There are a ton of events out there that cater to digital professionals -- in fact, we share a guide to the top 100+ upcoming social media and tech events each week.
Here, though, you'll find a list of conferences, meetups and organizations perfect for social media marketers and strategists. Add your own favorites in the comments.
Conferences
There are many digital and social media conferences for those hoping to meet and learn from others in their industry. This list of conferences should keep any digital maven busy for quite some time.
Social Media Week: Taking place in multiple cities around the world, Social Media Week is a biannual conference held in February and September. Hosted by local social media and digital gurus in each city, the conferences are distributed, with events taking place all over each city. It features top notch speakers and attendees and offers events of all types that revolve around emerging media, mobile and digital culture.
Internet Week: Internet Week takes place annually in June in New York City. Web-focused events are crowdsourced, so anyone can organize an event and register to have it placed on the official schedule.
Le Web: Known as the number one European Internet event, Le Web takes place each December in Paris. Bringing together 2,500 entrepreneurs, investors and bloggers, the conference focuses on key opportunities and issues in the web marketplace.
SXSW Interactive: Every March, SXSW attendees swarm Austin for the best in music, film and interactive media. The interactive arm of the conference is marked by presentations, networking events and a trade show all centered around emerging technology. The all stars of social media are always in attendance, so grab your lanyard and get your planning on! If you're headed to Austin this year, check out the Mashable SXSWi House 2011.
Web 2.0 Summit: Set in San Francisco and featuring a program star-studded with industry leaders and global executives, Web 2.0 Summit offers up debate and conversation on the latest trends on the web.
BlogWell: BlogWell is a conference that presents "eight great case studies on the best social media programs at large corporations." In the past, events have taken place in Philadelphia, Chicago and Seattle among others. Upcoming events will be held in Austin, New York and Washington, D.C.
BlogWorld: The BlogWorld & New Media Expo is attended by those in the blogging, podcasting, broadcasting and Internet TV and radio industries. Throughout the conference, participants are educated on "the strategies, tools and technologies they need to stake their claim in the blogosphere."
BlogHer: BlogHer currently features three conferences for women bloggers, including one broad conference, covering many topics, and two focused conferences -- one on food blogging and another on business, entrepreneurism and technology.
Social Media World Forum: Featuring three branches in Asia, Europe and North America, the Social Media World Forum covers all things social, including branding, location-based technologies, social shopping, B2B, social CRM, social gaming and more.
iStrategy Conference: This digital media conference takes place in Asia, Australia, Europe and North America and spans all areas of digital marketing, including social media, SEO/SEM, mobile, WOM, affiliate, e-mail and display. Ideal for those from the marketing and advertising world, this conference features presentations from global CEOs, CMOs and "digital legends."
Startup Weekend: Startup Weekend is described as a "54-hour event where developers, coders, designers, marketers, product managers and startup enthusiasts come together to share ideas, form teams, build products, and create startups." Startup Weekend events happen all over the world; this year, the organization plans to organize 150 events.
ad:tech: This event attracts advertising and marketing managers and executives at all levels. Topics span all things digital, but with a focus on marketing and advertising.
Pivot Conference: Each year, Pivot Conference caters to brand marketers and focuses on uncovering the attitudes and motives of a certain demographic of consumers. In 2010, it focused on 18-34-year-old consumers, and this year it sets its agenda based on social consumers, "the emerging dominant force in branding and buying."
Meetups
While you can learn a lot from attending conferences, the low frequency of these annual or biannual events can only take you so far as a practicing social media strategist. That's where monthly or weekly meetups come in handy. The following meetups are suited to digital entrepreneurs of many types, but all bring value to the social media expert.
Community Managers Meetup: Bringing together New York's finest social media and community managers, the #CMMeetup is a highly engaged and interesting bunch. This meetup is perfect for those hoping to glean insight from some of the best social media experts around.
NY Tech Meetup: On the first Tuesday each month, a group of entrepreneurs, hackers, investors and Internet peeps meet to take a look at the newest and coolest technologies. Famous for its five-minute startup demos, the meetup is a great place for burgeoning startups to introduce their latest projects and for industry insiders to get a glance at the future of the web and mobile.
SF New Tech Meetup: Set in tech- and entrepreneur-focused San Francisco, SF New Tech holds the title of being "the Bay Area's largest and longest running monthly tech event." Much like NY Tech Meetup, this monthly get-together focuses on the latest in tech and is a great place to meet entrepreneurs.
GitHub Meetups: Keep an eye on GitHub's blog for its monthly San Francisco meetups that bring together developers and entrepreneurs. The community has appropriately deemed them "drinkups," though, given that they usually take place at bars. These meetups are a great place for social media strategists looking to learn more about the latest technologies.
Hackers and Founders: Based in the Silicon Valley/San Francisco Bay Area, Hackers and Founders brings together entrepreneurs and developers to learn from each other's experiences and even join forces to solve problems. Hackers and Founders also has a New York chapter that meets monthly.
Startup2Startup: This monthly dinner brings together "Silicon Valley geeks, entrepreneurs, & investors dedicated to educating and helping the next generation of internet startup" to discuss the latest in technology and entrepreneurship.
SF Beta: As San Francisco's largest monthly startup mixer, SF Beta is a place to meet and be social with today's brightest minds in technology, but it's also a place to do business, if you so please.
Austin Tech Happy Hour: The emerging technology community in Austin chills out at this monthly happy hour. Ten bucks at the door gets you two drinks and a night's worth of geeky discussion.
Mashable Meetups: Mashable Meetups are community-organized events that focus on social, digital and technology topics. Attending a Mashable Meetup is a great way to network with locals in your field, and organizing a Mashable Meetup is a great way to foster a community within your industry. Learn more on how to organize a Mashable Meetup in your community.
Organizations
If you're looking to make a bigger commitment to your social media training and networking and conferences and meetups don't seem like enough to keep you busy, joining an organization focused on ongoing development may be a great choice. Social Media Club and WOMMA are two well-respected associations worth considering.
Social Media Club: With 200+ chapters spanning six of the seven continents (What? No social media enthusiasts in Antarctica?), Social Media Club's mission is "to promote media literacy, promote standard technologies, encourage ethical behavior and share best practices." While the organization tends to focus on social media as it applies to journalism, publishing and communications, it is open to all social media professionals. With a tagline of "If you get it, share it," the club exists as a result of its members' dedication to sharing their knowledge and understanding of social media.
WOMMA: The Word of Mouth Marketing Association is open to businesses hoping to learn more about best practices, regulations and opportunities within digital media. WOMMA members join as brands or industry partners (not individuals), and membership fees range from $1,000 to $10,000, depending on the benefits included.
Your Picks
This list covers some of the top conferences, meetups and organizations for those in the social media industry. Let us know in the comments below which ones you recommend.
Series Supported by StrongMail
The Social Media Strategist Series is supported by StrongMail, which helps marketers forge meaningful, profitable and long-lasting connections with customers through e-mail marketing and social media. Its unique combination of technology and services offer distinct advantages, including easy access to customer data, low cost of ownership and groundbreaking strategic and creative services.
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, francisblack
More Business Resources from Mashable:
- The Future of the Social Media Strategist
- 7 Tips for Succeeding as a Social Media Strategist
- HOW TO: Define the Role of Your Social Media Team
- 5 Proven Strategies for B2B Social Media Marketing
- Social Media Marketing: 5 Lessons From Business Leaders Who Get It