For those interested in VoIP and telecom in general, there are a ton of great events happening all around the world and throughout the year. This includes events like tradeshows, conferences, exhibits, workshops, seminars and the like. They come in all sizes and types, so whatever you might be looking for, chances are you’ll be able to find it sometime during the year. Here are a few examples.

ACCE Conference & Expo (AKA Contact Center Expo)

The ACCE conference is known as one of the biggest for call center industry people around. It goes from May 6-May 9 in 2014. Here, you can network with peers and brush up on the latest practices. The conference has been going for 11 years now, and it’s doubled in size since 2011. They perform the Annual ICMI Global Contact Center Awards Dinner & Celebration here too, so it’s definitely worth a visit.

Cloud Slam

Cloud Slam is an event where you can learn all about new technological advances in cloud technology. This is great for scientists, researchers, engineers, IT managers and others to learn and network.  The event is going on its 6^th year and usually takes place in June in Santa Clara or thereabouts. Last year focuses on breakthroughs that helped people in diverse fields including Healthcare, Biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and so on.  It included some of the top people in the field including Don Ferguson, the CTO of Dell, and Mac Devine.

FutureCom

Futurecom is the biggest communications event in Latin America.  It usually features over 15 h=thousand people who hail from over 40 different countries.  There are two parts to the event, featuring both the International Congress and the Business Trade Show/Exhibition. Futurecom is a great place to network for anyone in the telecom field who happens to be in the area, especially for those who speak Portuguese.

ClueCon

ClueCon takes  place over a three day period. It focuses on open source Telephony user and developer systems. The conference is usually available in early August. It was developed by the FreeSWITCH core developer team. A few different open source leaders all get together and try to figure out a way to improve Internet Telephony options together. The conference blends technical and business-oriented discussions, all from leaders in the industry. The motto of the conference is “A conference for developers, by developers.” You can eat a hearty lunch here and talk to other open source telephony people about developing your respective approaches.

AndiCom

This is also known as the International ICT Congress, and it’s a project sponsored from the Telecommunications Research Center of Colombia, also known as CINTEL. What’s unique about the conference is that it does a sort of Academic Congress format, while at the same time it has a lot of commercial exhibit support. One of the best reasons to go to this congress is to promote your business to other people who would be interested in something VoIP or telecom related.

AstriCon

This conference has a full name of Asterisk User Conference & Expo. The mission of the conference is to spread the influence, knowledge, and awareness of Asterisk throughout the course of the three days where they operate. You can get great information if you use Asterisk, or even if you are just thinking about doing so.

Overall, whether you are using VoIP systems, work in the telecommunications field, focus on hosted PABX or anything else related, conferences are an excellent way to increase your knowledge, skill and most of all your exposure to others who are all doing the same thing.