There's a lot going on this fall in Los Angeles tech. Choosing the right conferences to attend is going to require some thinking, so we're giving you a little help. Here are the top 5 conferences we think you should attend this fall.
1. LA Startup Week
[ibimage==33557==Large==none==self==ibimage_align-center]
Date: October 20th to 24th
Where: General Assembly and ROC in Santa Monica
Cost:
- Free
Why attend:
Each morning LA Startup Week will have 'Coffee Club' discussions — curated talks on topics important to LA entrepreneurs. This won’t be your standard sit and listen panel discussion, the audience will be encouraged to participate. Topics for talks will likely include advertising tech in Los Angeles, building an e-commerce brand in the age of Amazon, and effective ways to monetize mobile games.
Startup Week LA will also include a startup demo day, a job fair, after event happy hours and a startup crawl, mentor sessions, and investor pitch flip.
2. Be Great Fest:
[ibimage==33561==Large==none==self==ibimage_align-center]
Date: November 14th, all day
Where: Los Angeles Center Studios
Cost:
- Full Conference: $399
- Fest Party Only: $49
Why attend:
Be Great Fest is the most high energy of Los Angeles’ tech conferences. The event feels like a cross between a tech conference and nightclub. The all-day event will include tons of networking opportunities including a ‘Founders Club’ session in a private clubhouse where Los Angeles founders, executives and Los Angeles influencers can meet and mingle. Speaking panels will be a prominent part of Be Great Fest and the event will also have a startup exhibition section where attendees can meet 250 plus local companies. The event is supposed to bring in 5,000 plus attendees. After networking and learning about the LA tech scene most of those attendees head over to a huge afterparty.
Notable speakers include:
- Scott Painter, CEO of TrueCar
- Mira Lee, chief inspiration officer of ShoeDazzle
- Brian Lee, founder of LegalZoom, ShoeDazzle and the Honest Company
- Bob Schwartz, former president of Magento and founder of Nordstrom.com
3. TechWeek LA
[ibimage==33564==Original==none==self==null]
Date: November 17th to 23rd
Where: Santa Monica Pier
Cost:
- $90 for Expo Ticket
- $495 for Summit Ticket
- $2500 for BlackPass Ticket
Why Attend:
Lots of panels drawing from prominent Los Angeles tech entrepreneurs, a job hiring event, FashionTECH Runway show, and dozens of tables set up for attendees to meet local startups, this conference is a great way to get quickly acquainted with the Los Angeles tech scene. 50 early-stage companies will also participate in the TechWeek LA LAUNCH startup competition.
Notable speakers include:
- Adam Goldberg, CEO and founder of JustFab,
- Brock Peirce, bitcoin entrepreneur
- Chris DeWolfe, CEO & co-founder of SGN and Co-founder & former CEO of Myspace,
- Irv Shapiro, CEO and CTO of Ifbyphone
- Scott Painter, CEO of True Car
4. NewCo
[ibimage==33565==Original==none==self==null]
Date: November 19th, all day
Where: Multiple locations in Santa Monica
Cost:
- General Admission: Free
- Reserved: $75
- VIP: $275
- Patron All-Festival VIP: $850
Why Attend:
The idea behind NewCo is that the best place to learn about innovation is not at a tech conference, but at the tech companies themselves. Instead of another conference packed into a stodgy hotel ballroom, the founders of NewCo are trying to pull back the curtains on innovation where it happens. The conference is sort of like an open house for tech companies. NewCo attendees can register to visit any one of the companies signed up to host on the event’s website. General admission is free and attendees get a chance to see what it is really like to work inside some of Los Angeles’ most interesting startups. It will also be a good networking opportunity for potential job seekers. NewCo conferences are active in other cities too, including Amsterdam, San Francisco, New York, and Los Angeles.
Host companies include:
- Cornerstone OnDemand
- Demand Media
- Docstoc
- Enplug
- Factual
- General Assembly
- GumGum
- HubLA
- ParkMe
- Rubicon Project
- Science Inc.
- StackCommerce
- Yahoo
- ZEFR
- ZipRecruiter
5. LA Tech Summit
[ibimage==33563==Large==none==self==ibimage_align-center]
Date: December 11th, all day
Where: JW Marriot LA Live
Cost:
- General Admission: $250
Why Attend:
Cornerstone OnDemand’s biggest event of the year is an anchor moment for LA Tech. Last year’s event drew in entrepreneurs and venture capitalist not only from Los Angeles, but also from the Bay Area and around the country. If you go to conferences to listen and learn, the panels at the LA Tech Summit are second to none and packed with top-notch industry experts. The event has a great startup pitch competition too. Last year's winner Nativo continues to grow rapidly and went on to raise an additional $5 million Series B. Third place winner was Lettuce, a company which later sold to Intuit for $30 million.
Cornerstone has become something of a tent-pole company for Los Angeles and this event is a good way for it to make its presence known and to give back. Last year's event did not disappoint and this one is not likely to either.
Have a tip for us or know of a company that deserves coverage? Email us via [email protected]
