Conference Hound-Up April 18, 2012: The Freshest Events Fit For A Ninja

It looks like he's surfacing, but he's actually running from ninjas. THEY ARE EVERYWHERE.

We’re casting a wide net today.  If this were a fishing boat, we’d be pulling up lobster, salmon, trout, killer whales, giant squid and a couple of Nessies.  Since this is not a fishing boat, and instead an event discovery platform (and a great one at that), we’re gonna serve up some film, food, wine, hospitality, data, technology and social media.  Better get this boat outta the bay or this is gonna take all day!

Our first catch is a delicious and indigenous Wine & Food Weekend down in Charlotte.  I know it’s not the weekend yet, but I guess somebody forgot to tell them.

Because one opportunity to gorge on wine and food is never enough, we also scooped up the tasty Sugar Land Wine & Food Affair down in Texas.  Acclaimed chefs and regional superstars will load you up with all kinds of goodies down yonder.

But let’s digress; we promised variety in today’s catch!  There’s a potent technology twofer here in San Francisco kicking off today.  The Financial Forecasting & Planning for High-Tech Summit provides all kinds of strategy and analytic advice in the FP&A sector, while the Sales & Operations Planning for High-Tech event offer very much what its title implies to the very group mentioned therein.  Feel me?

These days it’s all about big data and innovation, and fortunately we’ve stumbled across a whale of an event.  The Big Data Innovation Summit (did you see that coming?) gathers leaders and innovators in London to harpoon the biggest, wettest issues facing every major player: dissecting and making sense of the vast ocean of info washing up on our shores.

This fish metaphor is getting played out.  Let’s switch to ninjas.

Five throwing stars for whoever guess what SMSS stands for without reading the next sentence.  Ahhh, you kept going.  Disqualified.  The Social Media Strategies Summit in Chicago for the next couple days delivers the best field tactics and strategic approaches to conquering the world of social media.  The do’s and dont’s of the industry will be illuminated while you hover in the darkness, absorbing extensive knowledge in invisible silence.

The Tribeca Film Festival honors this random Wednesday by wheelhouse-kicking-off it’s 12-day run.  This extremely popular festival with super-celeb (and secret ninja) Robert DeNiro in the wings is a NYC staple, honoring the bet in independent film while simultaneously asserting the pride and heritage of The Big Apple.

HotelPoint takes a surprisingly and impressively proactive approach to making sure their attendees get the most out of the event.  Pre-event surveying, carefully designed agendas and black-belt-bodyguards for each guest assure that all y’all Hospitalitiers (not a made-up word, I swear) suck up everything you possibly can about your industry over the next four days.

Even the most elite warrior needs a chance to relax and geek out.  Assuming you are also one of the 1%, take a gander at this shopping list of incredibly expensive things that no person should ever actually buy no matter how much money they have to waste.  Except for the Swiss Army Knife Thumb Drive.

Lastly, since we’re on the subject of awesome heroes and ridiculous gadgets, I’ll serve up one more sweet link.  A fun read on the progress of wearable gadgets, inspiring me to daydream about a day in the near future where I can more effectively pretend to be James Bond.