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Our great big list of kids conferences for 2016 is ready to be released! It’s a compilation of major events that touch on different areas of the children’s media world. Apps, toys, eBooks, education, television, video games, and more. A similar list was created last year at this time for 2015 conferences. The 2016 list is now available in two flavors. The first is a PDF doc that sorts events chronologically. The second PDF segments conferences by media type, or focus.

You may be asking yourself, “Is every children’s media event included on this list?” The answer is no. There are 68 events listed here and you could easily add hundreds more. However, the conferences included tend to be among the biggest or best known events in their specific area of focus.

A few notes about what’s new in our conference list since last year:

  • Conferences related to virtual reality and augmented reality were added as this business sector is heating up fast. These events are not specifically child focused, but is an area worth watching as it could offer new opportunities with children’s media down the road.

  • One digital video conference, VidCon, was added as more and more kids watch digital videos on mobile devices. Another event to look for is YouTube’s Brandcast, which at the time of writing has not publicly announced a date for their 2016 event.

  • Two big children’s research conferences, Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) and the Cognitive Development Society (CDS) are biennual events, and 2016 is an off year for each. See you in 2017!

  • The iKids event from Brunico has been folded into their annual Kidscreen conference.

  • Early Education & Technology for Children (EETC) has been folded into the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) annual conference.

  • Also not included at the time of posting, Common Sense Media and Vicky Rideout should have a Zero to Eight media use report out sometime in 2016. An event date has yet to be announced but keep on the lookout for it later in the year.

If you know of other events not included on our list that could be of benefit to the children’s media community, please do share a comment below, complete with the event name, date(s), location, and URL. Thanks for your help, and I look forward to seeing you at a future event!

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8 Responses to “”

  1. Roxie Munro Says:

    Here are three major children’s book conferences: mainly print; also ebooks and apps; education.

    21st Century Children’s Nonfiction Conference, June 10-12, New Rochelle, NY
    http://www.21cnfc.com/

    SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators) Annual Conference, New York, NY, Feb 12-14
    https://www.scbwi.org/events/17th-annual-scbwi-winter-conference-in-new-york-ny16/

    SCBWI Summer Conference, Los Angeles, CA, July 31-August 3
    https://www.scbwi.org/events/44th-annual-scbwi-summer-conference-in-los-angeles/

  2. Scott Says:

    Some more additions:

    The Kids Want Mobile, May 19, 2016 in Berlin
    http://thekidswantmobile.com

    BANFF World Media Festival, June 12-15, 2015 in Banff, Alberta, Canada
    http://banffmediafestival.com/

  3. Scott Says:

    Transbook – The Future of Digital Children’s Publishing
    December 2016 in Montreuil, France
    http://transbook.org/

  4. Karen Nemeth Says:

    Hi, Scott
    I think Fred Forward is not happening in June 2016 – but will be rescheduled later.
    Thanks for the great list!

  5. Greg Childs Says:

    The Children’s Media Conference (UK) – Sheffield 5 – 7 July 2016 a gathering of over 1,000 practitioners, writers, researchers etc, in all sectors of children’s media including audio, film, TV, interactive, publishing, games, licensing, culture and the arts, and educational media.

  6. Scott Traylor Says:

    Just announced:
    VidCon 2016, June 23-25, 2016
    Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, CA
    http://vidcon.com/registration/

  7. Charlie Schroder Says:

    The Global Kids Connect conference, presented by Publishers Weekly and Bologna Children’s Book Fair: New York City 7 December 2016

  8. Ronald VandenBurg Says:

    Do you have a 2017 list available?

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