3 Conferences You Need to Visit in 2017 to Expand Your Small Business

3 Conferences You Need to Visit in 2017 to Expand Your Small Business

Scaling up a small business is not easy; if it were, we wouldn’t have any small businesses because they would all rapidly grow. As simplistic as that analysis may be, we probably all know at least indie store that would love to grow into a chain, or an online company that can’t expand past a handful of core customers. Take your pick of reasons: lack of money, lack of confidence, bad luck, or poor decisions.

So, where can we find inspiration and ideas? It’s easy to believe that the internet will solve everything and give us contacts that will take us to the next level; easy, but often wrong. We need to meet people and see them face-to-face, in a way that even Skype and Google Hangouts can’t deliver. Hence the need for conferences such as the 3 below, that can help you make that move to the next level.

 

Fintech Week, New York, August 21-25

For the young company dealing in financial technology matters, these eclectic conferences are well worth a visit. Such is the regularity and geography of the events, they’re fairly easy to reach no matter where you are based. Throughout 2017, you can attend Fintech Week events in venues as far afield as London, Tel Aviv, Washington, Silicon Valley, and New York.

It’s now the fourth year of the events, but this year, it’s being held in New York for the first time. Therefore, one can expect the multi-day conference/exhibition/workshop/meetup to attract everyone from investors in multinational banks to business owners and academics.

So why would you want to attend this conference? Simply put, the world financial market is constantly evolving and changing, and the technology that enables that to happen is doing the same. At a personal level, we take payment through card and smartphone for granted now, but these transactions were once disruptive—and other innovations will someday take their place.

So if you deal with money—and what business doesn’t?—this could be your year to attend and get ahead of the curve.

 

TedTalks, Various Venues

Ted conferences and talk events are completely different from the other two suggestions on this list. You might learn about marketing techniques and business acumen, but none of the talks will specifically teach you analytics. More likely, you’ll learn about life and how to enhance it and change it.

Titles from wildly popular Ted talks on YouTube include “How to stay calm when you know you’ll be stressed,” by neuroscientist Daniel Levitin; “How to stop screwing yourself over” by criminal lawyer, broadcaster and mom-of-three Mel Robins; and “How to become a Millionaire in 3 years” by Daniel Ally, who went from drug abuser to millionaire by the age of 24. Pick any topic and you can bet that an interesting person will have spoken on it, whether it’s dieting, travel, astrophysics, marine biology, or successful marriages.

But don’t be fooled into thinking that a Ted talk is passive. The events are part of a wider experience, where you can meet like-minded people who may be looking for the same things in life that you are. For example, younger people might keep an eye out for the regular meetups that are held for TEDxYouth, such as the upcoming Dinosaur Park event in Rapid City, South Dakota. The first event of its kind, the event will blend live speaking, videos, and deep discussion into one exciting and inspirational hub of ideas in July. Speakers and volunteers are always wanted from all spheres of life, as long as they’re open to new ideas.

As a postscript, we’ve just missed the Ted Conference which was held in April in Vancouver, based on “The Future You,” but next year’s event, entitled “The Age of Amazement,” is accepting applicants to talk now. So, if you think you’re up to it, now is the time to take up the challenge and potentially get your name out there–to millions.

 

Digital Summit Portland, Oregon Convention Center, July 12-13

Any conference that includes a delegation as broad as Apple’s co-founder Steve Wozniak and representatives from both the New York Post and The Onion has surely got to be worth a look. But don’t be fooled into thinking that such diverse voices represent a scattergun approach. Digital Summit Portland is a laser-guided event to sharpen your mind and ideas, and maybe pick up a mentor or two on the way.

This two-day event, now in its second year, has been described as the definitive digital marketing conference, bringing together experts in content marketing, social media, user experience design, analytics, and more. These are the disciplines that all new businesses need to varying degrees in the 21^st century, and across these 40 sessions you’ll learn everything from people who’ve either taken a business from inception to startup, or moved into a role to help smooth or enhance a process of growth. Previous luminaries include Mark Cuban of the Dallas Mavericks and Beverley Jackson of MGM Resorts International.

The aim of the conference is not only to give you take-homes at the top and bottom level of the business, but also to provide opportunities for meeting potential customers and people you could decide to work with in the future. The networking opportunities—both online and offline—should mean that you can nurture a relationship while there and then bring it forward in the future. Not only that, you’ll get to stay in a hotel in Portland, one of the most vibrant cities on the West Coast.

Pricing for the event starts at $295 for basic access through to $995 for the platinum pass, which includes access to the VIP Lounge and an exclusive backstage keynote meetup.

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