IRL Partnerships and Ecosystem Conferences to Attend in 2023
Don’t get FOMO in 2023. Take a look at the year’s best conferences for Ecosystem and GTM leaders, and grab your tickets today.
Those who miss out on cool work conferences are in severe danger of:
- Not maximizing on valuable networking opportunities.
- Missing out on best practices, tactics, and insights from industry experts.
- Being the last to know about the latest developments in their fields.
- Contracting a bad case of FOMO (the fear of missing out).
We want to help you avoid all of the above. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of 2023’s best conferences — Start planning your 2023 conference circuit today.
Partnerships conferences
What better way to elevate your partnerships skills than by attending a conference with your peers? Check out these partnership-focused conferences.
Supernode June 5th – 7th 📍San Diego, CA
It’s the conference that past attendees have called “By far and away the most impactful conference I have attended in my career.” If you loved it last year or are wanting to cure your major FOMO, join Crossbeam in sunny San Diego for the second annual Supernode. Check it out.
Go if you like:
- Choose-your-own adventure experience, with multiple tracks and workshop selections for folks just starting out in partnerships to those managing massive ecosystems.
- Workshops and talks that focus on real results from the present, not speculation about the future.
- A conference created by partnerships professionals, for partnerships professionals.
Past speakers include:
- Sarah Wang, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz
- Maureen Little, VP of Technology Partnerships at Okta
- Cristina Flaschen, CEO at Pandium
Channel Partners Conference & Expo May 1st – 4th 📍Las Vegas, NV June 13th – 14th 📍London, UK
The Channel Partners Conference & Expo is a three-day event for folks in the information and communication technology space. The four-day event focuses on providing channel partners with networking opportunities and conference sessions with real expertise and outcomes. Check it out
Go if you like:
- Information and communication tech channel partnerships.
Past speakers include:
- Kate Woolley, General Manager, IBM Ecosystem at IBM
- James Phillips, Chief Information Officer at Rev.io
- Justin Gilbert, Senior Director MSP Channel Development at OpenText
Catalyst August 21st – 23rd 📍Denver, CO
Catalyst, powered by Partnership Leaders, is back for a second year. The conference is a place for partnership, business development, and ecosystem teams to meet and glean insights from the lineup of speakers and roundtable discussions. Check it out
Go if you like:
- Networking and swapping best practices with other partnerships minded professionals.
- Speakers
roundtables focused on actionable tactics for building your partner program.
Past speakers include:
- Kelly Sarabyn, Partner Ecosystem Advocate at HubSpot
- Bryan Williams, Founder at HockeyStick
- Chris Lavoie, Technology Partnerships Team Lead at Gorgias
SaaS conferences
These conferences put the “SaaS” in “SaaS partnerships”. SaaS leaders, founders, and investors can network, draw inspiration, and scope out their newest SaaS partnership.
SaaStr September 6th – 8th 📍San Francisco, CA
SaaStr is billed as the world’s biggest SaaS event and is back for the ninth consecutive year. The conference features three days of speakers, networking, and workshops. Check it out
Go if you like:
- Outdoor and indoor event style conferences
- 150+ deep-dives, workshops, and classes
- The opportunity to met and pitch
VCs and investors
Past speakers include:
- Anu Hariharan, Managing Director of YC Continuity at Y Combinator
- Cameron Deatsch, Chief Revenue Officer at Atlassian
- Bernadette Nixon, Chief Executive Officer at Algolia
SaaStock October 16th – 19th 📍Dublin, RDS
Attendees can learn from industry experts and connect with SaaS peers at this 5,000+ person event. Check it out
Go if you like:
- Meeting with SaaS leaders (68% of attendees are in leadership roles).
- Exposure to 400+ investors.
- Networking with other SaaS professionals.
Past speakers include:
- Ashley Kramer, Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer at Gitlab
- Amit Bendov, Co-founder and CEO at Gong
- Zeb Evans, Founder and CEO at Clickup
Tech conferences
Tech nerds unite! These conferences feature industry experts, showcase upcoming tech trends, and networking opportunities with other tech-ys.
Collision June 26th – 29th 📍Toronto, Ontario
With an exhibition floor, roundtable discussion, onstage sessions, and networking and networking, attendees get to learn about the intersection between tech and entrepreneurship. Check it out
Go if you like:
- Networking with 35,000+ attendees
- Workshops and
roundtables led by industry experts - Hearing from athletes, musicians, authors, and actors about the role technology plays in their various industries.
Past speakers include:
- Ryan Petersen, Chief Executive Officer at Flexport
- Roham Gharegozlou, Chief Executive Officer at Dapper Labs
- Jeff Jordan, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz
TechCrunch Disrupt September 19th – 21st 📍San Francisco, CA
Known for the Startup Battlefield competition which has produced 121+ successful exits and over $9.7B in funding for participants post-appearance, TechCrunch attracts founders, investors, and tech builders alike. Check it out
Go if you like:
- A showcase of the latest developments and innovations of 200 hand-picked, early-stage startups (applications to participate open in Spring 2023).
- Breaking technology news brought to you by big-name thought leaders.
Past speakers include:
- Wemimo Abbey, CEO and Founder at Esusu Financial Inc.
- Medha Agarwal, Partner at Redpoint
- Toyin Ajayi, Co-Founder and CEO at Cityblock Health
Sales conferences
For Sales professionals looking to bolster their strategy and fill their 2023 pipeline, these conferences can be sources of inspiration.
Sandler Annual Sales & Leadership Conference March 16th – 17th 📍Orlando, FL
Sales training and performance improvement organization Sandler presents a conference featuring training sessions from their top trainers. Check it out
Go if you like:
- Actionable sales tactics and strategies taught by professional trainers.
Past speakers include:
- Dave Mattson, Chief Executive Officer at Sandler
- Amy Woodall, Trainer at Sandler
Gartner CSO & Sales Leader Conference May 16th – 17th 📍Las Vegas, NV
Chief Sales Officers and sales leaders can meet to learn from experts as well as one another about customer acquisition, driving growth, and commercial performance acceleration. Check it out
Go if you like:
- Sales strategy, enablement, and operations.
Past speakers include:
- Alice Walmesely, Director, Research &Advisory at Gartner
- Scott Collins, Managing Vice President, Sales & Customer Service Advisory at Gartner
- Sarah Robb O’Hagan, Chief Executive Officer at EXOS
Top ecosystem conferences
While not partnerships specific, these conferences are deep dives into verticals that might include your ideal partner profile. Choose the relevant conferences to find your next partner.
MarTech
B2B Marketing Exchange February 27th – March 1st 📍Scottsdale, AZ
At this conference, B2B marketers can learn how to create measurable success while thinking outside the box and taking calculated risks. Check it out
Go if you like:
- Learning how to leverage visual storytelling, community-building content, and social media in B2B marketing
Past speakers include:
- Dorothy Milazzo, Former Senior Manager of Integrated Marketing at Code42
- Latané Conant, Chief Market Officer at 6sense
- Juliet Randall, Global Account Based Marketing Strategy at Salesforce
RampUp February 28th – March 1st 📍San Francisco, CA
The RampUp conference focuses on how marketing and technology professionals can work together to shape the future of marketing.
Go if you like:
- Hearing from industry leaders about leveraging data and technology in marketing.
Past speakers include:
- Tia Cummings-Hopkins, SVP, Global Brand Marketing at Square
- Charlotte Tsou, Head of Marketing Analytics and Insights at Prudential Financial
- Mark Risis, VP of Strategy and Global Data Ecosystem at PepsiCo
Growth Marketing Summit June 22nd📍Frankfurt, DE
This conference is great for European marketers who want to learn about scaling sustainably and marketing optimization via a data driven and customer oriented approach. All talks are presented in English. Check it out
Go if you like:
- Learning about real life growth marketing successes and challenges from growth marketers at global companies and startups.
2023 speakers include:
- Marianne Stjernvall, Former Head of Customer Growth and Personalization at Coop Sverige
- Colin McFarland, Experimentation Platform and Core Data Science at Netflix
- Morgan Brown, Sr. Director of Product at Instagram
PI Live April 2nd – 4th 📍Miami, FL October 24th – 25th 📍 London, UK
Calling all Partner Marketers — PI Live is a conference that focuses on performance and partner marketing. Join advertisers, publishers, agencies, and influencers from the retail, travel, finance and other verticals. Check out the Miami conference here. Check out the London conference here.
Go if you like:
- Partner and/or performance marketing
Past speakers include:
- Daniel Baptiste-Pilkington, Director, Shopping Partnerships at PayPal
- Robin
Birrell, Agency Partnerships at TikTok - Kevin Edwards, Global Client Strategy Director at Awin
FinTech
FiNext April 26th – 27th 📍Dubai, UAE
FinTech startups, tech providers, and investors can meet up at FiNext, the conference that focuses on the global financial sector. Check it out.
Go if you like:
- FinTech, finance, and banking.
2023 speakers include:
- Haysam Fahmy, Vice President at MasterCard
- Neeraj Gupta, Chief Executive Officer at Policybaazar UAE
- Danny Abla, Founder at Bankiom
FinTech Nexus USA May 10th – 11th 📍NYC, NY
Grab a New York slice and learn from top internet finance leaders at New York’s LendIt FinTech conference. Check it out.
Go if you like:
- FinTech.
- Concrete jungles where dreams are made.
Past speakers include:
- Eric Adams, Mayor at City of New York City
- Chris Britt, Chief Executive Officer at Chime
- Mike Cagney, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Figure
Ecommerce
eTail February 27th – March 2nd 📍Palm Springs, CA
Over three days, attendees of eTail can network with other eCommerce and retail professionals, including discussion groups and roundtable discussions. Check it out
Go if you like:
- eCommerce and omnichannel retail
Past speakers include:
- Lev Peker, Chief Executive Officer at CarParts.com
- Rich Fulop Founder & Chief Executive Officer at Brooklinen
- Melanie Travis Founder & Chief Executive Officer at Andie
Startups
Startup Grind Global Conference April 11th – 12th 📍San Francisco, CA
Startup Grind Global Conference features 3,000+ startups and scaleups all focused on “building the next big thing”. Check it out
Go if you like:
- Networking with and learning from other folks working for startups and scaleups from the global tech ecosystem.
- Learning about how to scale your startup via hands-on workshops.
Past speakers include:
- Marc Andreesen at Andreessen Horowitz
- Eric Schmidt, Former Chief Executive Officer & Chairman at Google
- Jeff Lawson, Founder & Chief Executive Officer at Twilio
Conferences presented by Big Players
Big players, or “Supernodes” as we call them, are companies so large that they hold influence over an entire sphere of business. Attending conferences put on by these big players are great opportunities to learn from the experts and network with the biggest names in your respective space.
Google Cloud Next Details TBD
The Google Cloud Next conference takes a look at the future opportunities and challenges facing cloud tech. Sessions focus on how to build and maintain applications on the Google Cloud, analyze your data and business insights, and learn about tools used to manage data-driven applications. Check it out
Go if you like:
- Cloud technology.
Past speakers include:
- Thomas Kurian, Chief Executive Officer at Google Cloud
- Sundar Pichai, Chief Executive Officer at Google and Alphabet
- Melonie Parker, Chief Diversity Officer and Employee Engagement at Google
Inbound, presented by Hubspot September 5th – 8th 📍Boston, MA
Forbes called it “A must-attend event for agency owners and marketing professionals”. From marketing automation and CRM company HubSpot comes a conference focused on business trends and conversations with industry leaders about marketing tactics for attendees to implement. Check it out.
Go if you like:
- Marketing, automated marketing, CRM optimization.
Previous speakers include:
- Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States of America
- TJ Adeshola, Head of Global Content Partnerships at Twitter
- Emma Grede, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder at Good American
Dreamforce September 12th – 14th 📍San Francisco, CA
Dreamforce, presented by Salesforce, is a conference for the global Salesforce community to network and learn about the latest innovations in the Salesforce ecosystem. Check it out.
Go if you like:
- Salesforce, including announcements and insight from senior Salesforce executives.
- High profile interviews and musical guests.
Past speakers include:
- Marc Benioff, Chair and Chief Executive Officer at Salesforce
- Anjali Sud, Chief Executive Officer at Vimeo
- Stewart Butterfield, President and Chief Executive Officer at Slack
Microsoft Ignite November 15th – 16th 📍Location TBD
Microsoft Ignite is a conference for developers and tech professionals. Learn from experts, network with peers, and get tactical with hands-on workshops. Check it out.
Go if you like:
- A big-picture look at how to build and scale a tech company
Past speakers include:
- Satya Nadella, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Microsoft
- Alyssa Taylor, CVP, Industry, Apps, and Data Marketing at Microsoft
- Scott Guthrie, Executive Vice President, Cloud and AI at Microsoft
