Professional development, networking opportunities, free stuff and FUN. Those are just some of the benefits you’ll score when you scrape up some moolah and attend an annual event or two geared for other professionals in your field.

One morning over coffee and email, I discovered my invitation to BlogWorld Expo. For a moment I thought, “YES! I can go—I can be there in 3 1/2 hours!”

But then my first actual moment clarity struck and I realized, “NO, I can’t; I have guests in town that week. Arrghhh.” Not “arrghh-ing” my family, but myself, because, if I had an annual calendar of events to refer to when planning other activities, I would have made it to BlogWorld that year.

Let’s build an event calendar together!
If you know of an annual conference of interest to virtual assistants, bloggers, working women, creative professionals, remote professionals, web developers, solopreneurs (whatever category you fall into) email me at ktcosmos-at-looseends-dot-net and I will add it to this list.

Tips on Attending Events

1. Huge conventions can quickly overwhelm your senses. To avoid that, just take a walk through the exhibit hall on your first day. Then you’ll be less gaga and more focused on the second pass.
2. Plan your packing carefully using this post elsewhere in Loosely Speaking, so you don’t end up taking too much stuff. You want to leave plenty of room in your bags for all the materials and freebies you’ll pick up.
3. Take some breaks. You don’t want to miss a thing, but if you don’t pace yourself, your brain will turn to mush. Some events have hospitality rooms, and others, like MacWorld, have nice lounges with comfy furniture and views where you can relax, chat with others, check your email, or just zone out for a bit.
4. Speaking of breaks, do yourself a favor and pass on the conference food. Google your location and then use Google Map’s “find nearby” feature to plot out restaurants close to the conference venue.
5. Arrive and check in the day before, so you give yourself a chance to get oriented.
6. Many vendors offer special event pricing, so come with a shopping list and check more than one vendor’s booth to find the best deals.
7. Notice that some of the events on the calendar are NOT necessarily held during the same month annually. Pay attention to that when planning.

Blog Your Event

Ethan Zuckerman at My Heart’s in Accra writes about the The 5-4-3 double play, or The Art of Conference Blogging., his approach to covering a conference blog style. Ethan explains that this love of documenting all the details in a baseball game (hence the title of his post) lead to his present day habit of obsessively blogging conferences. If you have never blogged a conference, read Ethan’s very thorough treatment of how to do it. Then, when you get where you’re going, look for some blogging lounges. Hauling your own laptop around all day is hard on the shoulders–the events that provide blogging lounges let you use their equipment to login to your own blog.

Loosely Speaking’s Annual Calendar of Professional Events

January

MacWorld Conference & Expo
2009: 1/5 - 1/9, in San Francisco. This will be the the 25th anniversary celebration!

Comments: all things Apple: exhibits, break out sessions, hands-on labs, special interest training lasting all day, many other presentations offered at individual exhibitors’ booths throughout the event. Unveiling of new products and the keynote by Steve Jobs.

Tip: You can attend free encore presentations of some of the 2008 workshops here! In 2008, was held 1/14 - 1/18, in San Francisco

March

South by Southwest Interactive (SxSW)
2009: March 13 - 17, in Austin,TX

Comments: The SXSW Interactive Festival features five days of exciting panel content and amazing parties. Attracting digital creatives as well as visionary technology entrepreneurs, the event celebrates the best minds and the brightest personalities of emerging technology.

In 2008, was held: March 7 - 11, in Austin,TX

WordCamp
In 2008 was held: March 29 - 30, Frisco, Texas

As described on their website: “For the uninitiated, WordCamp is an informal gathering of WordPress users where we teach, learn, eat, drink and generally have fun with one another.”

April

BlogHer Conference
In 2008, was held: April 3 & 4, in New York City

Comments: BlogHer Business welcomes women and men, active bloggers, and all those who are simply interested in what social media means for business. The conference was developed especially for: Entrepreneurs, consultants and small business owners; Media and publishing houses; Communications department, ad agency and P.R. firm representatives; Corporate executives across functional areas

In 2007, was held 7/27 - 7/29 in Chicago

8th International Virtual Assistants Association Summit (IVAA)
2009: April 21 - 25, in Montreal Canada

Comments: Theme: “No Boundaries for Your Business.” For current and aspiring virtual assistants. The non profit tries to have one online summit and one in-person summit annually.

In 2008, was held April 23 - 27 in Charlotte, North Carolina

In 2007, was held 4/25 - 4/28, in San Francisco

May

SobCon
2009: May 1 - 3, Chicago

Comments: described by organizers as part seminar, part conference, part deep networking. To keep it at the size and quality the organizers are aiming for, it is invitation only, so go soon to request your invite!

In 2008, was held May 2 - May 4, Chicago

In 2007, was held May 11 & 12 in Chicago

Forum on Virtual Assistance (FoVA), in Toronto Canada

Comments: this is the inaugural year for this event and it is being organized by Barb Lang, nominee for this year’s BOD and owner of Virtually Anything. It is described as a “unique and private gathering of new Virtual Assistants and seasoned VA industry leaders, from all over North America. It is a mutual exchange of ideas and sharing of business expertise and qualified acumen, within a stimulating brainstorming, networking and workshop based 3 day program. “

August

Netroots Nation (formerly known as YearlyKos)
2009: August 13 - 16, Pittsburgh, PA

Comments: Beginning in 2008, this event was renamed “Netroots Nation.” Initially as a politically liberal blog event, but organizers say they now wish to attract all bloggers. However, the event’s website features frequent sprinklings of the word “progressive,” so…. you decide!

In 2008, was held July 17 - 20, Austin, Texas

In 2007, was held 9/2 - 9/5 in Chicago

WordCamp
2008: August 16, San Francisco, CA

Comments: Organized by the creators of WordPress, the purpose of this annual event is to get WordPress users together, learn from each other, figure out the future of publishing on the web, and have a good time.

In 2007, was also held in San Francisco on July 21

September

BlogWorldExpo
2008: 9/20 - 9/21 in Las Vegas

Comments: An event for bloggers of all levels and genres. There are lots of blogger sites containing discounts. All you do is find such a site and then enter that code when you go to register to attend.

In 2007, was held Nov 8 & 9 in Las Vegas

BlogOrlando
2008: 9/25 - 27 in Orlando, FL

Comments: From the organizer’s website, a FREE “unconference.” “We bring together a good cross-section of folks to discuss blogging, podcasting, public relations, social media, citizen’s journalism and other related topics..”

In 2007, was held 9/27 - 9/29 in Orlando, Florida

October

IDEA2008
2008: October 7, 8 in Chicago (pre-conference workshop is October 6)

Comments: ” A conference on designing complex information
spaces of all kinds.” Visit site to read how you can be entered into a contest, in which a blogger can win a free conference pass. Deadline to enter is 9/2/2008.

In 2007, was held 10/4 & 10/5 in New York City

In 2006, was held in Seattle

Social Media Summit
2008: October 20-23 in New York City

Comments: From the organizers’ website: “Attend this conference to learn how to use social media, and leverage the latest interactive Web 2.0 tools and techniques to advance your organizational goals.”

3rd Annual Online Summit (for Virtual Assistants)
2008: October 24 (online)

Comments: Theme: “Building Success Through Education.” Continuing education is vital to the success of all businesses. An interactive, jam-packed day of seminars designed specifically for the ongoing education of Virtual Assistants (VAs). There is something for everyone, whether you’re just starting as a VA or have been in business for years. Choose from topics of interest to you in any of three tracks.

December

PubCon
2008: no dates yet for this year’s event.

Comments: for Search and Internet Marketing Specialists

In 2007, was held 12/4 - 12/7, in Las Vegas

Ongoing

(These events do recur, but not on a predictable annual basis)

PodCamp, the new media community unconference

Comments: A PodCamp, founded by Chris Penn and Chris Brogan, is “a usually free BarCamp-style community UnConference for new media enthusiasts and professionals, including bloggers, podcasters, YouTubers, social networkers and anyone curious about new media. The first PodCamp was held in 2006; they are now being held world wide.” You plan your own event and post it at the PodCamp wiki, which is managed by Chris Penn. (For more info, contact Chris at cspenn-at-gmail-dot-com.)

In 2006, the first ever PodCamp was held September 8-10, in Boston, Massachusetts.

For more events, check out the Conference Guru’s website for listings of additional conferences by month and some tips on where to get discounts. Many of these are outside my topic list, but you might find something there of interest.

Help Grow the List!

Send me info on events you know about, to ktcosmos-at-LooseEnds-dot-net.

Updated: 3/5/08, 8/4/08, 9/4/08