As a product leader, you know just how quickly the product management space changes. New ideas and innovative strategies are always on the horizon, but it’s up to you to bring these fresh insights back to your team. Short of reading industry news on a regular basis, product management conferences are the best way to stay on top of what’s hot (and what’s not) in product management.
Product management conferences are professional gatherings designed for folks involved in product development. The product development space continues to grow, and the demand for product management is sky-high.
Whether you’re leading a startup or you’re a seasoned leader at a big corporation, attending conferences will give your team a wealth of knowledge and a platform to exchange ideas with industry experts. 💡
In this guide, we’ll break down the value of attending product conferences—you know, just in case you need to justify it to the higher-ups.
We’ll also list the top product conferences of 2024 and recommend some helpful tools and techniques for everything from conference management to attendance tracking.
6 Best Product Management Conferences to Attend in 2024
Summarize this article for me pleaseThe Value of Product Conferences
Product development and management just can’t happen in a vacuum. They thrive on innovation, which requires connecting with other professionals in your field. Conferences give product professionals the chance to hone their craft and deliver more value. And who doesn’t want to be better at their job?
Product conferences also allow you and your team to:
- Learn about the latest trends and product strategies from industry leaders
- Engage in case studies and discussions about user experience, product design, and roadmap planning
- Network with product teams, UX designers, chief product officers, and co-founders from major companies like Amazon, Uber, LinkedIn, and Slack
- Gain insights from keynote speakers to design better products for your customers
You just can’t mimic the experience of connecting with other professionals one-on-one. It’s good to read industry publications and sign up for continuing education, but when you need to educate and inspire your team, product management conferences are where it’s at.
Summarize this article for me please6 Product Conferences to Attend in 2024
Attending large conferences gives your team more opportunities to network and learn about cool, new stuff in the product space. Don’t overlook these major product management conferences while laying out your 2024 conference season.
1. ProductCon
- Date: May 29, 2024
- Location: New York City
- Pricing: Free
ProductCon is the brainchild of Product School, an online certification and training hub. This is the largest product management conference in the world, attracting well over 100,000 attendees every year. Oh, and did we mention tickets are always free? 🙌
ProductCon happens four times a year, so if you missed the last session, don’t sweat it. They have various events across the USA and Europe in 2024, including:
- London: February 20, 2024
- New York: May 29, 2024
- Online: August 2024
- San Francisco: October 16, 2024
2. The Product Conference
- Date: September 23-25, 2024
- Location: Cleveland, Ohio
- Pricing: $845-$2,245
The Product Collective hosts “Industry: The Product Conference” every year for software product managers across the globe. The 2024 lineup features over 30 sessions, roundtable discussions, Q&A sessions, and (of course) a product expo. They host four events throughout the year, including:
- New York City: April 18, 2024
- EMEA: June 17-19, 2024
- Global (Cleveland, Ohio): September 23-25, 2024
- Virtual: October 17, 2024
The virtual conference has the most attendees, but the Cleveland event is the most buzz-worthy in-person option that attracts a global community of product pros.
Upgraded tickets get access to exclusive half-day workshops and cohort-based training. That’s a steep price at well over $1,500 per upgraded ticket, but attendees consistently rave about the quality of this product management conference.
3. ProductWorld
- Date: February 21-29, 2024
- Location: San Francisco, California (and online)
- Pricing: $100-$1,590
ProductWorld offers an impressive variety of sessions on:
- Interview best practices
- Team roles
- Product development lifecycle
- UI design
- New software and technologies
Choose conference tracks on case studies, methodologies, software and innovation, product teams, and product manager roundtables. The event includes in-person workshops from February 21-23, an online hackathon from February 5-23, and live online events from February 27-29.
4. Product-Led Summit
- Date: February 13-14, 2024
- Location: Austin, TX
- Pricing: $999-$1,999
Hear from pros at Upwork, Indeed, Keller Williams Realty, GoodRx, and Walgreens at the Product-Led Summit this year. The two-day product management conference will focus on topics like AI, customer experience, and data-driven growth. All tickets come with access to sessions, networking events, food, on-demand recordings, and the exhibition floor. If you upgrade to the PLA Pro+ Subscription, you also get access to certification frameworks, a mentorship program, exclusive content, and live streams.
5. Chief Product Officer Summit
- Date: March 20, 2024
- Location: New York City
- Pricing: Free-$1,999
The Chief Product Officer Summit is admittedly pretty small, with an average of 80 attendees each year, but its specialized content makes it a fit for upper management. This year, the conference includes sessions on productivity, generative AI, and culture-building.
If you can’t make it to the NYC event, they also have other events around the globe in 2024, including:
- Amsterdam: May 15, 2024
- San Francisco: September 4, 2024
- London: November 20, 2024
6. ProductCamp
- Date: TBD
- Location: Austin, Texas
- Pricing: Free
ProductCamp bills itself as an “unconference” that’s less structured than other events, but it’s still one of the best product management conferences of the year. All attendees vote on which sessions they want to see—in fact, you won’t know which sessions are happening until the day of! ProductCamp 2024 is still in the planning stages, so stay tuned for this year’s conference.
Summarize this article for me pleaseTips for Organizing and Attending a Product Conference for Your Team
As you can see, there are plenty of product management conferences for your team in 2024. But we get that finding a conference is just half of the equation: You also need to get tangible value out of attending a conference. Follow these tips to plan a value-packed 2024 conference season for your team.
Think about location and timing
Does it make sense to send all product team members to conferences throughout 2024? Probably not. After all, your team would be on the road constantly, and that’s a recipe for low morale and tricky project scheduling. If you’re short on time or funds, assign a few representatives on your team to go to the conference and report back with their findings. 🕵️
It’s also important to consider geographical constraints. If you’re in, say, Florida, it probably makes more sense to attend a conference in the USA over one in Asia or Europe because of the travel logistics alone.
Prioritize networking opportunities
Knowledge is power, but the big benefit of attending in-person product management conferences is connecting with other professionals. Look for conferences with a lot of attendees across different disciplines, including UX designers, product leaders, and more.
Streamline conference attendance with ClickUp
Attending a conference with your team requires a tricky balance of logistics, and it’s easy to overlook something in the chaos of pulling off a team trip. If you’re planning to attend a conference with your team, use a planning tool like ClickUp to get your ducks in a row. 🦆
Product teams rely on ClickUp for:
- Conference management: Track tasks, attendees, and pretty much every aspect of the conference in one place with the ClickUp Conference Management template. The template gives you a quick view of all moving parts and centralizes all conference details—no more digging for information
- Assigning tasks: Use ClickUp to assign pre-conference tasks to team members. This can include researching keynote speakers, planning meet-ups with product professionals, or preparing questions for roundtable discussions
- Scheduling: ClickUp Calendar view gives you an overview of the conference schedule in a single view. Input key sessions, workshops, and networking events to ensure your team knows where to be and when
- Note-taking: With ClickUp Docs, team members can take notes during sessions and share them with the team. This is particularly useful for capturing insights from case studies or product strategy sessions
- Time tracking: For sessions with simultaneous tracks, use ClickUp’s time tracking feature to manage how long each team member spends in different sessions. This can help in evaluating the most beneficial aspects of the conference
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. ClickUp also manages your conference attendance, daily to-dos, Whiteboard brainstorming sessions, customer data, bug tracking, and much more. Our product management templates alone will get your head spinning.
Sign up for skill-building sessions and workshops
Most conferences offer some kind of upgrade for workshops or networking opportunities. Whether it’s a half-day seminar or a hands-on mentoring experience, you’ll get more value out of a product management conference if you sign up for one that includes deep learning.
Sure, you can sign your team up for a virtual training session, but there’s no replacement for in-person training at a conference. The right workshop will boost your team’s product management skills in just a few hours, giving you even more ROI.
Test-drive different tools at the expo hall
Not everyone is crazy about the exhibit hall, but it’s actually a great opportunity to test-drive the latest product management tools. You might have to hear a few sales spiels, but if the products save you hassle and time, your trip to the expo hall was well worth it. Be on the lookout for innovations in product marketing software and other SaaS tools to make your life a lot easier.
Track your metrics
The higher-ups at your company likely want to see a return on investment, especially for pricey conference tickets. Plus, you need to know whether your team actually got anything out of the conference.
Track your product management KPIs and metrics before and after conference attendance. Attending product management conferences certainly isn’t a silver bullet, but it can move the needle for improving important metrics like:
- Retention rate
- Conversion rates
- Customer acquisition cost (CAC)
- Defects and detection effectiveness
- Support tickets
- Recurring revenue
You get the idea. The premise is that regularly attending these conferences should keep your team on their A-game so they better serve your business and customers. If that isn’t happening, it doesn’t mean you need to cancel future conferences. It’s simply an invitation to look more deeply at the data to pinpoint what, if anything, needs to change.
Summarize this article for me pleasePowering Product People With ClickUp
Attending a product management conference is a transformative experience for any product professional. From boosting your product strategy knowledge to networking with industry pros, these conferences are a treasure trove of professional growth.
The only downside is that conference attendance requires a lot of planning. From flights to tickets to workload balancing, there’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes to pull off a conference. Get your team on the same page with ClickUp. Our all-in-one platform is perfect for managing conference attendance, your day-to-day work, and all of your big ideas in one place.
You don’t have to take our word for it, either. Create your free ClickUp Workspace now to streamline your next product management conference.
Summarize this article for me pleaseFAQ
1. How long do product conferences last?
Product conferences typically last between one and three days. Larger conferences with multiple tracks or workshops might last five or even seven days.
2. What is the purpose of a conference?
The goal of a conference is to bring professionals together to share knowledge, chat about new trends, and network. These events are platforms for learning and professional development, as well as a much-needed source of inspiration in a fast-paced space like product development.
3. What is the meaning and importance of conferences?
It’s tough making the time to attend a conference, but it’s a great way to foster a culture of continuous growth and improvement. Conferences are a melting pot of ideas where professionals can learn from others—and even make a name for themselves as presenters.
4. What is the purpose of a product conference?
Product conferences are specifically geared toward professionals in product management and product development. Each conference is different, but most events focus on topics like:
- Product strategy
- Real-world case studies
- Roadmapping
- User experience
The end goal of a product conference is to give your team insight into new trends, tools, and techniques to build better products for your customers.
5. Are product conferences worth it?
Most people consider product management conferences worth the investment. Of course, it depends on your team, goals, budget, and the conference itself. Conferences are what you make of them, which is why it’s so important to get your ducks in a row with a solution like ClickUp before the conference starts.
Everything you need to stay organized and get work done.
