Your Guide to PM Conferences in 2026
Conferences are fun! You get to learn and meet people. Do work while not doing work... who doesn't love them?
Everyone keeps asking me: what are the PM conferences you recommend going to?
Well, there’s nothing perfect. So I’m putting one on for you! It’s tomorrow morning and free:
I’ll be giving a talk on “Stop using AI in the browser.” You’ll also get to hear from some of my awesome podcast guests: Pawel Huryn, Hamel Husain, Laura Burkhauser, Satyajeet Salgar.
2026 PM Conferences
Here’s the top conferences I have on my radar:
And here’s a more holistic listing of everything significant I know of:
January
Product-Led Summit - Washington, DC (Jan 28)
Prdkt+ - Cairo, Egypt (Jan 30-31)
February
WebSummit Qatar - Doha, Qatar (Feb 1-4)
ProductWorld - San Jose, CA (Feb 18-20)
ProductCon London - London, UK (Feb 24)
Product-Led Summit - Austin, TX (Feb 24-25)
March
Gartner Product Leadership Conference - Grapevine, TX (Mar 9-10)
SXSW - Austin, TX (Mar 12-18)
AI Product Day - Paris, France (Mar 23)
Pendomonium - Raleigh, NC (Mar 24-26)
Chief Product Officer Summit - New York, NY (Mar 26)
Product Operations Summit - New York, NY (Mar 26-27)
Product-Led Summit - New York, NY (Mar 26-27)
April
Product-Led Summit - Denver, CO (Apr 1-2)
Business of Software Europe - Cambridge, UK (Apr 13-14)
Chief Product Officer Summit - Palo Alto, CA (Apr 14)
AI Product Summit - San Jose, CA (Apr 15)
Product at Heart Leadership - Hamburg, Germany (Apr 20-21)
May
ProductWorld Europe - Opatija, Croatia (May 7-8)
UXDX USA - New York, NY (May 11-13)
Web Summit Vancouver - Vancouver, Canada (May 11-14)
SaaStr Annual - San Mateo, CA (May 13-15)
La Product Conf - Paris, France (May 19)
ProductCon New York - New York, NY (May 20)
La Product Conf - Madrid, Spain (May 22)
UXDX EMEA - Berlin, Germany (May 27-29)
Chief Product Officer Summit - Amsterdam, Netherlands (May 28-29)
Product-Led Summit - Amsterdam, Netherlands (May 28-29)
June
Web Summit Rio - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Jun 8-11)
Mind the Product London - London, UK (Jun 15-16)
Product-Led Summit - Seattle, WA (Jun 17-18)
Productized Conference - Lisbon, Portugal (Jun 18-19)
Product-Led Summit - London, UK (Jun 24-25)
Product at Heart Conference - Hamburg, Germany (Jun 26)
July
Agile on the Beach - Falmouth, UK (Jul 2-3)
Agile2026 - Washington, DC (Jul 26-28)
August
ProductCon AI: Online Edition - Virtual (Aug 5)
September
ProductLab Conf - Berlin, Germany (Sep 15-17)
Chief Product Officer Summit - San Francisco, CA (Sep 17)
Product-Led Summit - San Francisco, CA (Sep 22-23)
Product Operations Summit - San Francisco, CA (Sep 22-23)
October
INDUSTRY: The Product Conference - Chicago, IL (Oct 7)
Product-Led Summit - Berlin, Germany (Oct 14-15)
Product-Led Summit - Sydney, Australia (Oct 28)
Product-Led Summit - Boston, MA (Oct 28-29)
November
Web Summit Lisbon - Lisbon, Portugal (Nov 9-12)
Product-Led Summit - Toronto, Canada (Nov 11-12)
December
Chief Product Officer Summit - London, UK (Dec 2)
Are there any conferences I missed? Reply to this e-mail and I’ll add them.
Why Should You Attend Conferences?
I’ve been to a lot of conferences. As a speaker. As an attendee. As someone who just wanted free coffee and an excuse to expense a flight.
Most people do conferences wrong. They sit in sessions, take notes they’ll never read, collect business cards that end up in a drawer, and fly home thinking “that was nice.”
That’s a waste.
The Real ROI
70-85% of jobs come through professional networks. 80% of people who got hired had a connection at the company before they applied.
Conferences are concentrated networking opportunities. In 48 hours, you can meet more relevant people in your field than you’d meet in a year of normal work.
I’ve gotten job offers from conference connections. I’ve found podcast guests. I’ve met co-instructors for courses. I’ve made actual friends: people I text about work problems and life problems.
None of that came from sitting in sessions.
The Three Things You Actually Get
1. Network expansion that compounds.
Your network is your career’s leverage. Every person you meet knows 100+ other people. One good relationship can open doors you didn’t know existed.
2. Learning that’s actually sticky.
Yes, you can watch talks on YouTube. But there’s something different about hearing a speaker, then grabbing coffee with them afterward and asking your specific question. Context makes learning stick.
3. Working while not working.
Conferences are one of the few times you can legitimately step back from the daily grind and think bigger. You’re not in Slack. You’re not in your 1:1s. You’re not triaging bugs. You’re surrounded by people solving similar problems at different companies. That perspective is worth the flight.
How to Maximize Attending a Conference
How does Aakash do conferences? Here’s my playbook.
Before You Go
Pre-connect with 10 people you want to meet. Check the speaker list, attendee list, and conference hashtag on LinkedIn. Send a simple message:
“Hey, I’ll be at [conference] too - would love to grab 15 minutes if you have time.”
Schedule 2-3 dinners or coffees in advance. Book a restaurant for 6-8 people a month out. Good tables go fast in conference cities.
During the Conference
Take notes on people, not sessions. After each meaningful conversation, jot down: their name, company, what you talked about, any follow-up you promised. This is your follow-up cheat sheet.
Take a photo with someone interesting and post it to LinkedIn. Tag them. Write a genuine comment about what you talked about. This does three things: it locks in the memory, it signals to your network that you’re at the event, and it gives the person you met a reason to engage with you.
Make LinkedIn connections on the spot. Don’t wait. Pull out your phone, connect right there, and add a note about what you discussed.
After the Conference
Follow up within 24 hours. Most people wait too long. By day three, they’ve forgotten who you are. Send a quick note:
“Great meeting you at [conference]. I’ve been thinking about what you said about [specific thing].”
Share a learnings doc with your boss and team. Two pages max. What you learned, who you met, what the team should explore. This turns your conference expense into visible ROI.
Follow up again at 6 months. This is where most people drop off. Set a calendar reminder. Send a note:
“Hey, we met at [conference] back in [month]. How’s [that project they mentioned] going?” This is what separates one-time contacts from actual relationships.
The Real Goal: Make 1-2 Actual Friends
You’re not trying to meet 50 people. You’re trying to make 1-2 real friends.
Find people you genuinely like. People whose problems are interesting to you. People you’d grab a beer with even if there was no professional benefit.
I still talk to people I met at conferences 5+ years ago. They’ve introduced me to opportunities, given me advice, and made my career better in ways I couldn’t have predicted.
One great relationship beats 100 business cards.
If I Could Only Choose One…
I’d go to our free virtual conference tomorrow of course. But if you prefer the in-person type, I’d recommend Mind the Product in London on June 16th.
It’s been home to many legendary talks. Here’s two I enjoyed from the past.
Aman Khan on How to Thrive as an AI PM:
Nesrine Changuel on Emotional Connection:
I myself might make a special appearance there 😉.
Talk soon,
Aakash