The beginning of December, I attended the Business Insider Ignition Conference which focused on Media, Technology, and Transformation. After looking at the speaker list, I was beyond excited to attend the conference and hear from such accomplished leaders, several of who were my role models such as the founders of Dropbox and Y Combinator. Every panel topic was carefully curated, relevant and engaging to a wide variety of interests. Attending conferences is an experience you need to add to your to-do list, and here are a few reasons why:
Unbelievable networking opportunities
In a classroom setting, we read about and hear our professors lecture about successful companies and leaders. It’s inspiring hearing about these great minds and innovators and picturing ourselves one day being in that same position following their path to success. Now, pause for a second and imagine the opportunity to meet these individuals in real life. If you think that it’s unlikely that you would ever get the chance to do so, then think again. By attending conferences, you can hear from experts, thought leaders, and innovators as well as network with the bright people in the audience in a live event setting. For students, conferences provide a way to extend their learning past the classroom and absorb new skills. One of the best features of conferences is that they are energizing. Hearing the panels full of accomplished individuals fires up passion and the drive to learn new things. Ignition was a conference that was packed with the brightest minds in every industry imaginable.
Apply Skills Learned in the Classroom
The conference even connected with topics that we were learning in class. For example, in my Supply Chain class, we were learning about how drone technologies were speeding up the supply chain process. At the conference, when the CEO of Zipline, a company doing life-saving drone deliveries presented I was blown away. Hearing the practical application of how Zipline was utilizing drones on a national scale to send essential medicines, blood, and vaccines increased my interest in a topic I had minimum exposure to before.
This conference ignited my interest, furthered my curiosity and is a conference that I would recommend to everyone. There are so many great conferences out there, so make use of these opportunities and get involved. Some conferences that I recommend attending and keeping an eye out for are the Startup Grind Global Conference, One Young World, and the Next Gen Summit. Also, remember to keep your eye out for this conference next year, you won’t want to miss it!