Calendar of social media, tech & marketing events: March 2014

Sloane Berrent, Shira Lazar, Heather Meeker, Heather Schlegel and others at SXSW 2009 (Photo by JD Lasica).

Guide to the month’s best conferences & events

Conference season is picking up! Among notable events on tap: South by Southwest, of course, but also TED, Search Marketing Expo – SMX West, eMetrics Marketing Optimization Summit, Social Media World Forum, the Dent conference, Social Media Marketing World and Macworld Expo. I’ll be speaking at Social Media & Mobile Strategies for Travel in San Francisco in two weeks.

If you can’t attend an event in person, find out the hashtag and follow the goings-on on Twitter.

For the full year, see our full Calendar of 2014 social media, tech and marketing conferences. Let us know if we’ve missed anything in the comments. And drop me a line if you’ll be in the neighborhood!

Conference	Date	Place
Local Online Advertising Conference	March 3-4	New York
At the Local Online Advertising Conference, join the largest gathering of local online media executives and learn which companies are seizing the greatest share in their market and network with industry leaders.
Media Summit	March 4-5	New York
Media Summit brings together an international set of speakers tackling the latest in media, advertising, television, broadband, social media, mobile, cable and satellite, publishing, radio, magazines, news media, motion pictures and marketing.
Sentiment Analysis Symposium	March 5-6	New York
The Sentiment Analysis Symposium will be the seventh instance of this business-focused conference, the only conference that will teach you about technology and solutions that help you discover business value in opinions, emotions and attitudes in social media, news and enterprise feedback.
DML2014 Connecting Practices	March 6-8	Boston
The DML2014 Connecting Practices calls on all of us to build shared agendas and goals, to reach across the boundaries that separate our disciplines, fields, institutions, and sectors to reimagine the where, when, and how of educational practice.
SXSW	March 7-16	Austin, Texas
The South by Southwest Conferences & Festivals offer the unique convergence of original music, independent films and emerging technologies. Fostering creative and professional growth alike, SXSW brings together innovative thought leaders and different crowds to its three events.
CeBIT Global Conferences	March 10-14	Hannover, Germany
CeBIT Global Conferences 2014 offer fresh perspectives on the core markets of IT, telecommunications, digital media and consumer electronics. One such perspective will be presented in a session by Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, sure to be a major highlight.
Search Marketing Expo – SMX West	March 11-13	San Jose, Calif.
Search Marketing Expo – SMX West returns to San Jose with actionable tactics and high-level networking for digital marketers. SMX West has programming to fit your needs, whether you work at an agency or in-house and whether you’re a search marketing veteran or just learning the ropes.
American Society for Public Administration	March 14-18	Washington, DC
The American Society for Public Administration is the largest, most prominent professional association for public administration. It is dedicated to advancing the art, science, teaching and practice of public and nonprofit administration.
MX2014: Managing Experience	March 16-17	San Francisco
If you’re managing and leading the delivery of great experiences, MX2014: Managing Experience is your conference. Hear honest talk and real-world examples about what works (and what doesn’t) from the people in the trenches. Discover new approaches that can help lead your organization into the future.
NAA mediaXchange	March 16-19	Denver
TheNAA mediaXchange is the largest annual gathering of industry executives in North America, offering unprecedented networking opportunities that combine an exchange of information and ideas with programming designed to generate results. The conference is designed to provide valuable ideas and insights to help newspaper professionals grow audience and revenue for their print and digital products.
eMetrics Marketing Optimization Summit	March 16-20	San Francisco
The eMetrics Marketing Optimization Summit is “Big Data for Marketing.” From early adopters leading the effort to those still in discovery mode, this is the only comprehensive event dedicated to digital analytics and marketing optimization. As the leading conference covering the impact of data & technology on marketing, eMetrics Summit focuses on driving business results through data analysis and technology adoption.
Predictive Analytics World	March 16-21	SF & elsewhere
Predictive Analytics World, focuses on the promise of big data, kicks off in San Francisco; here’s a look at the agenda. Other events take place in Toronto (May 12-15), Chicago (June 16-19), London (Oct. 23-24) and Berlin (Nov. 4-5).
Social Media & Mobile Strategies for Travel	March 17-18	San Francisco
Social Media & Mobile Strategies for Travel is the leading strategic and networking forum for senior online travel, tourism and Hospitality executives working in the areas of social media and mobile. The summit will bring together leading global hotels, casinos, airlines, online travel agencies, cruises, destinations and more from North America and beyond for two days of best-practice strategies, cutting-edge trends and vigorous debate – as well as powerful networking with an unrivaled industry elite.
Loyalty Expo	March 17-19	Orlando, Fla.
By attending Loyalty Expo, you’ll have the opportunity to network with hundreds of your fellow marketers and hear how they are reaching their customer relationship-building goals. Market leaders will be sharing their experiences and insights on customer retention strategies and trends.
Conversion Conference	March 17-19	San Francisco
When you convert more traffic into clicks, inquiries and paying customers, your sales, revenues and profits go up – even without increasing website traffic. Now you can learn, grow and profit from the secrets of the highest converting websites in the world by attending Conversion Conference 2014.
Enterprise Connect	March 17-20	Orlando, Fla.
Enterprise Connect provides the comprehensive analysis and in-depth sessions you need, covering Unified Communications, Mobility, SIP Trunking, Cloud, Video, Collaboration, WebRTC and more.
TED	March 17-21	Vancouver, Canada
2014 marks TED’s 30th anniversary. At  TED2014, the goal is to review and understand what are truly the most significant developments of the last 30 years – and applying that knowledge to understand what’s ahead. The organizers are challenging the world’s greatest minds to help shape a memorable program in a custom theater designed for talk.
TEDActive	March 17-21	Whistler, Canada
While TED takes place in its new venue in Vancouver, TEDActive2014 celebrates its engaged and connected  community, with projects, skill-sharing and amazing conversations. Come to Whistler to be part of “The Next Chapter.”
Social Media World Forum	March 18-19	London
Social Media World Forum brings together marketers, digital brand managers, agencies and social tools and platforms. The event is a showcase of best practice in social media marketing strategies. #SMWF events bring together the worldwide social media community to debate hot topics and get right into the nitty-gritty of the industry’s current issues. Walk away having built valuable new connections and become equipped to implement innovative social media strategies for your brand and clients. SMWF Europe will be held in London on March 18-19. Watch for the next event SMWF New York in May 2014
iStrategy	March 18-19	London
iStrategy is an inspirational two-day conference that looks at modern marketing through a digital lens. The conference showcases the best speakers, the sharpest ideas and the most innovative technologies – all aimed at helping attendees make social, mobile and other digital technologies work for their business.
TV Connect	March 18-20	London
TV Connect brings together leading service providers from across the globe to meet, network and discuss the future of connected TV entertainment. As the industry’s convergence continues TV Connect reflects this with an agenda that brings together leading OTT players, telcos, cable companies, broadcasters, content providers and solution providers to speak on the evolution of multiscreen experiences.
Pubcon New Orleans	March 18-20	New Orleans
Pubcon New Orleans will be among the biggest and boldest gathering of search and social media innovators we have ever assembled, offering a highly productive conference experience at cost-effective rates. Leading technology and online marketing visionaries will provide new ideas and solutions for attendees’ businesses.
Structure: Data	March 19-20	New York
Gigaom events, including Structure: Data, bring together executives and innovators from across the tech landscape to make news, spark discussion and deliver high-end networking opportunities. Look for the most sought after, interesting speakers to appear on stage.
Dent 2014	March 23-26	Sun Valley, Idaho
The Dent Conference returns to Sun Valley, bringing together a group of folks who are “putting a dent in the universe,” to explore the magic and science of visionary leadership and groundbreaking success. Last year’s event included Pixar co-founder Alvy Ray Smith, Obama for America CTO Harper Reed and former USA Today Publisher Cathie Black. This year Randi Zuckerberg, Twitch.tv Founder & YCombinator Partner Emmett Shear and Makerbot President Jenny Lawton are participants.
eMarketing Conference	March 25-26	San Francisco
Every year for the last decade, one of the most valuable conferences for marketing professionals has been the eMarketing Association SF conference. If you are looking to learn, network and share best practices, the eMarketing Conference will be better than it has ever been with top speakers from the Social Media, Analytics, Online Advertising and Search Engine Marketing ecosystem.
ad:tech San Francisco	March 26-27	San Francisco
ad:tech SF brings a diverse group of publishers, agencies, brands and more to San Francisco every spring. Find out where they’re coming from – across the U.S. and around the world. See what their budgets look like. Learn where their interests lie.
Social Media Marketing World	March 26-28	San Diego
At Social Media Marketing World, discover the best social media marketing techniques from the world’s top experts. Join 2,000 fellow marketers at the mega-conference designed to inspire and empower you with social media marketing ideas — brought to you by the Social Media Examiner.
Information Architecture Summit	March 26-30	San Diego
The IA Summit is a community-curated and volunteer-run gathering that tackles the disciplines of information architecture and experience design. It provides students, practitioners and anyone interested with great tactical skills, amazing inspiring ideas and an opportunity to collaborate and celebrate the great things happening in our communities of practice.
Macworld | iWorld	March 27-29	San Francisco
Macworld/iWorld is the world’s ultimate fan event for those who use, create and love Apple products. Attendees will encounter a celebration of Apple technology-infused art, music and film, as well as learning opportunities and a shopping mecca in an exhibit hall filled with products and services for Apple users of all skill levels and interests. From home users to artistic hobbyists and professionals and the technorati, Macworld/iWorld gives attendees the chance to experience all that the world of Apple-related tools can offer.
Cloud Connect Summit	Mar 31-Apr 1	Las Vegas
This two-day pre-conference program offers a program format developed around “10 critical cloud decisions.” Cloud Connect Summit zeroes in on the most pressing cloud technology, policy and organizational decisions & debates for the cloud-enabled enterprise.
EE Live	Mar 31-Apr 3	San Jose, Calif.
EE Live! (formerly Design West) is an exciting weeklong celebration of the art and science of engineering. Brush up on the latest technologies, learn new skills and gather with the best and brightest engineers in the world.
F2C: Freedom to Connect	no date set	Washington, DC
F2C: Freedom to Connect is designed to bring under-represented people and issues into the nation’s capital based on federal policy discussions. It’s not known if there will be a 2014 event.
OnMedia NYC	No date set	New York
OnMedia NYC is where cutting-edge technology CEOs from the back streets of Silicon Valley meet the global advertising and media establishment. No information is available about the 2014 event.
Interactive Local Media East	No date set	Boston
BIA/Kelsey’s Interactive Local Media East is the definitive conference on local digital advertising and marketing. It’s not known if there will be a 2014 event.

JD Lasica, founder of Inside Social Media, is also a fiction author and the co-founder of the cruise discovery engine Cruiseable. See his About page, contact JD or follow him on Twitter.