A collaborative learning lab for seasoned and emerging conference organizers
to shape the future of conferences
The way we design conferences needs a radical reimagining.
You already know: the traditional conference model is outdated.
Too often, well-intentioned events end up being a blur of slide decks and surface-level networking, leaving participants feeling exhausted and disengaged.
Today’s audiences expect more:
Connection. Relevance. Participation. Meaning.
Not just passive consumption of information they can find online.
If you're someone who creates conferences and summits—whether for your company, your clients, or your community—this day is for you!
The Conference for Conferences is a high-impact gathering for innovative organizers and experience designers who are ready to ditch the default, and craft engaging events that drive learning, connection, and lasting change.
You’ll join a high caliber community of 100+ passionate event pioneers in a dynamic learning lab where we’ll:
Deconstruct and re-envision traditional conference formats (speakers, panels, fireside chats, etc.)
Collaborate on designing more engaging, inclusive, and transformational alternatives
Exchange best practices with an inspiring group of peers, and solve the challenges you face in your own convenings.
Hear lightening talks with fresh approaches from conferences that work.
Learn practical tools rooted in experience design, behavioral science, and adult learning.
Emceed and curated by The Culture Conference founder Jenny Sauer-Klein, a leading voice in experience design, Jenny will guide you through a day of refreshing ideas, powerful facilitation, and deep connection with fellow conveners.
We’re not just talking about it—we’re modeling it. This is a meta experience where you’ll learn by doing, with transparency on the “how” and “why” behind our design choices.
Expect bold ideas, hands-on co-creation, and real talk about what’s working, what’s not, and what’s next.
When + Where:
Tuesday September 16th, 2025
9:00 AM – 6:00 PM
at the Oakland Museum of California
Pre-Conference Day-Long intensive for the Responsive Conference
Cost:
$450 by August 15th
$600 after August 15th
Includes coffee, tea, snacks, lunch and fun surprises!
Can’t make it this year? Sign up on our notification list HERE to be the first to receive updates on our next event.
You’ll walk away with:
Proven frameworks to design more engaging, impactful conferences
Real-world case studies from leading conferences that unpack what works (and what doesn’t)
Fresh ideas and peer insights from fellow conveners across industries
Practical tools to boost engagement, learning retention, and post-event impact
A renewed sense of purpose and possibility for how you gather
THIS CONFERENCE IS FOR
Internal Leaders who organize and lead conferences for their employees, or customer base
Entrepreneurial Leaders who organize and lead conferences for their industry, community or clients
Ready to connect and fill your cup with innovative ideas?
This isn’t just another conference—it’s the game-changer your audience deserves.
SCHEDULE
9am-9:30am Arrival + Mingle
9:30am-12:30pm Morning Session (mainstage + breakouts)
12:30-1:30pm Lunch with Affinity Groups
1:30pm-5:00pm Afternoon Session (mainstage + breakouts)
5:00pm-6:00pm Golden Hour (community gathering)
OUR PRESENTERS
Jenny Sauer-Klein
Founder, The Culture Conference and The Primary Shift
Jenny Sauer-Klein specializes in developing dynamic learning experiences that help companies engage their employees and bring their culture to life. She has consulted for and spoken at companies like Airbnb, Google, Autodesk, Genentech, and Stanford based on the frameworks she teaches through The Primary Shift experience design studio. She is also the founder and director of The Culture Conference, an invite-only event for business leaders who are committed to building a positive culture in their own organizations. She has been featured in The New York Times, Forbes, Fast Company, and Inc., as well as Tim Ferriss' book Tools of Titans.
Chris Guillebeau
Founder of World Domination Summit and NeuroDiversion
Chris Guillebeau is an author, entrepreneur, and event creator with extensive experience in producing unique, mission-driven conferences. He previously founded the World Domination Summit (WDS), a gathering that drew thousands of attendees annually for more than a decade. His newest project, NeuroDiversion, explores the intersection of neurodivergence and creativity through immersive programming and community engagement. Chris brings a track record of designing events that are both thoughtful and unconventional, with a focus on meaningful experiences over corporate formality.
https://NeuroDiversion.org
Adam Rosendahl
Founder, Late Nite Art
Adam Rosendahl is the Founder and CEO of the Late Nite Art Method®, a practice that addresses disconnection in the workplace through unconventional yet highly effective learning and development programs. From executives at Adobe and Pixar to Federal Probation Officers in Louisville, Kentucky—a diverse range of companies, universities, and public institutions depend on Adam to create transformational events and gatherings that help leaders and teams deepen connection, lean into creative problem-solving, and engage in the conversations they want to have, but just aren’t having. Adam has been a guest lecturer at Stanford, UC Berkeley, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and is considered a global leader in facilitating group experiences that humanize people beyond the roles they play at work.
Jessie Jacob
Culture First Community Manager at Culture Amp
Meet Jessie Jacob, a seasoned professional specializing in community engagement and workplace culture. As the Senior Community Engagement Manager at Culture Amp, Jessie serves as the guiding force behind the Culture First Global Chapters program. This initiative has grown from a modest four chapters in 2019 to an expansive global network comprising over 100+ chapters and 10,000 community members. Her role is to support their 150+ global chapter leads in hosting virtual and in-person gatherings on topics that relate to creating a better world of work. Looking forward, Jessie aspires to redefine the role of a conference emcee. Her vision is to create environments that promote not just passive attendance, but meaningful engagement among participants. Jessie draws inspiration from thought leaders like Priya Parker, an expert in facilitating impactful gatherings, and Esther Perel, renowned for her insights into relational intelligence.
Daria Wagganer
Vice President and Strategic Account Advisor at BigSpeak Speakers Bureau
BigSpeak is the largest business-oriented speaker agency in the U.S., serving over 65% of global Fortune 1000 companies. We address the needs of corporations, associations, non-profits, and government agencies by providing a variety of speakers who are subject matter experts in their respective fields. I collaborate with our clients to ensure that they are matched with the perfect speaker to create an impactful, informative, and inspiring event. My goal is to be a long term partner and an integral part of my clients' learning and development programs year after year!
Tucker Bryant
Poet & Keynote Speaker
I left my job as a Product Marketer at Google to become a full-time poet and keynote speaker. I craft keynote experiences that help business leaders apply the Turn the Page™ principles to their most pressing business and personal challenges.
My work, which has garnered millions of views online, has been featured at events hosted by TEDx, the New York Times, and dozens of other organizations across the globe. I've had the privilege of sharing on stages graced by Mark Cuban, Gary Vaynerchuk, Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Mel Robbins, and Bill Belichick as well as founders and executives from scores of Fortune 500 companies.
Smiley Poswolsky
Workplace Culture Keynote Speaker
When companies want to drive culture transformation and increase trust, belonging, human connection, and team engagement, they call ADAM “SMILEY” POSWOLSKY.
Smiley is an internationally renowned keynote speaker, workplace belonging expert, and bestselling author of four books that have been translated into multiple languages, including The Quarter-Life Breakthrough, Friendship in the Age of Loneliness, and The Workplace Belonging Toolkit.
Smiley shares industry-shaping insights and practical tools to attract and retain top talent across generations, create a culture of belonging, and engage high-performing teams, at world-class organizations like Apple, Google, Verizon, JPMorgan Chase, Mayo Clinic, and the U.S. Navy. Smiley’s TED talk has been viewed 2 million times, and he has delivered 700 keynotes in front of 500,000 people in 25 countries.
Smiley’s work has been featured in 100 media outlets, including Harvard Business Review, the Wall St. Journal, Fast Company, the New York Times, the New Yorker, and the World Economic Forum.
Elena Crescia
Content Curator | Wellbeing Events Adviser | TEDxSaoPaulo | The Wellbeing Project
With over a decade curating TEDxSãoPaulo, Elena has honed her expertise in speaker coaching and event orchestration, empowering over a thousand individuals to share their impactful stories. Her commitment to nurturing powerful ideas and fostering connections aligns with her role in advancing social change and wellbeing across diverse communities. Her next big adventure: organizing and curating TEDHealth Sao Paulo 2026.
Steven Huang
Director of People + Conference Organizer
Steven is the Director of People at the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) which puts on the bi-annual Psychedelic Science conference; the flagship event within the psychedelic ecosystem. Steven helps coordinate the Psychedelic Science team, which consists of 30 full-time staff, 40 full-time contractors, and 350 volunteers; that support 500 speakers and host 12,500 attendees. Steven relishes in the unique challenge of building common ground between the medical, the mystical, the marginalized, and the mainstream.
APPLY TO BE A PRESENTER
Are you an experienced conference convener, organizer or producer? Do you have hard-earned learnings to share with the community about what has worked for your event and audience that you’d like to share? Please fill out the application below to be considered for an opportunity to present at The Conference for Conferences.
Tahira Endean
IMEX Head of Program
Three decades of people-centric, purpose driven conference design brings many lessons. The author of both Intentional Event Design and the recent Our KPI is Joy.
$450 by August 15th
$600 after August 15th
Includes coffee, tea, snacks, lunch and fun surprises!
Get 50% off your ticket when you are a Responsive Conference attendee by using the code RESPONSIVE50 at checkout. (you must be registered with the main conference before you purchase your Conference for Conferences ticket to redeem discount)
Groups of 4+ get 20% off, email info@thecultureconference.com for a custom code.
REGISTRATION
This event is the opening day of the Responsive Conference, Responsive brings founders and executives together to reshape how we work. At Responsive Conference 2025, you’ll discover tactics, tools and connections for how to Design for Change to proactively respond to the future.
Check out more about the main conference HERE, happening September 17-18.
OUR VENUE
Hosted at the Oakland Museum of California
1000 Oak St, Oakland, CA 94607
OMCA — the Oakland Museum of California — is a museum, garden, and gathering place in the heart of the Bay that explores the big ideas that shape California lives. OMCA explores the big ideas that shape California lives, then bring to life the untold and under-told stories of the people behind them—all with a distinctly Oakland point of view.