Alright, if you’re looking to get up to speed on the latest and future developments in your field, listen to inspiring keynote talks from world thinkers and doers, or just rub elbows with other professionals, conferences are surely the place to be.

But with a lot of options in France, choosing which conferences to devote your time to can be way too challenging.

We’ve done the search so that you don’t have to and came up with a list of what we think are the coolest conferences to go to in 2022 in Paris.

Whatever your industry, interest or budget, you’re sure to find the perfect option.

Well! First, why do people attend conferences?

The answer is pretty clear and easy.

To learn, connect and have an eye into what’s to come.

There are so many amazing ways to learn and sharpen one’s brain nowadays: reading blogs, listening to podcasts, watching youtube videos, and attending webinars, just to name a few.

Why bother with the time and expense of an in-person conference?

Many folks who have this attitude often miss out on one of the best opportunities to take their game to the next level.

Conferences provide unique learning, career building and knowledge upgrading opportunities that one just can’t find anywhere else.

While it’s crucial to attend at least one conference every year in your professional field, it’s even better to attend those outside your field. This is where you’re brought to exercise your open-mindedness. In these types of gatherings, you’re always invited to embrace the crazy, disruptive, innovative, surprising and downright jaw-dropping ideas you can come across.

In these conferences, our world views get repeatedly challenged and the impact of listening to speakers that share their unique ideas from a fresh perspective is an unparalleled experience.

The challenge here – which happens to many of us – is that we get used to doing things the way that we always do things. We get stuck within the four walls of our offices, and the way things are done there, and forget that there’s a whole other world out there that may do (actually does) things differently than we do. Without stepping back to reflect on that, we often get stuck in a rut and burn out.

So, if you live in Paris, France or are planning to travel to France this year and want to expand your knowledge of the world, make sure you reserve a ticket to one of the following conferences.

Just a note: Because we’re looking so far into the future, we don’t have all the dates and prices yet, but will update this list as we get them.

Let’s get started:

VivaTech

For more than five years, Vivatech has been leading the way to become the main French event where the national booming Tech scene and its minds gather annually. VivaTech mainly brings together startups with the large corporate sector. VivaTech 2017 was like the 2016 edition but more refined. There were fewer stages and amazing speakers and multinational CEOs like Les Échos CEO Francis Morel, LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault or Peter Fenton from Benchmark, Eric Schmidt from Alphabet, Daniel Zhang from Alibaba and Dan Schulman from PayPal; just to name a few. This conference showcases the best of the world’s innovators and brings together tech-lovers and pioneers of the future, connecting startups with investors.

Find more on VivaTechnology

2. Hello Tomorrow Summit

The Future belongs to those who understand it and, according to Mike Bloomberg, Hello Tomorrow Summit happens to be “a unique event where the brightest entrepreneurs and changemakers meet to build our future”.
Similar to VivaTech, Hello Tomorrow Summit provides many new ideas about the future and the available support for entrepreneurs. This summit aims to swiftly establish links between young talented individuals and economic actors (venture capitalists, investment funds, etc.) with the main goal of fostering innovation within companies of all sizes in strategic areas: energy and environment, health, transport/mobility, food and agriculture, waste management, water, data transparency, supply chain management, and space. On the sidelines of keynote talks, a lot of space is occupied by various industrial partners accompanied by representatives of the startups selected through an international competition. Workshops and very specialized mini-lectures, as well as technology demonstrations, are hosted. These guys also have an Investor Day with the aim of bringing together startups and international investors that are influential in each area of the competition.

More details here.

3. Paris Talks

What does the future look like? What does it hold? Is this our final century? Can anyone ever predict what the next century will be like?

As we hurtle towards the future, will we choose algorithmic determinism or voyages to outer space?

All these Burning questions in Technology, Art, Design, Science and different other fields will be dealt with on the Paris Talks stage in 2023.

This full-day conference is designed for decision-makers, artists, entrepreneurs, inventors, scientists, educators, futurists, environmentalists, economists, visionaries and curious people that want to hear and learn about provocative, disruptive insights, promising BIG IDEAS and approaches on how to deal with some of the world’s toughest current and future challenges.

By attending, you’ll be challenged to look at the Future of Humanity with an unconventional eye. You’ll also learn different ways to improve your capacity of inventing a better future for yourself, your Business and the coming generations.

Warning: With speakers from Unesco, INSEAD, Council of Europe, International Energy Agency, artists and entertainers and more, Paris Talks promises to be more than an average company, university conference or a startup fair. It’s a space where world’s thinkers, futurists, and doers will meet to share their BIG IDEAS about the Future of Humanity.

Tickets will be available here

4. TedxParis

TedxParis Conference, an independently organized event, is operated under license from TED and will take place sometime in Nov 2018. Most of the talks are usually done in French and attendees need a fluent level of French. From the moment when tickets are released, it’ll take you up to 15 mins to miss out as tickets usually sell out pretty fast.

Unlike Paris Talks that will focus more on foresight and Big Ideas around future issues of seven major sectors, connection building among attendees and entertainment, or VivaTech and its competitor Hello Tomorrow Summit that make everything Tech, startup, new gadget exhibitions, Venture Capital and investments a priority, TedxParis often happens in a single evening and is made of talks, short coffee breaks and entertainment. The best way to get a ticket to your next TedxParis is to follow them on Twitter or subscribe to their newsletter to be able to receive a notification when tickets are released.

Conclusion

In a world where we’re bombarded with email and other notifications, it’s becoming – as it’s always been – highly effective to connect with people face to face. Conferences, if you’re lucky enough to choose them wisely, are (and we strongly believe) the best ways to accelerate this process, since you can meet way too many people in just a few days.

The above-listed events are, according to us, just some of the amazing gatherings that will gather a huge number of decision-makers, futurists, and doers to tackle some of the world’s toughest issues.

We’re totally aware that this list isn’t definitive and needs to be extended and, should you have an event you think is worth attending, please let us know.