Author: Pradip Khakhar

It’s that time of year again when you might be researching awesome Product conferences and workshops. Below are 10 Product conferences & workshops for 2020 that you should consider as you plan what conferences & workshops to attend in 2020.

There seems to be a lot of love for the big-box brand conferences, and deservedly so. However, in this list, I have also listed workshops (in other words for full disclosure: I’m biased).

Above all, I do like a big conference, it draws a big crowd, the energy, and excitement. However, there is so much going on it’s sometimes difficult to meet people and really interact with them.

Therefore, as with the 10 Product People to follow article:

• Some of the conferences and workshops may not directly be Product-related.
• This is not meant to be comprehensive (you probably already knew that 😀), there are so many amazing conferences and workshops in the product space. However, this list has the conferences and workshops I’d consider attending (although not all, however its a good list to start from).
• Conferences and workshops below are NOT ordered in any specific way.

10 Product conferences & workshops for 2020

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1. SaaStr Annual 2020

Where the cloud meets.

According to SaaStr’s website: SaaStr Annual is the largest non-vendor confab in the world, uniting the global B2B SaaS community both online and off. SaaStr wants to help everyone scale faster and with less stress and more success!

In 2020, over 15,000 Founders, Senior Executives, and Cloud VCs will come together over three action-packed days of high-quality networking, learning from those who’ve done it, and of course, great food, generously-poured drinks, and plenty of fun.

Date: March 10 – 11, 2020
Venue: SF Bay Area, USA.

Check out SaaStr Annual.

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2. Leading The Product

A Product Management Conference.

This conference is out of Australia. Although I’ve never been to a Leading The Product conference (nor Australia for that matter). We are seeing some amazing products out of the Australian ecosystem. For example, the graphics you see on The Product Angle are created using Canva a company based in Australia.

Also according to its website – tickets and announcements for the 2020 event will go live in February. Leading the Product conference is Australia’s first Product Management conference. Carefully curated by Product Managers, for Product Managers, the speakers are hand-picked as the best in the business, sharing insights, case studies and behind-the-scenes stories that keep the audience riveted.

In conclusion: I’ll be coming back to Leading the Product in Feb to see what their 2020 plans are.

Date: 1st of September in Melbourne and the 4th of September in Sydney.
Venue: Melborne and Sydney

Check out Leading The Product.

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3. Business of Software

According to the business of software website: the business of Software Conference is a 3-day single-track conference for Founders, CXOs, and Emerging Leaders in Software and SaaS companies.

Date: September 21 – 23, 2020
Venue: Boston, MA. USA.

Check out the Business of Software.

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4. Mind The Product

Mind the Product has both Conferences and Workshops multiple times during 2020. Furthermore, according to its website; Mind The Product is the world’s largest community of passionate product people. Mind The Product is run by product people, for product people, and united by a mission to push our craft forward together.

Date: Multiple
Venue: Multiple

Check out Mind The Product’s Conferences and Workshops.

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5. Industry Conference

According to its website; INDUSTRY features well-known product leaders from across the world present on the Main Stage. And you can catch a broad range of presentations on one of the breakout stages that open during day 2 of the conference. (I guess I won’t be invited to speak anytime soon 😉 (I’m not “well-known”)).

There are two events for the year, the first in Europe (Dublin Ireland), and the second in the USA (Cleveland, Ohio).

[Update the Industry Conference is now virtual. The virtual conference for software fro software product manager is happening on September, 22 and 23, 2020]

Check out Industry Conference (now virtual).

If you are interested in attending Product events here are 10 conferences and workshops to consider in 2020. Share on X

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6. Women In Product

I am not seeing any events currently listed for 2020. However, based on the number of events in 2019 I would take an educated guess that Women In Product will have events in 2020.

According to its website; Women In Product unites women in product management careers via online platforms and in-person events. Their members learn, mentor, and grow through their connections made within the Women In Product network.

Check out Women In Product.

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7. Brainmates

This is another organization based out of Australia. You might sense that I am very curious about the Product ecosystem in Australia, you’d be right. 🤓

According to its website; Every day, Brainmates works with clients to equip and enable them to build products that their customers love through Product Management public courses, workplace training, Product consulting, Product Management contracting, Product community events and Product career development.

Date: Multiple
Venue: Multiple

Check out Brainmates.

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8. Roman Pichler

Roman Pichler is a product management expert specialized in digital products. He has more than 15 years of experience in teaching product managers and product owners, and in helping, companies build a successful product management organization.​

When I first started in Product Management and I googled something Roman’s content consistently showed up.

Date: Multiple
Venue: Multiple

Check out Roman Pichler’s website.

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9. SVPG

Silicon Valley Product Group founded by Marty Cagan, author of the very popular Product Management book called Inspired.

According to the website; The best companies go about building great products differently. Silicon Valley Product Group (SVPG) was created to share lessons learned and best practices about how to build innovative products customers love. SVPG are industry veterans who have each held executive-level positions at major Silicon Valley firms where we have been instrumental in the development of leading products.

Date: Multiple
Venue: Multiple

Check out SVPG’s website.

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10. Sequent

Steven Haines is Sequent’s founder and author of three books; The Product Manager’s survival guide, The Product Managers desk reference, and Managing Product Management.

Furthermore, according to Sequent’s website; Sequent Learning Networks is a global product management training and advisory services firm. Sequent provides product management assessments, a targeted training curriculum, and advisory services for product management leaders and product teams.

Date: Multiple
Venue: Multiple

Check out Sequent’s website.

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Bonus

Hypergrowth by Drift

This is aimed at Marketers, according to Drift’s website – starting conversations should be your most important goal as a marketer. Conversational Marketing is transforming how businesses buy from other businesses and it’s imperative that you stay ahead of the curve. With this new category of conversational marketing, I think it’s something Product people should be aware of.

Date: Multiple
Venue: Multiple

Check out Drift’s website.

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Bonus

Product Impact 2020

A 1-day conference to level up your Product Skills.

What you will learn (by doing)

Level up your Product skills – develop the skills, mindset, & tools, to facilitate effective collaboration and communication in cross-functional teams. Creating alignment and breaking down silos.

The conference combines training, practical exercises, and conference-style talks to create a learning environment where you can practice your new skills on the day.

Date: Wednesday, April 01, 2020
Venue: Midtown Manhattan, NYC, and Online

If you cannot make it out to NYC on April 01, 2020, we are also offering an online-only ticket where you will get access to all the recorded sessions, handouts, and slides used throughout the day (as well as other perks).

For tickets and additional information check out Product Impact 2020.

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Bonus

According to Pendo. The ProductCraft Conference series brings to life the thought-provoking perspectives shared on ProductCraft, an editorial site for product people, over the last two years. ProductCraft has built a global community of thousands of product managers through its daily articles, weekly newsletters, podcast episodes and series of debates, polls and infographics

Date: Multiple
Venue: Multiple

Check out Pendo’s website.

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In conclusion, there you have it, that’s my 10 Product conferences & workshops for 2020. What conferences are you considering attending in 2020? let me know and join the conversation on Twitter.

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If you are interested in attending Product events here are 10 conferences and workshops to consider in 2020. Share on X

Lists can be tricky. Does adding individuals to these 10 Product People to follow list mean others are not deserving? absolutely not. This is why in my opinion lists that name people to follow can have a positive and negative impact.

Before we get started a couple of things:

1. Some of the individuals may not work directly in Product, however, in my opinion, their content is relevant to Product teams.
2. This is not meant to be comprehensive (you probably already knew that 😀), there are so many amazing people in the product space. However, this list is Product people that I follow and think their content (and what they are doing) needs to be shared.
3. Individuals below are NOT ordered in any specific way.

10 Product People to follow

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Hiten Shah

If your talking Product, there is no way you cannot mention Hiten Shah. Hiten and Product go in the same sentence all the time. Hiten has founded three SaaS companies; Crazy Egg, KISSmetrics, and Quick Sprout as well as a very popular newsletter called SaaS weekly.

I’ve reached out to Hiten a few times with questions and for guidance and Hiten is super quick to respond and provides a ton of very valuable feedback. Thank you, Hiten. 🙏

Follow Hiten on Twitter.

If you are interested in the Product space here are 10 Product People to follow. Share on X

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Marie Prokopets

Marie is the co-founder of Use FYI and Product Habits.

If you are looking to read some awesome content Marie has been creating and sharing some fantastic reads through Use FYI and Product Habits.

Two of my fav reads are The remote work report, and Remote work statistics.

Marie is very active in the Product Hunt community often sharing some great reads (and responding to comments).

Follow Marie on Twitter.

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Ryan Hoover

Ryan is the founder of Product Hunt. We really need no introduction to Ryan or Product Hunt.

I first started following Ryan on Twitter and noticed how he interacts with his team and the product hunt community as a whole.

Ryan is also the founder of Weekend Fund and if you are looking to turn your side project into a company read this, as Ryan introduces Weekend Build.

Follow Ryan on Twitter.

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Melissa Perri

Melissa Perri is the CEO of Produx Labs, a Product Management consultancy, and the author of Escaping the Build Trap. Melissa’s book is next on my reading list. 😉

Since I started following Melissa on Twitter I really enjoy seeing slides from various product conferences that Melissa shares. When you cannot attend a product conference, Melissa’s commentary and photos of slides are the next best thing.

Follow Melissa on Twitter.

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James Mayes

James is a co-founder and CEO of Mind The Product.

I’ve been to a Product Tank event here in NYC, and attending a Mind the Product Conference is on my list of conferences to attend.

I followed James on Twitter for a while and finally messaged him if he’d be open to a meeting while I was in London. He replied and we ended up having brunch in Brighton one sunny morning.

James is a leader in the product space. His thinking and how much emphasis he puts on delivering value to the user is amazing.

Next time we are in the same part of the world would love to connect and chat more.

Follow James on Twitter.

If you are interested in the Product space here are 10 Product People to follow. Share on X

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Brianne Kimmel

Brianne has made it her life’s work to invest in founders who are reimagining work through better tools, benefits and services, and the creation of new classes of work.

For thought-provoking tweets with data insights and a touch of the SF vibe, follow Brianne on Twitter.

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Andrew Chen

I discovered Andrew a few years ago through his writing around the time Andrew worked with Uber (I think). Andrew writes some fantastic long form essays that are very informative and educational such as How to (actually) calculate CAC, and How to build a growth team.

Follow Andrew on Twitter.

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April Dunford

April is a positioning consultant, entrepreneur, board member, angel investor and advisor. Her expertise is built on 25 years as an executive in a series of 7 successful technology startups and 3 global tech giants and launching 16 products as an executive.

If you have not yet read Obviously Awesome I highly recommend it and it is becoming my fav book of the year.

I recently had a video call with April and some of the insights she shared were priceless, thank you April. 🙏

Follow April on Twitter.

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John Cutler

John is a Product development nut at Amplitude who loves wrangling complex problems/answering the why with qual/quant data.

Often I’d be browsing Twitter and when John posts something on Twitter I feel like he is talking directly to me. Some of the issues, challenges, thought leadership content really resonates with what Product Managers go through.

Recently I’ve been thinking about the dynamics within Product teams and the cross-functional nature of the team’s Product works with. I was having a hard time putting my thoughts to paper and next thing I see on Twitter is:

Folks asked for a pdf of this image. And a non-twitter URL.

*Meant to encourage conversations…not as a "maturity model" or linear progression. https://t.co/PyNKRYgAWX pic.twitter.com/TBxHXiWvUS

— John Cutler (@johncutlefish) November 5, 2019

Follow John on Twitter.

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Katelyn Bourgoin

Katelyn is a 3X founder turned growth strategist and trainer. Named as an influencer by Forbes, Katelyn’s past clients include tech startups, small businesses, and Fortune 500 companies like Target and Holiday Inn.

Today Katelyn helps frustrated marketers and product teams figure out what triggers their right-fit customers to buy. When companies know who their best customers are and what those customers really want, it becomes much easier to create awesome products and sell more of them. The result? More happy customers and more money in the bank.

I first was introduced to Katelyn though a webinar and then I took her Trigger Technique: An interactive online workshop. Katelyn strongly believes in learn by doing (and so do I).

I believe as Product Managers, we need to have a strong understanding of the user (nothing new). However, I also strongly believe working alongside the sales team and understanding the sales process of your target customers as well as what triggers them to buy (or not) is just as important.

Follow Katelyn on Twitter.

For full disclosure, Katelyn is also a speaker at Product Impact 2020.

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There you have it, that’s my 10 Product people to follow. Who do you follow that’s awesome? let me know so I can follow them and join the conversation on Twitter.

In this article, I share 10 individuals who you should follow if you are in/ or want to be in the product space. Who are your fav product people that I should be following? https://t.co/L8WS0W2hP4

— Pradip Khakhar (@pradipcloud) November 11, 2019

If you are interested in the Product space here are 10 Product People to follow. Share on X

Product Impact 2020 is now live. Learn more about the speakers and the name of their sessions. Product Impact 2020 – Product Impact 2020. A 1-day conference to level up your Product Skills.

Update: Read the conference that never happened here.

What you will learn (by doing)

Level up your Product skills – develop the skills, mindset, & tools, to facilitate effective collaboration and communication in cross-functional teams. Creating alignment and breaking down silos.

The conference combines training, practical exercises, and conference-style talks to create a learning environment where you can practice your new skills on the day.

Product Impact 2020 Speakers

Product Impact Sponsors

Two months ago back in May 2018, I decided I want to start a podcast. I had zero experience in recording, editing, and publishing audio. Then I had the bright idea of adding a video component for YouTube.

To re-iterate I had zero experience in recording, editing and publishing audio and video. I mean I always loved shooting video and capturing photos on the automatic setting on a simple point and shoot, however, all I did with that content was merely store it on an external hard drive and now in the cloud.

I was determined, and I knew to achieve this goal of starting a podcast, I would have to:

– Choose the topic of discussion
– Decide the name and who the target audience is.
– Get listed on Apple, Google, and other major podcast sites. Add the graphics, show notes, etc.
– Attract listeners.
– Choose the hardware needed: (depending on the how at a minimum):
– For audio, I thought I would need mics, cables, recording device (or laptop) and editing software and a platform that can host the audio files.
– For video, I thought I would need a video recording device (like a DSLR), mic (backup) and a platform that can host the audio files.
– Finding guests who are willing to be on the podcast.

The to-do list kept getting longer and longer. I needed to break it down so that the podcast does not spiral out of control and never launch.

To start the podcast I ended up breaking the to do’s into three components:

1. The podcast idea and concept
2. Recording and editing
3. Distribution

1. The podcast idea and concept

The idea and concept are one of the most important decisions you can make, some of the questions you should be asking yourself is:

– What is the subject or topic discussion?
– Will you talk alone, with someone each time, or with a new guest
– What is the style of the podcast?
– How long will the podcast last (20, 30, 40, 60 mins), and how often will you publish a new episode (daily, weekly, monthly, etc.)?

2. Recording and Editing

At the essence of every podcast, you will need a way to record the audio. With Anchor.fm you can start a podcast on your phone, yes on your phone! How simple is that?

If you want something more traditional, you will need a microphone, a recording device (which can be your laptop), and software to edit the audio files.

3. Hosting and Distribution

Once you have recorded and edited the audio and are ready for the world to see, I mean listen to your podcast you need a way to get it onto your audience’s devices prepared to listen.

I would strongly recommend starting to build an audience as early as possible, that is one of the things that I did not do.

First, you will need a podcast host who will store the audio files on their servers and then make them available to your listeners.

Then the audio files are picked up by major platforms such as Apple and Google.

Finally, after much procrasination, I launched The Product Angle podcast, listen here.