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Each year, thousands of developers, designers, and programmers from around the world gather together at conferences and events to share ideas, promote the latest technologies, and discuss best practices, standards, and emerging trends in their respective fields. For those of us who have had the privilege to participate in one or more of those events, we likely received valuable information that had a profound effect on our progress as web professionals.

In this article, I’ve attempted to gather together a comprehensive list of web development and graphic design-related conferences and events that developers and designers can use as a reference to find out where and when the latest of such of events will be taking place. I’ve tried to ensure that the event descriptions and links are as general as possible, allowing this list to stay relevant for as long as possible.

Unfortunately, it is not possible to include every pertinent event. So if there is anything relevant missing, please comment below and we’ll try to add it to the list. Also, if any of the information is incorrect or out of date, you can contact me using the bio information at the bottom of this article, and we’ll make any necessary corrections.

The list, which includes a brief description plus location, is divided into the following categories:

• General Web Design Conferences
• UI, UX, & IA Conferences
• JavaScript & Ajax Conferences
• Graphic Design Conferences
• Mobile Web Conferences
• Back-End Programming Conferences
• Ruby on Rails Conferences
• Flash & ActionScript Conferences
• SEO & SEM Conferences
• Marketing & Social Media Conferences
• Technology Conferences

[Offtopic: by the way, do you know the Smashing Network has its own Smashing Network RSS Feed? Only excerpts are displayed in the feed.]

General Web Design Conferences

The following list consists of web conferences and events that cover a broad range of topics, including design, usability, web standards, and coding.

An Event Apart
“From the makers of A List Apart. An Event Apart is an intensely educational two-day conference for passionate practitioners of standards-based web design. If you care about code as well as content, usability as well as design, An Event Apart is the conference you’ve been waiting for.”

Location: Multiple U.S. cities

Web Directions
“Our major conferences, Web Directions South and Web Directions North, are held annually in Sydney, Australia and Vancouver, Canada, and cover the full range of interests for web professionals — web design, front-end and back-end development, information architecture, interaction design, accessibility, data visualization and much more.”

Location: Australia, North America, Japan

Front-End Design Conference
“web-conference-roundup.”

Location: U.S.A.

Future of Web Design
“There’s loads going on at this years event. You’ll hear from great speakers, enjoy in depth workshops and make new friends and contacts. It’s a 1 day, 1 track event with a 2nd day of fantastic workshops.”

Location: New York City, U.S.A.

Voices That Matter Conferences
“The Pearson Education Voices That Matter Conference series gives voice to the most important thought leaders in technology, design, and business today. These conferences give our readers access to those who have devised new technologies, new approaches and new inventions. Our speakers are the individuals who have made the strongest contributions impacting their industry. ”

Location: Multiple U.S. cities

In Control Conference
“Learn from a diverse array of Web experts to use modern tools and techniques to refine your Web design craft now. Harness creative inspiration to unlock your potential, amplify innovation, and broaden your reach. Immerse yourself in two days of idea exchange with potential business partners who are as forward-thinking as you are.”

Location: U.S.A.

@media Web Conferences
“Founded in 2004, Vivabit has been producing widely renowned and consistently well-received conferences for web professionals since the first sell-out @media event in London in 2005.”

Location: Multiple cities worldwide

Webstock
“Webstock is a range of web-related events with the aim of improving how websites are built through inspiration, education, insightful analysis and practical application. It features industry leaders and kick-ass speakers talking on topics such as accessibility, web standards, usability and other best practices.”

Location: New Zealand

WebVisions
“WebVisions explores the future of design, content creation, user experience and business strategy to uncover the trends and agents of change that will shatter your assumptions about the Web. Be ready to network, share ideas and be inspired by an all-star lineup of speakers.”

Location: Portland, Oregon, U.S.A.

Web Developers Conference
“As always we’ve put together a great line up of speakers from across the UK. Not only that but we have also got local developers and designers together to help answer your questions.”

Location: Bristol, U.K.

Edge of the Web Conference
“The conference program offers a diverse range of leading edge and highly topical content focusing on key areas of current web development best practise, such as usability and accessibility and current web trends such as social networking and open data exchange, in a two day conference format.”

Location: Western Australia

Build Web Conference
“With a variety of companion workshops, lectures, parties, meetups and an unconference, Build was created for those enthusiastic about the web and passionate about what they do.”

Location: Belfast, Ireland

EdUI Conference
“EdUI offers a rare speaker lineup of top web innovators that will inspire and enlighten web designers, developers, managers, and user experience and interaction design professions from any industry.”

Location: Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S.A.

The Rich Web Experience Conference
“RWE is a technically focused event targeted at: Web Designers, Developers, and Technical Project Managers.”

Location: Orlando, Florida, U.S.A.

Web Design World
“Since 1997, we’ve helped thousands of Web designers learn what they need to know to make better web sites, manage web projects, and get home at a decent hour.”

Location: Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.

Fronteers
“Fronteers wants to organize a world class front-end web development conference each year. This is entirely done by volunteers, so we can keep the costs as low as possible.”

Location: Amsterdam, The Netherlands

The Big (D)esign Conference
“The Big Design Conference is an intense day of learning within the scope of Strategy, Social Media, User Experience, and Code Development. Experts from across the country will gather to present theories, research, experiences, and best practices to students, professionals, and executives looking to stay on the bleeding edge.”

Location: Dallas, Texas, U.S.A.

IDEA Conference
“IDEA brings together leading interaction design thinkers from across the globe, and challenges them: to share beyond the concepts that inspire them most, and deliver practical guidance for attendees to begin making an immediate difference in the networked world of today and tomorrow.”

Location: North America

UI, UX, & IA Conferences

The following list includes conferences and events focused on user interface design, user experience design, usability, and information architecture.

User Interface Conference
“Whether you’re looking for insights into new strategies, you need to learn the latest advancements, or you want a primer for new skills, this conference is the one for you. Our team of experts will set your imagination on fire, powering up your creative juices so you can dazzle and delight, whether you’re a member of a large team or a UX-Team-Of-One.”

Location: Massachusetts, U.S.A.

International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces
“IUI is the annual meeting of the intelligent interfaces community and serves as the principal international forum for reporting outstanding research and development on intelligent user interfaces.”

Location: Worldwide

Web 3.0
“At Web 3.0 Conference we will explore how companies are using the semantic web today, and should be using them tomorrow, for significant bottom line impact in areas like marketing, corporate information management, publishing, customer service, and personal productivity.”

Location: Multiple U.S. cities

Information Architecture Summit
“The Information Architecture Summit is the premier gathering place for information architects and other user experience professionals. The conference has grown from a special interest group’s efforts to define an emerging field, to a rich and expanding community of practice, shaping and informing multiple disciplines.”

Location: Multiple cities worldwide

UX Australia
“UX Australia is a 3-day user experience design conference, with inspiring and practical presentations, covering a range of topics about how to design great experiences for people.”

Location: Australia

UXCampLondon
“A one day BarCamp in Richmond, London for anyone involved or interested in user experience design, interaction design, information architecture or usability.”

Location: Richmond, London, U.K.

UX Week
“UX Week is the premier user experience conference. With a mix of inspiring talks from recognized thought leaders and hands-on workshops delivering takeaway skills, this event delivers for user experience professionals at all levels — directors, managers, and practitioners.”

Location: San Francisco, U.S.A.

UX London
“UX London is a unique three-day event combining inspirational talks with in-depth workshops presented by some of the industry’s biggest names.”

Location: London, U.K.

Usability Week Conference
“In place of scattered, shallow talks, Usability Week offers up to 6 days of deep learning as international experts lead 33 full-day tutorials on topics such as: Fundamental guidelines for Web usability, Improving usability for complex applications, Applying information architecture (IA) principles, Writing for the Web, Agile development and usability, Managing user experience strategy.”

Location: Multiple cities worldwide

Advanced Common Sense Usability Workshops
Usability workshops presented by the consulting firm “Advanced Common Sense”, owned and operated by Steve Krug, author of Don’t Make Me Think.

Location: Multiple U.S. Cities

UX Lx: User Experience Lisbon
Meet a fabulous set of world renowned speakers and absorb their knowledge with thought-provoking talks and in-depth workshops. Share your own ideas by proposing a talk and network with the other participants with our awesome range of side-activities.

Location: Lisbon, Portugal

JavaScript & Ajax Conferences

The following list includes conferences and events focused on JavaScript programming, JavaScript libraries, and Ajax.

jQuery Conference
“The annual conference of jQuery users and developers. There will be talks on jQuery, jQuery UI, plugins, complex application development, and more — all from the top jQuery developers. Case studies from some of the leading users of jQuery will be included along with a 3 hour tutorial for those just getting started.”

Location: U.S.A.

Full Frontal JavaScript Conference
“Full Frontal is a conference held in Brighton UK, for the front end developers with JavaScript skills ranging from beginner to advanced. If you’ve dabbled with JavaScript in the past and wanted to learn more about how the language works and what makes it tick, then this conference is for you.”

Location: Brighton, U.K.

The Ajax Experience
“The Ajax Experience (TAE) is the original, and most authoritative, event for Web developers and designers wanting to learn more about Ajax and next generation Web applications. TAE bridges technology and practice by focusing on new solutions for real world problems, and giving practical examples on those solutions. Presented by over 40 independent Ajax experts from across the globe and with so many expert attendees present as well, you can even network and leverage informal learning opportunities from your peers who can contribute directly to your skills and project success.”

Location: Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

JSConf
“JSConf … is a conference devoted to the programming language we all love to hate and hate to love, JavaScript. This is conference will be thoughtful, content driven, and exemplify the very nature of JavaScript. The core focus of this conference is to expose some of the details about JavaScript that are often overlooked and present them more as a discussion with the audience. The content of the conference should cater to all types of JavaScript users from client interfaces to server development to testing.”

Location: U.S. & Europe

AJAXWorld RIA Conference & Expo
“The first and only major AJAX event in the world.”

Location: New York City, U.S.A.

Graphic Design Conferences

The following list focuses on events and conference related to graphic design and design-related tools and technologies.

HOW Design Conference
“The HOW Design Conference recognizes that graphic design is a business as well as an art. We launched this annual event in 1991 with the goal of providing a hands-on, educational program to enable designers to better balance the three key components of graphic design: creativity, business and technology. Conference sessions cover a mix of these three critical design issues, with particular emphasis on creative and business topics.”

Location: U.S.A.

Adobe MAX
“Connect. Exchange ideas and build relationships with leading designers and developers, industry experts, and Adobe product teams. Discover. Choose from hundreds of sessions and labs presented by industry leaders and Adobe experts on best practices and emerging technologies. Inspire. Join the inspiring conversations that unfold when thousands of the most innovative, creative minds gather in one place.”

Location: U.S.A.

AIGA Design Conference
“Join us for the AIGA Design Conference, to celebrate design excellence, reinforce friendships and connections and stimulate thinking about the critical issues that surround design practice.”

Location: U.S.A.

TypeCon
“TypeCon explores type for the screen, printing history, Dutch design, type in motion, Arabic calligraphy, the American Arts and Crafts movement, experimental typography, and much more. Special events include the third annual Type and Design Education Forum, and an exhibition of international type and design.”

Location: U.S.A.

Photoshop World Conference & Expo
“Photoshop World is the ONLY Photoshop and digital photography conference designed to put you at the top of your game with fast and furious classes from the world’s leading experts. Photoshop World is where Photoshop users go to learn hard and play even harder!”

Location: Multiple U.S. Cities

PDN PhotoPlus International Conference + Expo
“PDN PhotoPlus International Conference + Expo is the most important event in the photo industry. Designed for professionals and advanced amateurs in the photographic and imaging industries, PDN PhotoPlus Expo showcases the latest advances in photography.”

Location: New York City, U.S.A.

London Design Festival
“The London Design Festival is an annual event established to celebrate and promote London as the creative capital of the world.”

Location: London, U.K.

View Conference
“VIEW Conference is the premiere international event in Italy on Computer Graphics, Interactive Techniques, Digital Cinema, 3D Animation, Gaming and VFX.”

Location: Italy

Design City
“Design City, a ’show within a show’, will bring together graphic designers with vendors who sell to the graphic design market. It connects buyers with sellers in a modern, interactive, results-driven environment. As one of the first trade shows of its kind in Canada, Design City aims to further strengthen the graphic design community and bring together buyers and sellers in the industry.”

Location: Canada

Design Indaba
“With a focus on international thought leadership, the Design Indaba Conference has become one of the world’s leading design events and hosts more than 40 speakers and 2 500 delegates. Independently curated with a focus on case studies and ingenious problem solving, rather than simply eye-catching portfolios, conference alumni are contemporary industry pacesetters.”

Location: Cape Town, South Africa

5D: The Future of Immersive Design
“Our goal is to unite a vital community of designers and image-makers and to serve as a catalyst for innovation.”

Location: California, U.S.A.

Mogo Media Web & Graphic Design Conferences
“Home of the InDesign Conference, the Adobe Creative Suite Conference, the Pixel Conference, the Vector Conference, the Web Design & Developer Conference, the Conference for Adobe Acrobat, and more!”

Location: Multiple cities worldwide

Mobile Web Conferences

The following list focuses on events and conferences covering to mobile web design and related technologies.

Design for Mobile
“The Design for Mobile conference is North America’s only design conference exclusively for mobile devices. All aspects are covered, from academic explorations to practical execution, from research to design to development.”

Location: Lawrence, Kansas, U.S.A.

Mobile 2.0 Conference
“Our two-day event, presented by the Mobile 2.0 Organizing Committee, focuses on understanding and leveraging Mobile Ecosystems, building and successfully monetizing new Mobile Applications and Services, and exploring Disruptive Mobile Innovation and Business Models.”

Location: San Francisco, California, U.S.A.

Voices That Matter: iPhone Developers Conference
“Learn what it takes to build killer iPhone apps, leveraging your existing skills in Objective-C. From Core Animation and Core Data to Push Notification Services and MapKit, we’ve got the bases covered.”

Location: Massachusetts, U.S.A.

BlackBerry® Developer Conference
“At the heart of the BlackBerry® Developer Conference is a core group of technically minded people who come together because they’re passionate about development and the possibilities for building outstanding mobile applications on the BlackBerry solution. Join the best and the brightest from Research In Motion (RIM), drawn from a team of thousands focused on the success of one platform, with a wealth of knowledge and experience in mobile application development.”

Location: California, U.S.A.

Mobile Web & Applications
“Mobile Web and Apps, incorporating an exclusive focus day on Mobile Social Networking, will provide you with all that you need to understand, improve and profit from this seismic shift in our industry.”

Location: London, U.K.

FITC Mobile
“Jam packed with information as well as a massive networking opportunity, FITC Mobile consists of presentations, demonstrations, and panel discussions, and is one of the only events in the world covering all aspects of mobile content.”

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PodCamp Az
“What makes ours different? Well, as you’ll note from the main page, this isn’t all about podcasting. Now we love podcasting, don’t get us wrong. But podcasting is simply a means to an end. It’s a method of distributing media files. We think the creation of those media files is more interesting. And we think what people do with those files is far more interesting than that.”

Location: Arizona, U.S.A.

Mobile 2.0 Conference
“The event provides a dynamic networking and information-sharing business environment, bringing together key stakeholders within the mobile web 2.0 value chain to discuss current trends and revenue generation possibilities, successful business models and the future opportunities that exist within Mobile social networks, Mobile internet and broadband, Devices and mobile AppStores, Mobile advertising Mobile content, Mobile gaming, video and TV.”

Location: Berlin, Germany

Back-End Programming Conferences

The following list consists of events and conferences focused on back-end programming languages and tools, platforms, and technologies related to those languages.

PHP Conferences
Visit the conferences page at PHP.net for updates and information on php-related conferences from around the world.

Location: Multiple cities worldwide

MySQL Conference & Expo
“The MySQL Conference & Expo is an interactive learning community — four days packed with connections to MySQL developers and open source experts who know their subject inside and out. You’ll gain unique insights from speakers, vendors, project leaders, and other participants who are using MySQL to successfully run the world’s most demanding applications, saving millions of dollars over proprietary software and hardware solutions.”

Location: Santa Clara, California, U.S.A.

Microsoft Professional Developers Conference
“The Professional Developers Conference (PDC) is the definitive developer event focused on the technical strategy of the Microsoft developer platform. Attendees come from around the world to learn about the future of Microsoft developer technology directly from the people who make it happen. If you’re a developer, architect or technology leader involved in making strategic technology decisions for your company or organization, the PDC is for you.”

Location: Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

Microsoft MIX
“MIX is for designers and developers who build innovative web sites. Attendees are coders, strategists, information architects, visual designers, UX professionals and digital marketers. They represent top web sites, web start-ups, interactive agencies and other organizations that do business on the Web.”

Location: Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.A.

The ExpressionEngine & CodeIgniter Conference (EECI)
“At the ExpressionEngine & CodeIgniter Conference you can meet the experts, be inspired and break new boundaries! This event brings you presentations and workshops from your favorite EE & CI speakers. Both beginners and experienced users will benefit from a variety of topics and sessions: discover how your favourite content management system and PHP framework can bend even further!”

Location: Leiden, The Netherlands

JavaOne
“The JavaOne conference is the kind of event where the declaration “Classpath is dead!”* causes hundreds of people to applaud soundly and hoot their approval. We’re talking hardcore, middleware-loving, certified-geeky Javaheads coming together to share their love of — and frustrations over — the Java programming language and platform, and the extended technology that it informs.”

Location: San Francisco, California, U.S.A.

Yahoo Developer Conference: Open Hack
“Hack Days are events hosted by Yahoo!—sometimes with other partners—in which participants are encouraged to create web applications in 24 hours ideally using one or more of Yahoo’s APIs or open source libraries. They normally consist of a combination of structured talks and unstructured ‘hacking’ time, often run overnight and normally conclude with a hack demo session with prizes for the best hacks.”

Location: Multiple cities worldwide

OpenSource World
“OpenSource World focuses on innovative solutions in real-world environments using open source, open standards and open architecture as part of an integrated IT infrastructure. The OpenSource World conference will present the latest Linux and open source ideas in a technical context by industry experts and innovators, giving IT end-users actionable initiatives that bring cost savings to the enterprise.”

Location: Multiple cities worldwide

Google I/O Developer Conference
“Google I/O is a web developer-focused conference held annually by Google to discuss web applications using Google and open web technologies.”

Location: San Francisco, California, U.S.A.

Google Developer Day
“Google Developer Days are a chance to learn about Google developer products from the engineers who built them. These one-day events will include seminars and “office hours” on web technologies including Google Maps, OpenSocial, Android, AJAX APIs, Chrome, Google Web Toolkit and more.”

Location: Multiple cities worldwide

Atlanta Linux Fest
“The Atlanta Linux Fest is a free grassroots conference for the GNU/Open Source Software/Free Software community to gather and share information about fun and exciting existing and upcoming Linux and Open Source Software. Attendees of all skill levels are invited to share their experiences to benefit all users of Linux/Free and Open Source Software. Atlanta Linux Fest is the place to learn, make new friends, and have fun!.”

Location: Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A.

PayPal Innovate Developer Conference
“For two days, you’ll have the absolute inside track on how to capitalize on all of PayPal’s products. You’ll be in the mix with hundreds of other passionate developers — front and center as the possibilities of innovation are explored in over 35 interactive, technical sessions and Code & Build Labs. You’ll see how some of the most innovative developers in the world are building business on the PayPal platform.”

Location: San Francisco, California, U.S.A.

Scotch on the Rocks
“Scotch on the Rocks, established in 2005, is a conference based out of Edinburgh, Scotland concentrating on all things ColdFusion. Incorporating keynotes, technical sessions and tutorials, as well as the most innovative and successful ColdFusion experts and companies, Scotch on the Rocks is a must-attend conference.”

Location: Edinburgh, Scotland

OSCON Open Source Convention
“OSCON brings together over 3,000 experts, visionaries, and hackers in the trenches to explore all that open source has to offer. OSCON is the premier gathering place to gain exposure to and evaluate the new projects, tools, services, platforms, languages, software, and standards sweeping through the open source community.”

Location: U.S.A.

DrupalCampLA
“DrupalCampLA is the annual FREE conference organized by LA Drupal to unite and improve the Drupal Development Community in Los Angeles and the Greater Southern California Area. DrupalCampLA is an unconference-style Drupal training, founded in the style of BarCamp. While there are some differences (DrupalCamp does more pre-planning on the sessions), they have the common goal of bringing smart people together in an environment that is accessible to everyone.”

Location: Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

WordCamp Wordpress Convention
“WordCamp is a conference type of event that focuses squarely on everything WordPress. Everyone from casual end users all the way up to core developers show up to these events. These events are usually highlighted by speeches or keynotes by various people.”

Location: Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

Ruby on Rails Conferences

The following list consists of events and conferences focused on the Ruby programming language and Rails web application framework.

RubyConf
“RubyConf 2009 is the premier gathering of Ruby developers, experts, and innovators.”

Location: U.S.A.

EuRuKo
“EuRuKo is an annual conference about the Ruby programming language with an informal atmosphere and lots of opportunities to listen, to talk, to hack and to have fun.”

Location: Barcelona, Spain

Aloha On Rails
“The Aloha on Rails Conference is the premier destination event for Ruby on Rails and Web Development. This unique, intimate three day event (2 day conference and 1 day tutorial) unites the community’s top speakers and talent with motivated and excited attendees for an unforgettable conference in beautiful Hawaii.”

Location: Hawaii, U.S.A.

RailsConf
“RailsConf, co-produced by Ruby Central, Inc. and O’Reilly Media, Inc., is the largest official conference dedicated to everything Rails. Through keynotes, sessions, tutorials, panels, and events, RailsConf is an interactive meeting ground for the most innovative and successful Rails experts and companies.”

Location: U.S.A.

WindyCityRails
“Join us for a one-day conference packed with an abundance of Rails knowledge at WindyCityRails. Sharpen your technical skills, network with other professionals, and meet some of the top minds in the Ruby on Rails community. Developers, designers, entrepreneurs, and investors all find value in WindyCityRails.”

Location: Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.

acts_as_conference
“Want to know what the future of Ruby on Rails looks like? Come to acts_as_conference … and find out. This annual two day event is dedicated to Ruby on Rails and the happy developers that use it (or wish to use it) in their daily lives. Come learn what’s to come.”

Location: U.S.A.

Scottish Ruby Conference
“Whether you’re interested in finding out what Ruby and Rails can deliver, or already convinced and keen to hang out with some of the foremost thinkers in the community, this conference is for you!”

Location: Scotland

The Rails Edge Conference
“The Rails Edge is a unique conference where we bring some of the best minds in the Rails and Ruby communities together with you in a single-track environment, so that we can all sharpen our edge. We hope you’ll join us!”

Location: U.S.A.

Flash & ActionScript Conferences

The following list consists of events focused on Adobe Flash animation, ActionScript development, and related technologies.

Flash on the Beach
“Flash on the Beach conference is the place to go for design, technical and inspiration if you are a web developer. It has grown quickly and gained fantastic status as the ‘must go to’ conference around… Flash on the Beach brings together the most creative, technical, inspirational, awe-inspiring, educational and entertaining industry leading speakers in the rich media industry.”

Location: Brighton, U.K.

FITC Design & Technology Events
“FITC has produced events for the last 7 years with over 700 presenters and 14 000 attendees through countless cities around the world. From Flash to Motion Design, FLEX to AIR, Mobile and more, FITC events each stand as unique and exciting experiences that inspire, educate and challenge.”

Location: Multiple cities worldwide

The ActionScript Conference
“The ActionScript Conference (TAC) is a community conference with the focus on Flash Platform. Attendants will see themselves immersed in a day of learning, knowledge exchange, and networking. TAC aims to bring topics on ActionScript 3.0, Flash development, Enterprise Flex 3 and 4, AIR, Integrating of Flash and other Platforms, and building Rich Internet Application to its audience.”

Location: Singapore

Flash on Tap
“The Flash on Tap conference is blurring the lines between business and pleasure. Experience the excitement of a beer festival while soaking in presentations by top tier design and technology professionals. It’s a three-day event, by Flash professionals for Flash professionals. Who’s talking? We have rounded up a great mixture of talented, Flash and beer-loving speakers.”

Location: Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

Flashbelt
“The mission of Flashbelt is to bring together new media designers, developers and enthusiasts to share knowledge, inspiration and build community. It’s about professional development and creative inspiration.”

Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.A.

360|Flex
“360|Flex is a community driven event. The sole purpose of the show is to bring the best of the Flex community together in one place to share war stories from the trenches and to allow the experts to share their deep technical knowledge with the community at large. Another benefit is finally being able to put a face, voice and personality onto the bloggers, flex coders and article writers that you’ve come to depend on.”

Location: Brighton, U.K.

Flash Forward
[Flash Forward was recently acquired by Lynda.com, so there was no information available about the event.]

Location: TBD

Flash Camp Bangkok
“Flash Camp Bangkok will provide an introduction to the Flash platform as well as covering everything you need to know about getting started with building and designing rich Internet applications (RIAs) with Flex 4, Flex Builder 4 and Catalyst.”

Location: Bangkok, Thailand

Flash Camp St. Louis
“Flash Camp St. Louis is a full-day event featuring some top industry experts on the Adobe Flash Platform from both inside and outside Adobe. Come advance your Flash, ActionScript and Flex skills, meet members of the Adobe team and network with local companies and fellow developers. Sessions are geared towards designers and developers with beginning to intermediate level of experience with ActionScript 3, Flash, and/or Flex and AIR.”

Location: St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A.

SEO & SEM Conferences

The following list consists of events and conferences focused on Search Engine Optimisation and Search Engine Marketing.

Search Engine Strategies (SES)
“Search Engine Strategies (SES) is the leading global conference & expo series that educates delegates on search engine marketing (SEM), including optimization (SEO) and advertising strategies, tactics and best practices. SES Search Marketing Events provide instruction from the industry’s top Search experts, including representatives from the Search Engines themselves.”

Location: Multiple cities worldwide

Search Marketing Expo
“The world’s leading search engine marketing conference, Search Marketing Expo — SMX — is the search engine marketing conference from Third Door Media, the company behind the Search Engine Land news site, Sphinn.com, and the Search Marketing Now webcast series. SMX is programmed by the sharpest minds in search marketing. Together, Search Engine Land editor-in-chief Danny Sullivan and executive editor Chris Sherman have covered the topics, interviewed the luminaries and educated a generation of search marketers.”

Location: Multiple cities worldwide

PubCon
“WebmasterWorld’s PubCon is an educational conference and industry trade show programmed specifically for web professionals and website site owners. Although our center piece is Search Engine Marketing, whether your primary role is in web site marketing, corporate IT development, or in technology business management, you will find something of value at PubCon (aka: Publishers Conference). It is also designed to be fun and entertaining with ample opportunity for quality networking.”

Location: Worldwide

Marketing & Social Media Conferences

The following list consists of events and conferences focused on Internet marketing, social media, and related trends and technologies.

BlogWorld New Media Expo
“BlogWorld & New Media Expo is the only trade show and conference created for the industry of blogging and new media. It will give participants the strategies, tools and technologies they need to stake their claim in the blogosphere.”

Location: Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.A.

The Good Web
“The Good Web is a forum for Advertisers, Designers, Brands, and Non-Profits to share their ingredients of success for building awareness and participation around the causes they believe in.”

Location: New York City, U.S.A.

Internet Marketing Conference (IMC)
“IMC is going to be a full day event dedicated to the challenge of how Internet is impacting your business. The program will be designed to meet executives needs of information about how big part of a companies revenues & costs should belong to the Internet channel.”

Location: Multiple cities worldwide

Atlantic Internet Marketing Conference (AIM)
“Winning in today’s online marketplace takes skill and understanding of the tools, methods, and strategies employed by Online leaders. The AIM conference will teach your team what it takes to win. From marketing strategists to designers and programmers — we’ll show you the most successful practices today online, how to execute them, and get ahead of your competition.”

Location: Eastern Canada

mesh conference
“mesh is happening because the five founders (see below) believed that Toronto deserved to have a world-class conference where people with an enthusiasm for the Web could talk about how it is affecting the media, marketing, business and society as a whole. Join us at mesh 2009 and help us connect, share and inspire.”

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

meshmarketing
“meshmarketing is a one-day event focused on insights, tools and tactics to help you win customers’ hearts and minds, online. An insightful keynote will lead us into a series of engaging conversations and “show and tell” presentations, as well as in-depth workshops.”

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Webit e-marketing & e-business Expo
“e-Business & e-Marketing Expo for SE Europe is the first event of such scale in the region of Southeastern Europe. At the heart of Webit is The Main Stage, where the very essence of modern integrated marketing will be debated and challenged by influential industry leaders.”

Location: South East Europe

Social Media World Forum
The Social Media World Forum brings together a good diverse range of speakers from different areas in the world, with the right mix of brands, agencies and social networks, and provides an excellent recap of Social Network best practice, brought to life with inspiring case studies.

Location: Worldwide

The Internet Show
“The Internet Show is a series of seminars and showcases, presented globally. It is the only event that brings together Big, Medium and Small business, all eager to find new ways of doing internet business. It is a business, not a technology, show.

Location: Multiple cities worldwide

TWTRCON
“Twitter is transforming business, government and the non-profit world. At TWTRCON, a one-day conference focused entirely on the business use of Twitter, you’ll see case studies and learn best practices from leading organizations that are using the real-time web to deliver measurable results.”

Location: Multiple U.S. cities

140 Characters Conference
“At the #140conf events, we look at twitter as a platform and as a language we speak. Over time it will neither be the only platform nor the only language. #140conf is not an event about microblogging or the place where people share twitter ‘tips and techniques’ but rather where we explore the effects of the emerging real-time Internet on Business.”

Location: Multiple cities worldwide

MIMA Summit
“The Summit attracts professionals from design, media, promotions, content development, product development, publishing, marketing, usability, and experience design. This day-long conference is the top interactive marketing event in the Midwest.”

Location: Minnesota, U.S.A.

UGCX
“UGCX will uncover success stories behind companies who have maximized user-generated content, and the importance of building a robust community management strategy. Leaders in the field will also discuss the best ways to generate revenue as the big shift in media continues to take shape.”

Location: New York City, U.S.A.

The Next Web
“Internet professionals gather for 3 days to enjoy Amsterdam, the conference and to do business.”

Location: Amsterdam, The Netherlands

eduWEB Conference
“The eduWeb Conference is an annual, internationally recognized event for the higher education community, attracting those who are involved in online strategy, marketing and technology. This includes recruiting, web site design/ development, CMS, social media, marketing communications and the integration of traditional marketing channels into this new medium.”

Location: U.S.A.

Technology Conferences

The following list consists of events and conferences covering a broad range of web-related technologies.

SXSW Interactive
“South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive features five days of compelling presentations from the brightest minds in emerging technology, scores of exciting networking events hosted by industry leaders and an unbeatable line up of special programs showcasing the best new websites, video games and startup ideas the community has to offer.”

Location: Austin, Texas, U.S.A.

Devconnections Conferences
“DevConnections rocks the technology industry as the largest and most exciting event focused on Microsoft technology and your needs. Hands-down this event has the best speakers in our industry, not to mention the coolest attendees. Compare the number of expert speakers, Microsoft architects and in-depth number of sessions to other conference events and you will not find a better value.”

Location: Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.A.

dConstruct
“dConstruct brings together leading thinkers from the fields of ubiquitous computing, interface design, gaming and mobile to explore the challenges of designing for tomorrow.”

Location: Brighton, East Sussex, U.K.

Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC)
“The Apple Worldwide Developers Conference provides developers and IT professionals with in-depth technical information and hands-on learning about the powerful technologies in iPhone OS and Mac OS X from the Apple engineers who created them.”

Location: California, U.S.A.

International World Wide Web Conference
“The World Wide Web Conference is a yearly international conference on the topic of the future direction of the World Wide Web. It began in 1994 at CERN and is organized by the International World Wide Web Conferences Steering Committee (IW3C2). The Conference aims to provide the world a premier forum for discussion and debate about the evolution of the Web, the standardization of its associated technologies, and the impact of those technologies on society and culture.”

Location: Worldwide

DLD (Digital, Life, Design) Conference
“DLD (Digital, Life, Design) is an inspiring community for the 21st century which features digital innovation, science and culture and brings together thought leaders, creators, entrepreneurs and investors from Europe, the Middle-East, the Americas and Asia.”

Location: Munich, Germany

webDU
“webDU is the premier Antipodean Web Technology Conference. The conference offers the opportunity to get hands-on technical training, gain new skills, hear breaking news from the Web Industry, network with peers and industry leaders, and ultimately become more successful developing and delivering web applications. Nowhere else in ANZ can this audience find the volume and quality of information available under one roof at webDU.”

Location: Sydney, Australia

Web 2.0 Expo
“Web 2.0 Expo is a conference and tradeshow for everyone who cares about embracing and extending the opportunities created by Web 2.0 technologies.”

Location: New York City & San Francisco, U.S.A.

Macworld Expo
“Macworld offers access to hundreds of Mac products and services, paired with expert advice, demonstrations and instruction. Macworld conference programs feature industry leading minds, presenting cutting edge product training on the topics you most want to see. Whether you are a creative professional or a Mac IT pro, Macworld has the conference content, special presentations, exhibit hall highlights and experiences that meet your specific Mac needs.”

Location: U.S.A.

International Conference on Scalable Vector Graphics
“At the Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) Open Conference you will have the opportunity to learn to use SVG to create effective and compelling web content, learn techniques for developing SVG software solutions, and see the latest developments from the W3C. You will meet the creators of SVG applications in person, the authors of the SVG specifications, and you will have the opportunity to provide your own input for future development.”

Location: Worldwide

Webinale
This conference covers e-Business and Advertising, RIAs, Wdigets, Social Networking, Future and Mobile Web as well as Design and Usability. It takes place every year in Germany and features over 70 talks from leading web experts in English and in German languages.

Location: Berlin, Germany

Where 2.0 Conference
“Now in its sixth year, the Where 2.0 Conference is where the grassroots and leading edge developers building location-aware technology intersect with the businesses and entrepreneurs seeking out location apps, platforms, and hardware to gain a competitive edge. In the O’Reilly conference tradition, Where 2.0 presents leading trends rather than chasing them.”

Location: California, U.S.A.

Internet Summit
“Presented by TechJournal South and Southern Capitol Ventures, the Internet Summit supports web oriented entrepreneurial activity, innovation, and the resultant economic development of the southeast region.”

Location: North Carolina, U.S.A.

Is Your Event or Conference Missing?

Do you know of any significant web-related event or conference that is not listed here? Let us know in the comments below and we’ll do our best to add it to the list.

About the Author

Louis Lazaris is a writer and freelance web developer based in Toronto, Canada. He has 9 years of experience in the web development industry and posts web design articles and tutorials on his blog, Impressive Webs. You can follow Louis on Twitter or contact him using this form.