by Sujan Patel
Republished from Inc, January 6, 2018
Attending a conference isn’t cheap, but don’t let cost cause you to miss out on their many benefits. Not only can you distill months of learning into just a few days – dramatically improving your sales and marketing strategies in the process – you’re also able to make connections with everyone from fellow attendees to world-class leaders.
If you’re planning your conference calendar for 2018, make sure you give the following events a look.
Digital Sales World
- Dates: February 1, 2018; September 6, 2018; November 13, 2018
- Locations: San Francisco, CA; Boston, MA; Dublin, Ireland
- Website: aa-isp.com/digital-sales-world
What you’ll learn: According to the Global Inside Sales Association, sales has changed. Making a difference in this new era of digital selling requires an understanding of the way every sales role is connected, as well as the know-how required to engage customers and prospects virtually through email, video, text, web and a variety of social networks.
Who should attend: The event claims to be appropriate for inside sales reps at all levels.
Who will be speaking: Per the conference’s website, speakers will include leaders from companies such as Oracle, Microsoft, Vengreso, Gong.io, WOMEN Sales Pros, ExecVision, University of Houston, IBM, and many more.
Revenue Summit
- Dates: March 1, 2018
- Location: San Francisco, CA
- Website: therevenuesummit.com
What you’ll learn: Revenue Summit describes itself as the leading conference for B2B sales and marketers. It focuses on building and optimizing revenue operations in your organization through sales and marketing alignment, account-based sales and marketing best practices, and the latest technologies that will enable you to run these programs at scale.
Who should attend: Those involved in B2B sales and marketing, as Revenue Summit describes itself as the only B2B conference focused on alignment between these two disciplines. The agenda includes topics on both inbound and outbound processes, as well as leadership driven sessions and keynotes.
Who will be speaking: Godard Abel, Executive Chairman of G2Crowd; Lesley Young, SVP of Global & Commercial Online Sales at Box; Jacco van der Kooij, Founder of Winning By Design; Eric Siu, CEO of Single Grain; and Jennifer Brandenburg, VP of Inside Sales at GE Digital.
Sales 3.0 Conference
- Dates: March 12-13, 2018; June 19, 2018; October 25-26, 2018
- Locations: San Francisco, CA; Philadelphia, PA; Las Vegas, NV
- Website: sales30conf.com
What you’ll learn: According to conference organizers, the Sales 3.0 Conference offers insight, strategies, and practical solutions to keep its audience competitive and profitable in a digital, tech-driven era.
Who should attend: The conference estimates attendance of 200-400 B2B sales leaders.
Who will be speaking: Though specific names have not been released, the conference claims speakers will reflect a unique mix of thought leaders, powerhouse motivators, analysts, and successful sales leaders.
Sandler Annual Sales & Leadership Summit
- Dates: March 14-16, 2018
- Location: Orlando, FL
- Website: sandler.com
What you’ll learn: The 2018 Sandler Annual Sales & Leadership Summit describes itself as a one-stop shop for sales and management training. Sales professionals have the opportunity to hear best practices and trends in the industry from top trainers from around the world, as well as participate in sales, management, and advanced strategies sessions.
Who should attend: Sales professionals who are interested in having the opportunity to collaborate and engage with like-minded professionals, and walk away with strategies that they can apply in the real world.
Who will be speaking: To be announced.
Leadership Summit 2018
- Dates: April 3-5, 2018
- Location: Chicago, IL
- Website: aa-isp.org/leadership-summit-2018
What you’ll learn: Going into its 10th year, the Leadership Summit provides a three-day learning, sharing, and networking experience for sales profession leaders. The event boasts over 60 sessions to choose from, allowing leaders to personalize their learning experience.
Who should attend: Anyone interested in sales leadership is welcome, though the event’s description notes that, for the first time, the AA-ISP Leadership Summit will include a full track for Aspiring Leaders, as well as a separate track for Enterprise Sales Leaders.
Who will be speaking: Speakers for 2018 are still TBA. The 2017 event featured over 100 speakers from 90+ leading sales organizations.
Sales Management Association Sales Force Productivity Conference
- Dates: October 15-17, 2018
- Location: Atlanta, GA
- Website: salesmanagementconference.com
What you’ll learn: In particular, the Sales Management Association’s annual Sales Force Productivity Conference highlights emerging trends, leading practices, and the latest research impacting sales management, sales operations, sales enablement, and other functions engaged in supporting, managing, developing, or leading sales organizations.
Who should attend: According to the event’s information, attendees are senior leaders in sales management and sales effectiveness functions.
Who will be speaking: Though speakers haven’t yet been announced, 2017’s conference included speakers from 3M, The Coca-Cola Company, Google, Gulfstream, Manheim, Microsoft, Nuveen, Oracle, Siemens, Thomson Reuters, and Xerox.
The Global Inside Sales Association’s Executive Retreat
- Dates: October 17-19, 2018
- Location: San Diego, CA
- Website: aa-isp.org/retreat18
What you’ll learn: According to the Global Inside Sales Association, the Executive Retreat is a strategic gathering for inside sales leaders.
Who should attend: Limited to 60 attendees, interested participants should be sales practitioners who are willing to come together to tackle the challenges facing the profession, as well as address its future.
Who will be speaking: Again, speakers for the 2018 event are TBA. Per the group, the 2017 event featured over 100 speakers from 90+ leading sales organizations.