When you’re just starting out as a small business owner you may feel as though you’re going it alone. Yes, there are many online resources you can utilize to keep up with the latest news, trends, and ideas, including blogs, Twitter, and LinkedIn and Facebook groups. However, attending a conference geared toward small business owners is much more valuable. After all, you can collaborate with like-minded individuals who are going through similar experiences, learn about new ideas and trends firsthand from industry experts, acquire new skills, and perhaps most important, network and nurture professional relationships. With that in mind, here are 6 of the top conferences small business owners should consider attending:
Small Business Expo
This multicity conference, held in 18 cities, is the largest business-to-business trade show and networking event for small business owners in the United States. Not only was it ranked the #1 conference for small business owners by INTUIT, it’s also free to attend. The one-day small business conference is a fantastic venue to network with other small business owners and industry experts, it offers more than 25 business-critical workshops, and hundreds of vendors are on hand to share their products and services.
America’s Small Business Summit
Hosted annually by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, DC, this four-day small business conference provides small business owners insight into how economic trends and public-sector policies can affect their businesses. It emphasizes teaching small business owners about tactics, strategies, and practical skills they can use back on the job. It’s also a great place to network, as more than 900 business owners and chamber executives attend the conference each year.
WBENC National Conference and Business Fair
The Women’s Business Enterprise National Conference is a three-day event geared toward female business owners and entrepreneurs. The conference features lectures and presentations from some of the nation’s top influencers, including senior executives and leaders from Fortune 500 companies and government. In addition, there are one-on-one matchmaker sessions in which attendees are paired with business or government leaders. You won’t want to miss the business fair that includes 350 exhibitors.
America’s Small Business Development Center Conference
The SBDC is a network of service centers that provide free business consulting and low-cost training to its small business owner and entrepreneur members, on topics such as writing a business plan, marketing, and accessing capital. The association’s annual five-day small business conference attracts more than 1,300 attendees and features over 140 workshops. It’s a fantastic opportunity for small business owners to network and learn from administrators, consultants, and managers who lead professional-development seminars and workshops.
Pubcon
Although Pubcon is not specifically for small business owners, it can help teach them everything they need to know about digitally marketing their businesses. Tabbed by Forbes as a must-attend conference and by Inc. as the top conference for growing your business, the four-day conference earned the coveted title from marketers as the #1 marketing conference in the world. The conference features leading content creation, SEO, and social media experts from some of the world’s top businesses and start-ups. It offers advanced educational sessions for both marketing and web specialists in a wide variety of topics.
Business Innovation Factory Summit
This unique two-day small business conference is all about storytelling and was created to “help leaders design and test new business models and social systems.” More than 30 guest speakers from a variety of industries and sectors share their struggles and successes, their creative processes, and where they are headed in the coming years. The conference attracts more than 500 small business owners who can draw inspiration and motivation from speakers who have walked in their shoes.
If you do plan on attending any of these small business conferences (or even if you have others in mind) we can help with all of your conference or trade show needs.
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