About The Author

Jan Constantin loves to spend time writing for Smashing Magazine and devouring science-related articles. More about Jan ↬

Happy New Year everyone! 2020 has been… well, 2020. In-person events were impossible (and still are quite tricky most places). In a burst of optimism we’re giving this list the 2021 college try! :-)

We’re putting our heart and soul into crafting personal, inclusive and valuable events for all of us to become better professionals. With online workshops, we aim to give you the same experience and access to experts as in an in-person workshop, without needing to leave your desk. So you can learn at your own pace, in your own time, and follow interactive exercises along the way.

Boost your skills online and learn practical, actionable insights from experts in the industry, live. With insightful takeaways, interactive exercises, access to experts, slides, recordings and a friendly Q&A.

• Explore all workshops →

Now, enough for the plug! Let’s dive into our list for April to August:

• April 2021
• May 2021
• June 2021
• July 2021
• August 2021
• September 2021

April 2021

“LeadDev Together 2021
“LeadDev Together is a six-part event series hosted by the industry’s top technology leaders. Each session features talks, panels, personal reflections, and discussion time with your team. The dedicated time with your colleagues helps you level up your own personal development as well as moving your tech team forward. Learning new ideas is great but turning them into reality is difficult. LeadDev Together brings you structured content to spark ideas and dedicated time with your team to align your thinking. Equipping you with the tools to make change.”

• When: April 13- June 22, 2021
• Where: Online

UX HEALTHCARE 2021
“This conference will bring together designers, practitioners, clinicians, technologists and thought leaders linked by a common belief and a shared obsession: We can alter and improve our health care experience. From the food we eat to the tools we use and the hospitals and hospices we reside in, we can make a difference. We are looking to partner with speakers and sponsors that want to make a difference in Healthcare UX. A better healthcare experience is waiting on us.”

• When: April 14, 2021
• Where: Online

Web Directions Hover
“CSS is the often unsung hero of Web development. For nearly a quarter of a century it's added color, typography, layout, and more to the web. In that time it's gone from a straightforward language, to a complex set of capabilities, quite a few of which are little understood. Many web development conferences cover CSS as part of a mix. But few are really dedicated to the langage alone. Hover will be exclusively focused on CSS–the conference CSS deserves. Who's it for? If you build front ends, hover is for you. In depth knowledge All Web Directions conferences feature in-depth knowledge from real world experts. Some you'll know, many you won't, but all bring a world of experience and knowledge.”

• When: April 16-23, 2021
• Where: Online

An Event Apart: Spring Summit 2021
“An Event Apart is three days of high-end, carefully curated design, code, and content, presented by modern masters. To design a better experience, attend a better-designed UX conference. Join us this year online, or in Orlando or San Francisco, and set yourself Apart.”

• When: April 19-21, 2021
• Where: Online

FITC Toronto 2021
“FITC Toronto is a professional celebration of the best the world has to offer in design, digital development, media, and innovation in creative technologies – three days that unite and transform the industry. Our event explores the future of everything innovative, technical and creative to leave you informed, challenged and inspired. With hand-picked speakers from all over the world and from a variety of backgrounds; whether you’re after a highly-focused experience, or your interests are more interdisciplinary, we’ve got you covered.”

• When: April 19-21, 2021
• Where: Online

Config 2021
“Config is a one-day conference where Figma users come together to learn from each other.”

• When: April 21, 2021
• Where: Online

Devopsdays Kyiv 2021
“devopsdays is a worldwide community conference series for anyone interested in IT improvement.”

• When: April 20-22, 2021
• Where: Online

Devopsdays Vancouver 2021
“devopsdays is a worldwide community conference series for anyone interested in IT improvement.”

• When: April 23, 2021
• Where: Online

Smashing Meets 2021
“On Tuesday April 27, we are hosting Smashing Meets — Actions Speak Louder — where our Smashing experts will help the friendly Power.Coders NGO improve their site, live, and you can learn a few things along the way! All of this happens live, so you can see how they work. Tickets are free, so please bring your friends, colleagues and share the love. Smashing Magazine organises various online conferences and workshops around web design and development. Besides these larger events, they also host some smaller, more community focused events. At Smashing Meets they host three amazing experts who will use their skills to improve a site — deployed via our partner Netlify — live.”

• When: April 27, 2021
• Where: Online

Devopsdays Kraków 2021
“DevOpsDays Kraków 2021 is the second edition of this volunteer-driven worldwide series of events. It will take place on April 27-28th and will be fully ONLINE! Safety of participants, speakers, partners and everyone involved in the creation of this event is the most important to us! We are convinced that you will have as much fun in the virtual world as you would at a stationary conference. We have prepared many attractions for you, so this event will not be yet another boring webinar, but a real adventure full of knowledge and new friendships! And we know how to do it! See what the first edition of DevOpsDays Kraków looked like! Join us to share this big DevOps adventure!”

• When: April 27-28, 2021
• Where: Online

IAC21 Anywhere
“Now is the time to (re)emerge. We have a unique opportunity to ascend from the destruction, fear, and uncertainty of 2020 and forge a new vision for our community. Working together, we can emerge stronger, better, and more open-minded—but the prospect is risky. And success is not guaranteed.”

• When: April 28-30, 2021
• Where: Online

DigiMarCon Online 2021
“DigiMarCon At Home 2021 Digital Marketing, Media and Advertising Conference will take place April 28th to 29th, 2021, Online; Live and On Demand. It is the largest Digital Marketing Event in the World and will be attended by over 10,000 Digital Marketing Professionals. It’s the one digital marketing event you can’t afford to miss! Whether your goal is to reinforce customer loyalty, improve lead generation, increase sales, or drive stronger consumer engagement, DigiMarCon At Home 2021’s agenda will help attendees enhance their marketing efforts. Sessions will focus on building traffic, expanding brand awareness, improving customer service and gaining insight into today’s latest digital tools.”

• When: April 28-29, 2021
• Where: Online

May 2021

Devopsdays Seattle 2021
“DevOpsDays Seattle is back for 2021 and this time it is VIRTUAL. Devopsdays is a worldwide series of technical conferences covering topics of software development, IT infrastructure operations, and the intersection between them. Each event is run by volunteers from the local area.”

• When: May 4, 2021
• Where: Online

Confab 2021
“From UX to accessibility, structure to storytelling, Confab brings content strategy to life like no other event. Join smart, curious folks from around the world who care about making content more useful and usable for all. We’ll all be together—virtually!”

• When: May 5-7, 2021
• Where: Online

FBTB 2021
“From Business to Buttons (FBTB) is Scandinavia’s premier User Experience and Service Design conference, this time all digital. It is the meeting place for everyone who wants inspiration, and hands-on advice, on how to generate business value by creating great experiences.”

• When: May 7, 2021
• Where: Online

beyond tellerrand // DÜSSELDORF 2021
“beyond tellerrand celebrates the 10th edition in Düsseldorf. Join for two days of conference with the renowned familiar atmosphere to attend inspiring and exciting talks plus full-day workshops and side events around those dates. Not to forget the many networking opportunities.”

• When: May 10-12, 2021
• Where: Düsseldorf, Germany

DevOps Pro Europe 2021 Hybrid Edition
“Annual DevOps Pro Europe conference covers the core principles and concepts of the DevOps methodology and demonstrates how to use the most common DevOps patterns to develop, deploy and maintain applications on-premises and in the cloud.”

• When: May 11-13, 2021
• Where: Online

Creative Pro Week
“CreativePro Week is the world’s best HOW-TO event for creative professionals who design, create, or edit in Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat, and Microsoft PowerPoint. No matter your skill level, you’ll learn techniques and best practices you can start using immediately to improve your productivity.”

• When: May 17-21, 2021
• Where: Online

#gamesUR Summit Online Edition 2021
“The #gamesUR Summit is a prominent event for industry professionals interested in games user research and user experience. In our decade of operations, it has grown from a handful of researchers to a gathering of hundreds of attendees with multiple presentation streams, posters, workshops, and social events. The conference is annually attended by professional game developers, user experience designers, and all who have an interest in Games Research & User Experience (GRUX). The event is proudly presented by the GRUX SIG of the International Game Developers Association.”

• When: May 20-21, 2021
• Where: Online

Devopsdays Portugal 2021
“devopsdays is a worldwide community conference series for anyone interested in IT improvement.”

• When: May 24-25, 2021
• Where: Porto, Portugal

Berlin Letters Festival 2021
“Berlin Letters is a festival for lettering, type design, calligraphy and sign painting. Three days of inspiration, fun and skillshare with talks of more than 25 international speakers, 10 excellent workshops and 250 participants from all letter shaping disciplines. The first festival in May 2019 was a blast.”

• When: May 27-29, 2021
• Where: Berlin, Germany

June 2021

Devopsdays Poznań 2021
“devopsdays is a worldwide community conference series for anyone interested in IT improvement.”

• When: June 1, 2021
• Where: Poznań, Poland

UX Fest 2021
“UX Fest kicks off on the 1st June with a three-day online conference centred squarely around interaction and product design. There will be talks on everything from user research and product strategy through to UX writing, multi-variant testing and growth design. Perfect for designers of all levels.”

• When: June 1-3, 2021
• Where: Online

UXCAMP EUROPE 21
“We are one of the largest BarCamps for UX Professionals with 600+ active participants from all over the world.”

• When: June 5-6, 2021
• Where: Online

webinale HYBRID 2021
“webinale is the conference for product owners, web designers, and frontend coders. It combines user experience with code and offers a variety of topics that are important for digital professionals nowadays. Accessibility, progressive web apps, modern customer journeys, and the latest neuromarketing findings for increased conversions are just some of the topics presented by the speakers at webinale. Get essential insights into fascinating digital trends!”

• When: June 7-11, 2021
• Where: Online or Berlin, Germany

ECSCW 2021
“The European Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work is an international venue on practice-centred computing and the design of cooperation technologies. It is a series of conferences on computer-supported cooperative work located in Europe that was established in 1989. ECSCW is a single-track conference that contributes to developing an interdisciplinary and global community, supported by EUSSET, the European Society for Socially Embedded Technologies. The conference format facilitates critical discussion across disciplinary and national borders in the field.”

• When: June 7-11, 2021
• Where: Online & Zurich, Switzerland

Flupa UX Days 2021
“It is the essential French-speaking international event dedicated to the user experience, with practical workshops and inspiring conferences. The ideal place to meet people from all walks of life interested in UX methods, design thinking, agility and digital project management or serious games and design sprint ... In 2019, the event brought together more of 900 participants, as many curious smiles and double the passionate looks. ”

• When: June 7-11, 2021
• Where: Online

WWDC 2021
“The Apple Worldwide Developers Conference is coming to a screen near you, June 7 to 11. Join the worldwide developer community for an all-online program with exciting announcements, sessions, and labs at no cost. You’ll get a first look at the latest Apple platforms, tools, and technologies — so you can create your most innovative apps and games yet.”

• When: June 7-11, 2021
• Where: Online

DesignOps Global Conference 2021
“The DesignOps Global Conference is for experience designers, interface designers, user researchers, product owners, service innovators, software developers and business leaders that are defining the way we research, design, and deliver new products and services using operations at scale. The conference is now in its 3rd year and has established itself as the preeminent global conference for professionals leading and scaling research, design, development and innovation operations in the digital product-service continuum.”

• When: June 8-11, 2021
• Where: Online

PMF APAC 2021
“Product Management - focused events around the world, run to bring product professionals and managers from different industries and across disciplines together to learn, exchange, and improve. Our mission is to amplify the impact of product management globally - not only the products themselves, but also on their organizations, to help product managers be more successful, and to make a real difference while offering the best products on the market. ”

• When: June 9, 2021
• Where: Online

By Design 2021
“By Design Conference is an international multidisciplinary conference focused on design and design thinking, held in Bratislava, Slovakia.”

• When: June 12, 2021
• Where:

WAQ 2021
“Each year, several hundred participants have the opportunity to attend conferences and workshops led by renowned web personalities from here and elsewhere. In addition, an extraordinary competition demonstrates the brilliant know-how of Quebec City's web experts.”

• When: June 15-17, 2021
• Where: Online

The Design Conference 2021
“The Design Conference is an event for creatives. We navigate more than the future of design — but what design means in the hearts and minds of the worlds best creative leaders. By being transparent and vulnerable, we engineer an experience which will move, motivate and connect you with a path to a balanced future.”

• When: June 15-18, 2021
• Where: Brisbane, Australia

Lead Dev London 2021
“Join our community at the Lead Dev London, where technical leaders learn to nurture high performing teams, apply the best tech and tools for the job, and thrive as they meet the challenges of software engineering leadership.”

• When: June 20-21, 2021
• Where: London, UK

ADDC 2021
“App designers and developers around the world work side by side every day to build some of the most incredible and innovative applications. Yet our potential for synergy is so often overlooked. ADDC aims to create an opportunity for designers and developers to meet, find new ways to work together and get inspired in an open, inclusive and collaborative space.”

• When: June 23-24, 2021
• Where: Online

IoT Slam Live 2021
“Welcome to the IoT Slam Live 2021 conference, in association with the IEEE IoT World Forum on the Internet of Things, June 20 - 24, in New Orleans, LA USA. The theme of the Conference is “The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on IoT”. The papers, presentations, and events at the conference are focused on contributions to nurture, cultivate, enhance and accelerate the adoption of IoT technologies and applications for the benefit of society.”

• When: June 24, 2021
• Where: New Orleans, LA, USA

IDC 2021
“IDC is the premier international conference for researchers, educators and practitioners to share the latest research findings, innovative methodologies and new technologies in the areas of inclusive child-centered design, learning and interaction. The theme for ACM IDC 2021 is “Global meets local: designing with and for children in a changing world”. The theme considers the unprecedented situation of the pandemic and the insights that are continuously gained as the entire planet experiences this situation. Due to the universal scale and nature of the pandemic, coupled with its impact on a local level, IDC 2021 will assume a flexible, and diverse approach.”

• When: June 24-30, 2021
• Where: Online

July 2021

Forward Festival 2021
“Forward Festival 2021 is all about the transformation of society through digitization in the creative scene. It raises questions about the virtualization of our lives and our work, especially during the “new normal”. Forward Festival wants to be an eye opener to the striking aspects of digitization – applied to design, creativity and communication. Join the Hybrid Event and be part of 2 days of inspiration with 12+ Speakers, Masterclasses, Workshops & much more on-site or broadcasted to your home via Livestream. All the talks from the Livestream can also be (re-)watched after the Festival until the end of July 2021 via Video on Demand.”

• When: July 1-2, 2021
• Where: Online and Hmaburg, Germany

Future of Branding Week 2021
“From Brand Strategy to Sonic Branding – explore how leading brands are disrupting the industry using new channels and evolving technologies. Discover the most innovative approaches to brand strategy from the world-class creative and advertising agencies. Our 4-day immersive learning expedition brings together the brightest and most forward-thinking CMOs, brand strategists, creative directors and heads of marketing who want to be ahead of the competition, explore the new frameworks that world-class agencies use right now and find new ways to reach their audience.”

• When: July 6-9, 2021
• Where: London, UK

#mtpcon San Francisco 2021
“Mind the Product (#mtpcon) is the product management conference where we bring together passionate product leaders of all levels of experience from around the world to explore the intersection of design, technology, and business – inspiring you to build better products.”

• When: July 14-15, 2021
• Where: Online

Design/Content 2021
“Designers and content strategists team up. Hear from industry leaders about crafting experiences and telling stories that shape the future of the web. Two days of talks and thoughtful extras focused on delivering inclusive content and design outcomes.”

• When: July 21-22, 2021
• Where: Online

THAT Conference 2021
“Over four days, folks of diverse technology backgrounds and expertise levels gather to take advantage of multiple learning mediums to maximize one’s community and career advancements.”

• When: July 26-30, 2021
• Where: Wisconsin Dells, WI, USA

Devopsdays Medellín 2021
“devopsdays is a worldwide community conference series for anyone interested in IT improvement. - Two days of conferences and activities. - Starting Welcome from the organizers and day overview. - Talks that follows the traditional format of a speaker or panel. - 30 minutes. - Set of several ignite talks. - Openspaces in the afternoon.”

• When: July 30-31, 2021
• Where: Online

August 2021

Product Design Week 2021
“During a whole week you’ll immerse yourself into London's tech and creative industry exploring the hottest trends and latest inventions. You will have a chance to meet the teams behind the most ground-breaking products and learn how they approach design and UX strategy, work with clients and improve their services. This programme consists of keynote presentations, case studies. fire-side chats, roundtable discussions and mini-workshops all conducted at the actual company offices – that gives an even better perspective on how they work and collaborate.”

• When: August 24-27, 2021
• Where: London, UK

UX Australia 2021
“UX Australia is Australia's premier User Experience Design conference. Now in its 13th year, this hybrid style event includes conference presentations and workshops to suit everyone from graduate to experienced practitioners. UX Australia 2021 will operate as a hybrid style* event, hosted in Sydney and broadcasted online via Zoom Webinar. The event schedule will still include local and international presenters covering topics and ideas relevant to experienced practitioners, newbies, and everyone in between.”

• When: August 24-27, 2021
• Where: Hybrid

Front Conference 2021
“To build a kick-ass frontend, we rely on each other: Designers on developers, and developers on designers. But it’s often difficult to work together; we need to learn each other's language, understand each other’s priorities and have to be willing to make compromises that serve both. That’s why in 2011 we came up with a conference for everyone involved from concept to implementation of a frontend, and we gave it the tagline “Where design meets technology”. The goal was to bring both sides together in talks and workshops ranging from Angular to Zapier and from Affordance to Zeplin.”

• When: August 26-27, 2021
• Where: Zurich, Switzerland

An Event Apart Orlando 2021
“An Event Apart Orlando is a three-day conference with 17 sessions and an intense focus on digital design, UX, content, code, and more, giving you deep insights into where we are now and where things are going next.”

• When: August 30 - September 1, 2021
• Where: Orlando, FL, USA

UXPA International 2021
“Join UX researchers, designers, academics and leaders this summer in Baltimore, MD. We’ll be discussing, learning and debating everything UX. If you’re new to the field or a seasoned practitioner, we have something for you.”

• When: August 30 - September 2, 2021
• Where: Baltimore, MD, USA

September 2021

Growth Marketing Summit 2021
“As Europe's biggest conference for digital growth and optimization, we unite like-minded optimizers from around the world. Share topics that move the digital world and learn from world-class talks. The growth marketing SUMMIT is less about Conversion Uplifts. Rather, it is about a data-driven, customer-oriented and agile approach to scale sustainably.”

• When: September 2, 2021
• Where: Frankfurt, Germany

UX Strat Europe 2021
“UX STRAT brings together experienced design and product professionals from around the world to share methodologies, innovations, and tools focused on strategic design and innovation. This is the perfect setting to learn new skills, get inspired by the best of the best, and meet your experienced peers in a beautiful location. Plan to join us in Amsterdam on September 6 - 8, 2021, with a no-risk policy that allows simple ticket transfers if plans change before the event.”

• When: September 6-8, 2021
• Where: Amsterdam, Netherlands

Devopsdays Zürich 2021
“devopsdays is a worldwide community conference series for anyone interested in IT improvement.”

• When: September 7-8, 2021
• Where: Winterthur, Switzerland

Devopsdays Cairo 2021
“devopsdays is a worldwide community conference series for anyone interested in IT improvement. For the 4th consecutive year, SECC/ITIDA are organizing DevOpsDays Cairo 2021 in cooperation with DXC Technology, IBM Egypt and Orange Labs. But this time we will bring it to you ONLINE due to the current situation of the pandemic, and FREE to ALL!”

• When: September 9, 2021
• Where: Online

UX Strat USA 2021
“UX STRAT brings together experienced design and product professionals from around the world to share methodologies, innovations, and tools focused on strategic design and innovation. This is the perfect setting to learn new skills, get inspired by the best of the best, and meet your experienced peers in a beautiful location. Plan to join us in Boulder, Colorado on September 13 - 15, 2021, with a no-risk policy that allows simple ticket transfers if plans change before the event. Ticket options include: in-person, live streaming, and video playback.”

• When: September 13-15, 2021
• Where: Boulder, CO, USA

Product Camp 2021
“Listen to stories, lessons and project insights from other product professionals. Choose between 50+ sessions happening simultaneously across 6 virtual rooms. Switch between the rooms at any time and select the one that suits you the best.”

• When: September 14-15, 2021
• Where: Online

Devopsdays Portland 2021
“devopsdays is a worldwide community conference series for anyone interested in IT improvement. We're going to have a two day online event!”

• When: September 20-21, 2021
• Where: Online

Devopsdays Houston 2021
“devopsdays is a worldwide community conference series for anyone interested in IT improvement. The onference will take place live and in-person. The Norris Conference Centers have taken measures to make their venue as safe as possible, and we at DevOpsDays Houston take safety seriously. We will monitor and adhere to local guidelines on handling of the Covid19 virus.”

• When: September 21-22, 2021
• Where: Houston, TX, USA

Devopsdays Boston 2021
“devopsdays is a worldwide community conference series for anyone interested in IT improvement. Official account of DevOpsDays Boston conference. This year's event will be on Sept 27-28 2021 online!”

• When: September 27-28, 2021
• Where: Online

Design Matters 2021
“Design Matters is a global community of digital creatives who love to explore and inspire each other to break new ground in digital design.”

• When: September 29-30, 2021
• Where: Copenhagen, Denmark

The Next Web Conference 2021
“The in-person edition is open exclusively to only 4500 attendees eager to reconnect with the industry, face-to-face. This, scaled down in-person version, allows us to go back to our roots, celebrating tech while delivering a full personalized experience - all in a secure and healthy environment. The hybrid format weaves in in-person and digital experiences throughout the event. Network with people onsite as well as online. Reaping the benefits of the best practices of both in-person as well as digital events.”

• When: September 30 - October 1, 2021
• Where: Amsterdam, Netherland

What are you attending?

If you’re planning to attend any of these events, we’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below. What are you most excited about? What are you looking forward to learning and experiencing?

By the way, the Smashing team is constantly organizing a series of conferences and workshops! We’d love to welcome you there!

(vf, il)