Top Mobile App Conferences to Attend in 2017

Nothing is a substitute for being to a conference in person, to learn new things from people who are experienced.

Physically attending a single subject conference allows you to surround yourself with this one topic -- and to focus your attention on this piece of your product management. It’s wholly unlike sitting at your desk, to participate in a virtual learning experience.

There are many reasons why attending a conference in person is a different experience from a skype or a virtual participation. One vital reason being because your brain must shift to adapt to new surroundings. You’re literally connecting your neurons in a different way.

At these mobile app conferences, you’ll find experts in the field who are on the cutting edge of app development and marketing. What’s more, you’ll have the chance to learn directly from these experts and to spend time working on your ideas. It’s a chance to transform your business, an investment in the future of your company. After the conference is at its end, it will remain an experience that stays with you in a different way and will provide you with continued inspiration.

Here are four top mobile app conferences to attend in 2017.

Mobile Shopping - The Event for Mobile Innovators

Date: October 24-26

Location: Rancho Mirage, CA

This conference is one of the oldest mobile technology gatherings in the country, going back a decade to the first Mobile Shopping event in 2007. An event for senior mCommerce and eCommerce professionals, Mobile Shopping boasts an impressive breadth of industries that includes everything from travel to apparel to sporting goods.

The focus of this conference is refreshingly not on vendors. In fact, there are more industry executives participating in the event than there are salespeople on the vendor floor. This isn’t a place to get pitched, it’s a place to develop your own solutions. The interactive and networking sessions are invaluable, with an agenda that focuses on allowing you to develop ideas that can be implemented immediately when you get back to your home office.

Just a few of the keynote speakers at this year’s event include Aki Iida, head of mobile for Zappos. Rob Anderson, Director of Guest Experience and Mobile Product for Target and Kunal Banerjee, Director of Digital Store Operations for Walmart.com. With that kind of power lineup, Mobile Shopping is a perfect way to inspire you to take your mobile to the next level.

Mobile X Festival

Dates: May 10-11

Location: Atlanta, GA

Billing itself as an “un-conference,” Mobile X  focuses on hands-on experiences for attendees. Master Classes this year include topics like lead generation, multi-channel marketing, sales growth tactics, tracking and measurement, mobile advertising campaigns, and much more.

Day two is all about moving beyond breakout sessions, instead focusing on think tank experiences and roundtable discussions that are a refreshing change of pace from other events of this kind. This is really the core of the Mobile X experience, as it offers the chance for attendees to become active creators. The Mobile Accelerator event aims to foster lightning fast development of specific ideas, with the input of experts in the field.

The tone of Mobile X is relaxed and fun, but it’s also serious about business. Attendees have the chance to interact with leaders from Google, AOL, Kimberly-Clark, CNN and more. In addition, faculty from Emory University and Georgia Tech are on-hand to offer guidance in think tank sessions.

Mobile X is the perfect conference for people interested in next generation development of their mobile tech ideas.

Mobile World Congress

Date: February 27- March 2

Location: Barcelona, Spain

A truly global experience, the Mobile World Congress brings together innovators in mobile app development from all over the world. If you are in search of a conference experience that will push you to new ways of thinking, this is the place for you.

With pavilions and interactive experiences, the Mobile World Congress is more akin to a World’s Fair than it is to the other events on this list. The latest mobile innovations will be on display, with chances for attendees to get first-hand interaction with the top new technologies that will affect the mobile market in the coming years.

There’s a wider vision for this conference, which includes components of environmentalism and humanitarianism. There’s a free educational event for teens called YoMo (Youth Mobile Festival), unique educational opportunities through Mobile Explorers for the children of attendees, and the Women4Tech  program to promote the voice of women in the world of mobile tech. Keynote speakers are heavy hitting and include the CEOs of Nokia, Turner, Niantic, Netflix, and more.  

Note that the event in Barcelona is only one of the Mobile World Congress events in 2017. Hosted by GSMA, there are additional events in Shanghai in the summer, the Hague in May, and San Francisco in September.    

Mobile + Web Devcon

Dates: March 1-3

Location: San Francisco

The name of the game at Mobile +Web Devcon is development. This conference specifically targets web developers who are working to create innovative mobile technology.

Focused on the technical aspects of mobile and web development, look for breakout sessions about testing and debugging, UI, optimization for profit, and more. Day 2 offers three tracks – iOS, Android, and IoT. This model allows attendees to garner a fuller understanding of the nitty gritty of platforms. Focuses on Day 3 include Web Development, UX, and cross-platform development.

The lineup of project leaders at Mobile +Web Devcon is impressive and speaks to the level of quality that this conference provides for those in attendance. Sessions are led by leaders from Google, Pinterest, IBM, GE Digital, Amazon, Yelp, Trulia and more. The layout of sessions makes sense for learning and development and has been structured to allow you to get the most out of the three days of the conference.

Aside from the session, there are plenty of networking opportunities that will allow you to forge connections that can follow you home.

This hands-on conference is a place to find focus and to work on specific aspects of mobile technology, which is where the best opportunities for growth exist.

Attending a conference is an amazing way to dig deeper into your understanding of mobile apps. This is a complex topic, with constant innovation. All four of these conferences include leaders in the tech world that can offer their expertise to help you develop your own business. As wonderful as technology is, there hasn’t yet been an invention that replaces the power of a handshake or an in person conversation.