From the East to the West Coast – well, primarily the West Coast – industry experts are doing their parts to make America one nation with liberty and better presentation skills for all. Below are six conferences that will give you the tools and inspiration to create and deliver better presentations.
VizThink Conference (San Jose, CA)
A global community of visual thinkers committed to furthering visualization techniques for all types of communication and education, VizThink holds a conference for three days in February. The conference includes about 30 break-out sessions led by over 40 industry experts like Nancy Duarte, Karl Gude and Dan Roam. For those who have trouble picking and choosing, VizThink organizes sessions into distinct tracks like Visual Language, Storytelling, Changing the World, Visualizing Data & Our World, Business Strategy and Visual Thinking.
Link: http://vizthink.com
Presentation // reboot (Mountainview, CA)
Presentation // reboot is a one-day seminar hosted in March by Garr Reynolds (author of Presentation Zen) and Nancy Duarte (principal of Duarte Design and author of slide:ology). By focusing on creatively thinking about presentation preparation, design and delivery, Duarte and Reynolds promise to “reframe the way you think” about presentations in six just hours. The seminar is limited to 32 attendees, which makes it ideal for those looking for a more personal experience.
Cost: $675
Link: http://www.presentationreboot.com/
Web 2.0 Summit (San Francisco, CA)
In its sixth year, the Web 2.0 Summit takes place for three days in October. The conference combines Internet industry executives from companies like Yahoo!, Comcast, GE, Verizon Wireless, Facebook, Twitter and the New York Times Company. Although not exactly presentation design focused, the Web 2.0 Summit helps attendees focus their strategies by exploring the current and future impact of the Web 2.0 on businesses.
Cost: $4195
Link: http://www.web2summit.com/web2009
PowerPoint Live (Atlanta, GA)
For those nearer the East Coast this year, PowerPoint Live is a good option that is held for three days in October. The conference goes beyond the basics of PowerPoint to teach attendees how to use the software as an enhancement to the entire presentation process. PowerPoint Live features over 20 experts, including Rick Altman and Cliff Atkinson (author of Beyond Bullet Points), and features a one-day expo of about 25 goods and service vendors.
Cost: $895
Link: http://www.betterppt.com/powerpoint_live/
HOW Design Conference (Multiple Cities)
Sponsored by HOW magazine, a publication aimed at graphic designers, the HOW Design Conference takes place for three days in June. Since 1991, the conference has been held major cities like Miami, Chicago, Minneapolis, Boston, Atlanta, Washington D.C, San Francisco and San Diego. The conference usually features about 55 experts and includes more than 50 break-out sessions that aim to help graphic designers manage the three main components of their industry: creativity, business and technology. Those looking to enhance their creative approach to presentation design should think about attending the 2010 conference in Denver, CO.
