, e-commerce professionals, and marketers, this one’s for you. Increase your company’s traffic and sales via an effective Instagram marketing strategy. Learn from the experts in Instagram marketing – explore Instagram Stories with Sue B. Zimmerman, content strategy with Elise Darma, and influencer marketing with Shane Barker. Did we mention, you can attend from the comfort of your desk?
- ManyChat’s Conversations 2018, Messenger Marketing & Chatbot Conference
Dates: September 21-23, 2018
Venue: Fairmont Hotel
Price: $560
Visit: https://conversationsconference.com/
Marketers – have you implemented your messenger marketing strategy yet? Attend the first messenger marketing conference EVER, and you will learn new strategies to grow your subscriber list, build more engaging chatbots, and sell products via Messenger. You won’t want to miss leading industry experts Molly Pittman for ManyChat, Stefanos Loukakos from Facebook, Mikael Yang from ManyChat, and Ryan Deiss from DigitalMarketer, to name a select few.
- Content ATX2, Content Marketing Conference
Date: September 29, 2018
Venue: Conde Nast, East Austin
Price: $30-$40
Visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/contentatx2-tickets-48340023311
The 2nd annual conference of its kind, Content ATX2 attracts content creators and entrepreneurs by focusing on the subject of content marketing and its various media (podcasts, blogs, social media, video, and photography). Content ATX2 features speakers from several well-known organizations such as Main Street Hub, Spredfast, UT Austin’s School of Design and Creativity, and Puffingston.
- The Texas Tribune Festival, Public Policy and Current Affairs Conference
Dates: September 27-29, 2018
Venue: Downtown Austin (Varies)
Price: FREE – $500
Visit: https://festival.texastribune.org/schedule
Attend the Texas Tribune’s 3-day annual festival and stay up-to-date on current state challenges in public policy, politics, higher education, immigration, criminal justice, energy, environment, employment law, healthcare, etc. Hear from public officials, thought leaders, and decision makers including Wendy Davis, Nancy Pelosi, John Kerry, and Beto O’Rourke.
Some sessions that have piqued our interest:
- The Latina Moment panel
- Gender, Power, and Leadership (led by Wendy Davis)
- Is social media good for democracy?
- Women In Tech Summit, Women’s Leadership Conference
Date: October 1, 2018
Venue: Capital Factory
Price: FREE
Visit: https://www.capitalfactory.com/event/women-tech-summit/
Kick off Austin Startup Week with a day of programming (keynote, panels, interactive workshops, and networking), and join us in celebrating the selected winner of the $100K Pitch Challenge Competition (TBA). With a speaker lineup including Sarah Jones Simmer of Bumble, Leslie Wingo of Sanders\Wingo, and Dr. Colette Pierce Burnette of Huston-Tillotson University, this is another women-focused event high on our list.
- PRSA’s Communications Convergence, International PR Conference
Dates: October 7-9, 2018
Venue: JW Marriott Hotel Downtown Austin
Price: $350-$1,795
Visit: http://apps.prsa.org/Conferences/InternationalConference/program/
PRSA’s international conference will be held in Austin this fall and features a fantastic lineup of speakers, conference tracks tailored to career level, sector and specialization, and networking opportunities. Keynotes include: Ann Hadley of Marketing Profs, Aria Finger of DoSomething.org, Robert Reich of UC Berkeley, and Jonathan Mildenahll formerly of AirBnB.
- On the Dot’s See It to Be It Success Summit, a Women’s Conference
Date: October 18, 2018
Venue: Vintage Villas Austin
Price: $149-$199
Visit: http://events.onthedotwoman.com/austin-2018?mc_cid=018e0d278d&mc_eid=69f02c478c
The See It to Be It Success Summit is the first of its kind for On the Dot. A day of panels, workshops, and networking, the summit includes an all-star lineup of speakers including Wendy Davis, Meredith Walker of Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls, Marissa Tarleton of RetailMeNot, and Jordan Jones of Packed Party, among many others. Perfect for the woman eager to take her next big step.
- WCA’s Get Smart, a Communications Conference
Dates: October 26, 2018
Venue: Phillips Event Center
Price: $85 – $130
Visit: http://www.getsmartaustin.com
Women Communicators of Austin’s annual half-day communications conference features a superb keynote and speaker lineup (keep an eye on our website for more info to be posted), master classes, one-on-one mentoring, and WCA’s traditional post-conference networking event. You won’t want to miss Dr. Colette Pierce Burnette of Huston Tillotson University, Lolis Garcia-Baab of the Girl Scouts of Central Texas, and Monica Maldonado Williams of GivingCity Austin, just to name a few.
- Spredfast’s SmartSocial Summit, Social Media Conference
Dates: November 5-7, 2018
Venue: ACL Live at the Moody Theatre
Price: $895 – $1395
Visit: https://www.spredfast.com/summit/schedule/
Come ready to learn new ways to fuel your business social media strategy and deliver value. You’ll have the opportunity to connect with fellow leaders in the digital and social space, attend workshops and sessions, and solve some of your most difficult social media challenges. Speaker highlights include Jennifer Saenz, CMO of Frito-Lay North America, Melissa Rosenthal Brenner, EVP Digital Media of the NBA, and Roy Spence, Co-Founder and Chairman of GSD&M (just to name a few).
We hope to see you out and around town this season!
Did we miss any? Let us know in the comments!
Did you attend a conference on this list? Send us your review!
Disclaimer: The WCA Board of Directors compiled this list based on perceived value. The organization is not responsible if these conferences do not live up to expectations or ticket price.
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