In-Person or Online, Join Us this Week in Four Cities Around the Globe for #SMW15

Next week, September 14-18, Social Media Week returns in four cities around the globe: London, Miami, Rotterdam, and São Paulo. Every year, over 70,000 physical attendees join us to discuss the future of human connectivity through technology, media, and innovation. 5,000+ speakers and more than 1 million people connect to Social Media Week conferences through social and mobile, and we’re excited to continue this global event this week.

Each of September’s four cities has an incredible agenda of speakers, events, and conversations lined up. From C-Level executives and technology entrepreneurs, to media publishers and social influencers, as well as everyone in between, #SMW15 is an important event for anyone, anywhere that is part of the growing class of digitally connected individuals.

Before taking a look into some highlights of our September events, I invite you to get involved in a variety of ways, whether or not you live near one of the four cities. Follow and join the conversation online, especially through Twitter and Facebook (below will be each of the city’s hashtag and social accounts). You can also download the official SMW mobile app (iOS and Android), to follow along, as well as network with other members of the SMW community in your city. Thank you for your participation in our globally connected world, and I hope to can participate in next week’s edition in some shape or form.

London (#SMWLDN)

More than 200 speakers are confirmed for SMW London, representing some of the leading companies from around the globe. A range of C-level executives, startup founders, department heads, innovation directors, authors, designers, and everyone in between will take the stage at B1 at Victoria House, the HQ for SMW London. Some of the featured speakers confirmed for next week include:

• Ed Couchman (Head of Agency Relations, Facebook)
• Heidi Blake (UK Investigations Editor, BuzzFeed)
• Aaron Shapiro (CEO, Huge)
• Georgina Goode (Head of Social Media, Government Digital Service)
• Tariq Slim (Telco & Tech Lead, Twitter UK)

SMW London will also hear from executives at other leading organizations, such as: Google, Instagram, Ogilvy, Pinterest, Techstars, The Guardian, Tumblr, Unilever, Unruly, VICE, WeWork and many more! Whether you’re attending in person, or just want to follow the conversations online, each session has a unique SMW hashtag. If there’s a specific speaker you’d like to hear from, you can visit the event page of the session he or she is a part of, search for the event’s hashtag, and you’ll unlock a wealth of information in real-time!

There are over 100 events on the SMW London schedule, covering a wide variety of trends, topics, and insights. Two types of sessions are featured at #SMWLDN: main stage talks and masterclasses. Sessions on the main stage will dive deep into best practices, case studies, and key insights from leading professionals. Main stage talks are one of the driving forces of Social Media Week’s mission to make progress in regards to how humanity and technology come together. SMW London will bring together the top minds in our field to advance conversations around technology, media, marketing, connectivity, and the many areas that branch off from each of these.

In addition to main stage talks, SMW London features strong mix of masterclasses, which are intimate and educational sessions to share best practices, tactical skills, and new ways of working in today’s digitally connected world. Each year, masterclasses are the most popular events, and this year in London will see even more masterclass content than years prior. Take a look at the schedule for SMW London, and get ready for a week of exciting and important conversations. Some of the key topics to be explored next week in London include:

• Engaging with Millennials and Gen-Z individuals
• Investigative and citizen journalism in today’s digital age
• Content creation with influencers and social media superstars
• Drones, virtual reality, and next wave technology
• Social intelligence and decision making
• Attracting talent to your organization
• New ways of storytelling online
• Innovations in radio and podcasting
• Connecting online-to-offline worlds in retail and events
• How to effectively handle (and take advantage of) crises
• Emoji as the next mainstream tech-focused language
• So much more that can all be found on the SMW London schedule

You can follow all of Social Media Week London’s updates through the SMW London Twitter and Facebook accounts.

Miami (#SMWMiami)

Social Media Week returns to Miami with an exciting lineup of speakers and events! SMW Miami will take place at the Miami Ad School in the Wynwood District, the emerging and already-established hub of Miami’s creative types. The Wynwood neighborhood draws in thousands of individuals during Art Basel, known for its pop up parties and galleries of inspiring and unusual collaborations between musicians, artists, graphic designers, commercial brands and all creative types.

SMW Miami is one of the leading events and experiences driving the discussions of technology, innovation, communications, and connectivity in Wynwood and throughout the Miami market. This year, SMW Miami welcomes leaders from a diverse set of companies and backgrounds. Featured speakers this year include:

• Drew Banks (Head of International, Prezi)
• Sree Sreenivasan (Chief Digital Officer, Metropolitan Museum of Art)
• Borja Echevarría (Vice President of Digital, Univision)
• Cassie Glenn (Community Manager, Yelp)
• Thomas Haggerty (Chief of the Cyber Crimes Unit, Miami Dade State Attorney’s Office)
• Jacqueline Hernandez (Digital Strategist, Bravo)
• Mariana Hernandez (Strategist, Google)
• Shanda Maloney (Digital and Social Director, Ultimate Fighting Championship)
• And many more!

You can view the schedule for SMW Miami here, as well as follow all of Social Media Week Miami’s updates through the SMW Miami Twitter and Facebook accounts.

Rotterdam (#SMWRdam)

After an incredible debut last year, Social Media Week Rotterdam is back with more speakers, more events, and more surprises! More than 100 speakers and 80+ events. Each day has its own theme during SMW Rotterdam, all focusing on innovation. Tuesday is social innovation in government, Wednesday is social innovation in business, Thursday is social innovation in science, and Friday is social innovation in economy. Industry leaders and professionals across The Netherlands and Europe will convene in Rotterdam for workshops, masterclasses and online learning, and educational programming that provides attendees with the latest in trends, best practices and industry case studies.

“A lot of social media events in the Netherlands are based on marketers, but we want to reach other people. Nowadays, social media is really important for almost all organizations in the Netherlands. It is the intention to change this, so during the event people can learn and inspire each other,” said Maarten Reijgersberg (Founder & Director of SMW Rotterdam). Speakers to note for SMW Rotterdam include:

• Marc de Vries (Country Manager Twitter Benelux, Twitter Benelux)
• Debbie de Wagenaar (Chief Corporate Communications, McDonald’s)
• Chris Klapwijk (Strategic Partnerships Entertainment – Benelux, YouTube EMEA)
• Gunter Blanckaert (Digital Marketing Lead – Europe/North America, Philips Lighting)
• Margarida van Wijk (Account Director, Twitter)
• Stefanie Crone (Editor-in-Chief, Upcoming)
• Harald Swinkels (CEO, NLE)
• Reza Schott (Head of Social Media, Coolblue)
• Lisbeth Chawes (Partner Director, Komfo)
• And many more!

You can view the schedule for SMW Rotterdam here, as well as follow all of Social Media Week Rotterdam’s updates through the SMW Rotterdam Twitter and Facebook accounts.

São Paulo (#smwsp)

São Paulo is home to 18 million people, the third largest city in the world. It also has more cars than Rio de Janeiro has people, and if you thought New York was an expensive city, office space in São Paulo is more expensive to rent than in New York City. It’s a good thing some of the world’s smartest professionals are in these offices though. São Paulo is home to millions of social media connoisseurs, technology innovators, urban-environmental pioneers, and leaders throughout the business, media, and cultural ecosystem.

It’s exciting to say that Social Media Week São Paulo is one of the city’s largest and most important events each year. With a growing community of digital professionals looking to network, learn, and share their expertise, this year’s SMW São Paulo is a week worth paying attention to, even if you’re not in Brazil. More than 150 speakers will participate in SMW panels, interviews, conversations, demos, and masterclasses, and here are some of the speakers to look out for:

• Eber Gustavo (Client Solution Professional for IBM Marketing Cloud, IBM)
• Danilo Bordini (Director of New Technologies and Innovation, Microsoft)
• Luciana Burger (Managing Director, comScore)
• Tania Yuki (Founder and CEO, Shareablee)
• Luis Carranza (Area Director for LATAM, Meltwater)
• Gui Telles (Uber General Manager in Brazil, Uber)
• Julian Martinez (Product Manager, Getty Images)
• Andrea Denadai (Director of Communication for Brazil and Southern Cone of LATAM, MasterCard)
• Jayson Fittipaldi (President and Chief Creative Officer, Nobox)
• Camila Gadelha (Head of Strategy, Artplan)
• Fernando Kimura (Social Media Manager, Oracle)
• Thiago Leite (Manager, LATAM Community, Hootsuite Media Inc.)
• Karen Worcman (Founder, Museum of the Person)

You can view the schedule for SMW São Paulo here, as well as follow all of Social Media Week São Paulo’s updates through the SMW São Paulo Twitter and Facebook accounts.

Together, We Will Continue to Succeed and Learn

Each edition of Social Media Week is a truly global event and experience. The September cities will bring together some of the world’s top minds to discuss business, culture, technology, and humanity on four incredible, global stages. The conversations will inspire, they will change the way we currently view connectivity and society, and they will (directly and indirectly) contribute to a world where billions of more individuals will connect online to one another.

Our 2015 global theme, “Upwardly Mobile: The Rise of the Connected Class,” is an important, allegorical reminder for why Social Media Week exists, and why we continue to get excited, emotional, inspired, nostalgic, and motivated with each global conference. Whether you are attending in-person one of the four Social Media Week cities, or follow an event hashtag online, or tune into a live feed of one of our events, we invite you to combine your intrigue, expertise, and passion to participate yourself, and contribute to our mission. Together, we will continue to succeed and learn in a world where more information and innovation emerges in truly amazing ways.