We are very proud that this year 8 of our team members are selected for the T500. The list of the most talented young professionals in the tech scene under 26. Because of our enlisting, we are invited to The Next Web (TNW) Conference, which will commence tomorrow in Amsterdam. With over 15,000 participants, the event will bring together the digital scene.
However, with 18 tracks of content, talent sessions, workshops, and many side events, there is a lot to choose from. That’s why we decided to list our content suggestions and some tips for visiting the conference for young professionals.
Visit the talent sessions
At the Talent Sessions, you meet with industry experts and leaders in a small table setting. There are some very interesting people you can meet, such as Daniel Gebler (CTO Picnic), Lex Hoefsloot (CEO Lightyear), and many more. Furthermore, at your table, you’ll meet other people who are interested in those topics as well.
Check out these talks
Talk: Cassie Kozyrkov (Google): Decision Intelligence
We expect AI and machine learning to be the most important topics coming year (next to Blockchain). This is an inspirational talk about AI from Google, on how to spot opportunities, avoid threats, and how to use machine learning and AI to improve business.
Talk: Holley Murchison (Founder, Oratory Glory): Become who you are
Explaining who you are and making clear what you can bring to the table is tough, especially when you are just starting on your journey as a young professional. But it is a hugely important skill that you can use your whole life. Based on her book Tell Me About Yourself, Holley Murchison will share advice for sourcing your personal value to craft your narrative and living a brave and outstanding life.
Talk: Alex Le & Chris Slowe (Reddit): Do or Die, how Reddit designs for internet’s most vocal users
Reddit’s popularity has surged to 330 million monthly active users in spite of a UX largely unchanged for a decade. Since users have created, moderated and grown their communities with passion, any redesign is high stakes. In this talk, Reddit’s head of product, Alex Le, will share the process and philosophy of Reddit’s highly-anticipated redesign, reflect on the community’s feedback and offer advice from designing hand-in-hand with arguably the internet’s most vocal, opinionated users.
Talk: David Mattin (Trendwatching): AI and core human needs
We’re at The Next Web because we’re obsessed with new technologies. But great innovation and design starts with core human needs and wants. David Mattin will explain about TrendWatching’s simple but powerful trend spotting methodology, and how it aligns with design thinking principles you already use.
Talk: Lex Hoefsloot (CEO Lightyear): The Successor of the Electric Car
Lightyear is on a mission to develop the world’s first commercial solar car: the successor of the electric car. The company, much referred to as the Dutch Tesla, was founded by alumni of the world champion student team Solar Team Eindhoven. This promises not only to be a talk about the future of electric cars but also about how technology should be used for the good.
Talk: Maykel Loomans (Facebook): Meaningful numbers
Metrics are an important part of digital product development. But how do you make sure you are measuring the right things? This talk covers the interplay between vision, research and metrics, and how to make sure that the numbers you seek to improve are meaningfully aligned with the mission of your team, and the goals of your customers.
Do face-to-face meetings
Patrick de Laive, the founder of TNW, published a post mentioning the importance of face-to-face meetings. People buy from people. Face-to-face meetings are a clever way to get to know other people. Way better than just connecting online.
During the conference, there are many opportunities for face-to-face meetings.
1. Meet people during the Talent Sessions
2. Use the networking functions of the official TNW app to connect to related people
3. Join the Young Creators whatsapp groups and Facebook communities to meet up with fellow young professionals visiting the conference
Visit the parties — for your network
Networking doesn’t stop with the last talk that day. Besides the conference, there are a lot of side events. These events are a perfect opportunity to meet other interesting people from the tech scene. Make sure to check them out.
At the after-parties, the setting is different from the conference. While enjoying a drink and some good music, you might step into interesting CEO’s, speakers, and thought leaders visiting the conference. This can be very great for your network and perhaps you will end up with very useful relations.
