About a month or so ago Kyle and I were chatting about 2018 Big Data conferences; which ones we wanted to go to and which ones we wanted to submit speaking proposals for. We got pretty excited about a couple of them and decided that this would be a great topic for a blog. Fast forward a month and we finally got around to writing this. We’ve missed a few conferences that we were excited about but there is still a whole lot of 2018 left and some conferences that we are pretty freaking excited to attend this year. So finally, the long awaited and much overdue list…
Splunk .Conf 2018 
When: October 1-4
Where: Orlando, FL
More information:https://conf.splunk.com/
Hands down, this is our favorite work week of the year. Splunk’s annual user conference is always a healthy mix fun and education. Every year, Splunk offers loads of valuable training, and informative breakout sessions. In fact, last year both of us along with fellow bearded brothers Cory & Keith were given the chance to present. The next reason why is how electrifying the atmosphere is. We are a huge fan of the Splunk community and each year they come to have fun. We are especially excited this year because once again Splunk’s conference is in Orlando, FL. Two years ago when they had it in Orlando, they rented out the Hollywood Studios for the night and we proceeded to eat, drink and ride the rollercoasters non-stop.
Links to Big Data Beard team session last year
Choosing the Right Infrastructure for your Splunk Deployment – Brett Roberts
Dragons and Splunk do not do well in captivity – Kyle Prins & Keith Quebodeaux
Mastering the Dark Arts of Splunk Infrastructure – Cory Minton
Dell Technologies World
When: April 30th – May 3rd
Where: Las Vegas, NV
More information: https://www.delltechnologiesworld.com/
Dell Technologies World, formerly known as Dell EMC World, formerly known as EMC World is a fun week where technologies from all areas of IT come together to learn about all aspects of IT. This is not just a Big Data Conference but because of the vast ecosystem of Big Data Partners, its always has a strong presence. Last year, Dell EMC even had its own Big Data booth where they demoed some cool streaming analytics tools. This year should see an even bigger Big Data presence that focuses on use cases as well as infrastructure. Plus, who doesn’t like a spring trip to Las Vegas? If you are more into the architecture of Big Data and/or just want to get out to Vegas, this is certainly the conference for you. Plus, almost all of the Big Data Beard team will be there. So come say hi!
Strata Data
Two more events this year When: London – May 21-24
New York – September 11-13
More information: https://conferences.oreilly.com/strata/strata-ca
Unlike Splunk & Dell Technologies World, O’Reilly Media’s Strata Data has regional events throughout the year that allows for attendees all over the globe to attend. Even though there are regional events, they absolutely do not have the regional event feel. This things are huge and bring together a diverse group of people who are interested in all things data and analytics. This conference started out mainly focusing on Hadoop but has since evolved to really include a wide variety of technologies and subjects. O’Reilly always has a jammed packed agenda of A-List speakers and the breakout sessions will satisfy all your data analytics cravings. Lastly, the Big Data Beard team is a community sponsor of Strata Data and will be at each event and if you use promo code PCBEARD, you get 20% off your conference pass! What could be more exciting than that?
Disney Data Analytics Conference 
When: August 28 – 29
Where: Orlando, FL
More information: https://www.disneydataconference.com/
In full disclosure, neither of us have been to the Disney Data Analytics Conference before but we have heard wonderful things and common… its DISNEY! In all seriousness, we have seen the Disney booth at Strata Data and a few other conferences and their story is pretty incredible. Imagine an entire conference dedicated to stories similar to Disney’s? They haven’t released the list of speakers this year but looking at last year’s list you see names like the Woz (Steve Wozniak), Arijit Sengupta from SFDC and Rebecca Jarvis from ABC News. We are pretty excited to check this one out for the first time and I’m sure podcasts & blogs will follow.
DataWorks Summit 
Two different locations
When: Berlin, Germany – April 16-19
San Jose, CA – June 17 – 21
More information: https://dataworkssummit.com/
DataWorks Summit is one of the industry’s premier Big Data events that covers topics from analytics to data science and AI. Similarly to Strata Data, DataWorks has a couple different locations this year, giving more people the chance to attend. Some of the scheduled speakers include Sanjay Radia, Chief Architect and Founder of Hortonworks and Scott Gnau, CTO for Hortonworks. Scott recently electrified us on the Big Data Beard Podcast in what is our most downloaded episode to date. Lastly, what is really exciting about this conference is the healthy mix of technical sessions and business sessions that give attendees a more well-rounded knowledge of Big Data and analytics. If you are able to attend the one in Germany, drinks some beers (Brett from Boston says beeah) and if you are going to San Jose, there is a great Thai spot we can show you.
There are plenty of other great conferences this year that we would love to attend like O’Reilly Media’s AI conference. Big Data Beard is a sponsor of this conference as well and that PCBEARD promo code will work for this as well.
If you have any that we missed or that you are excited about let us know either here or on Twitter. Who doesn’t love a good conference?
Your bearded friends… Brett and Kyle
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