None. I was asked recently what were good digital advertising conferences to go to. But I actually think most of them are rubbish.
You have the same people saying the same stuff that everyone has been saying for 3 or 4 years. Or even worse new people saying the same stuff as if they invented it. Often professional speakers doing the circuit or people in agencies trying to push their own personal agenda.
Generally it is a bunch of hacked presentations showing really interesting/engaging/disruptive/social (delete as appropriate) work and saying that what we need to do and brand/advertising/social/digital/direct (deleted as appropriate) are the best agency to deliver it.
But that is lazy. It is sodding easy to bash advertising and show examples of cool stuff we should be doing. Very few people actually offer constructive advice on how we need to change our process as well as our product. Global marketing business re-engineering. That's what interests me and I have had a bash at it here.
So don't go to a conference spend 3 hours on slideshare.com, follow the right people on twitter and think & talk alot. Alot, a lot.
But if you do fancy a conference, here is a list one ones my good Ogilvy friend Nicole Yershon recommends. Attend or follow the buzz online.
As you can see most of them are not about advertising but look at music, film, arts, technology and business.
UK Specific
thinking digital - 24-26 May in Sheffield
TED salon events - London 3 times a year
google zeitgeist - May in UK
click - Nov in London
power to the pixel - Nov in London
media pro - Nov in London
sounds digital - Apr in London
the childrens media conference - June in Sheffield
the sheffield doc fest - June in Sheffield
PSFK global events - London & Global
iStrategy - London & Global
likeminds - Nov in Exeter & Lon
b.tween - UK
Global Economic & Political
(that all have digital/tech on their agenda)
World Economic Forum - Jan in Davos
DLD - Jan in Munich
TED - All the time, everywhere
Clinton Global Initiative - Sept in NY
Business
(that all have digital/tech on their agenda)
allen & company sun valley conf - July in Idaho
all things D - June in San Diego)
monaco media forum - Nov in, err, Monaco
berkshire hathaway annual shareholders mtg - May in Omaha
summit series - Apr in USA
Global Digital, Tech & Innovation
techcrunch disrupt - Spet in San Fran
le web - Dec in Paris
the lobby - Sept in Hawaii
fortune brainstorm tech - June in Aspen
sxsw - Mar in Austin
CES - Jan in Vegas
picnic - Sept in Amsterdam
IBC - European CES - Sept in Amsterdam
WEB 2.0 - Nov in San Francisco
miptv - Apr & Oct in Cannes
So I have probably missed afew out and I am sometimes happy to be proved wrong. If someone fancies inviting me to attend or speak, after all I have my personal agenda to pursue and a couple of borrowed decks I can hack together...
