Hey there, ServiceNow Community!
We’re back with some exciting insights straight from the first World Forum of the season in London.
In this blog, we’ll showcase some top tips and tricks for making the most of your World Forum experience. And who better to give us the lowdown than the amazing Lauren McManamon, one of our Senior Developer Advocates here at the ServiceNow Community. Lauren just attended the first World Forum of the year in London and has tons of great advice to share.
Below, Lauren dives into the importance of attending the keynote, how to make the most of networking opportunities, and even some fun recommendations for what to do in each city while you're there. If you're getting ready for a World Forum, or just curious about the events, you won’t want to miss her insights.
Curious to hear more tips for attending? Read on!
And be sure to click below to register and get more details on what each ServiceNow World Forum has in store.
What are the World Forums?
Talk us through your experience attending the London World Forum!
The overall experience in London was wonderful! The venue they picked was fantastic - they had it at Excel London. It was this big, cavernous convention center. The expo hall looked fantastic. I didn't get to see the keynote because we were working on the expo floor, but the visuals from that were great. The overall vibe seemed very positive. I did hear as well that it was over-attended, more than what had been expected numbers-wise. So, that's always good to see, too. Very validating!
What advice would you give to someone who is attending a ServiceNow World Forum for the first time?
I would definitely attend the keynote! That's something I will always add to my agenda.
It gives a fantastic summary of ServiceNow as a company, both from a product level and a business trajectory level, and keys in on what upcoming pieces of software in the Yokohama release and beyond as well. It's not just focusing on Xanadu.
In addition to that, I would say that even more so than Knowledge, these World Forums function as a phenomenal networking opportunity. These are people from the local environment, right? You’re networking with peers that you could run into at the local Starbucks. So, I would prioritize the people that you would want to see and meet up with, whether those are friends or strangers.
One thing that I became pseudo-famous for in the past was creating a list of people I would hopefully run into at activities I was already planning on going to, who I would need to seek out that I probably wouldn’t run into, who I already knew, and people that I didn't know. Because otherwise you forget! There's so much energy at these events that sometimes, when you're in that buzz, you forget, without having those things kind of planned out beforehand.
Can you talk more about the specific networking opportunities that were available at the World Forums? How can attendees make the most of those opportunities?
Well, first and foremost, there is the ability to network with your peers.
If you are currently looking for a job or currently seeking mentorship from peers, this is the place to do it.
You will be amongst so many of your own peers. A lot of them will be at the networking reception, which occurs at the very end of every single World Forum.
But also, a lot of companies within the ServiceNow space have booths set up, so if you are seeking to work for a ServiceNow partner, they more than likely will have a booth at the World Forum events!
Another angle of networking that you could also pursue is about the product itself. In addition to people who are more business-oriented, there's also phenomenally technically deep business and salespeople at these World Forums as well.
If you're really seeking to understand a newer product or a product that you just got licensed for, this is the place to explore that. There's lots of demo booths that can help you do this. In London, I actually talked with a couple of people that had Gen AI turned on the day before. I was like, “oh, that's fantastic timing, because now you can get the the 411 on all the best Gen AI features!
Do you have any recommendations in terms of navigating the World Forum show floor?
I will say it's a little bit easier than Knowledge, because it is smaller. Knowledge is nearly at 25,000 attendees, and the London World Forum most recently was just over 3,000 people. So, a much smaller event.
But the expo hall is still big. Things will be grouped together, but it'll be organized differently at every event.
In London, upon entering, you were greeted with the registration area so you could get your badge needed for the conference. Then, directly behind that, was the ServiceNow booths, demoing ServiceNow software. Then, around the left- and right-hand side, were all the ServiceNow partner booths. At the very back, we had the ServiceNow Community booths that our team was running!
What should a first-time World Forum attendee bring with them? Are there any physical items that you recommend bringing?
First and foremost, bring a positive, caffeinated, or energetic attitude. It is a full day. There's lots of walking around. There's lots of socializing. Be ready to bring your A-Game.
In terms of items, I think you can get by with either an old-fashioned pen and paper, or some sort of note-taking device like a phone, tablet with a pencil, etc.
Personally, I also always bring a camera. I know that every smartphone has one, but there's something nice about actually having a small DigiCam. I always bring up an actual camera to take pictures of all the people I get to see.
One other thing that you can do is set your Smart Phone lock-screen to have a QR code to your website or LinkedIn profile! Sadly, no one really has an apparatus for containing business cards anymore. A digital business card is a), a greener alternative, and b), It's easy to do.
In fact, I made a little template. It's still pinned at the top of my LinkedIn profile. It does say Knowledge, but it’s still relevant, so, there you go!
In terms of the upcoming World Forums occuring after London, what are you most excited for?
First, I'm going to Dallas, which is my hometown's World Forum, which is so nice! With all the heavy travel recently, it's nice to have an event locally
In addition to that, I have the pleasure of going to both Munich and Paris. Munich, I have never been to before. The last time I was in Germany at all was to play field hockey, so I didn't really get to see much of the city, so I'm very, very excited to see Germany.
In general, I'm very excited to meet a lot of customers. I feel like the farther East or West we go, the slimmer likelihood that those customers would come to Knowledge itself. That was one of the biggest takeaways from the London World Forum, is that so many people had so much gratitude to be able to attend an event like that in person and meet the ServiceNow Community team. I didn't even really realize how many of our own MVPs I had never even met in person. I'm very excited to meet more of our customers that I haven't yet met!
Any other recommendations for people to make the most of their World Forums experience?
Be sure to attend the AI-themed Developer Meetup the day before each World Forum!
For every single one of these World Forums, the Community is hosting an AI-themed Developer Meetup. These are specific meetups for developers to talk about deeper technical concepts, and to allow for the networking of technical customers on the Now Platform.
We're doing these specific AI events, in which we’re talking about our NowAssist functionality in Xanadu. We're doing some NowAssist themed games, and every single city is running one. All of them, with the exception of Tokyo, are doing them the day before.
Even if you don’t identify as a developer, this is for practitioners and people wanting to learn more about how to build and create things on the ServiceNow Platform. It’s a chill environment to specifically talk about the tech, learn about the tech, and that can be for anybody.
Lastly, for the cities you have been to, what are some of your recommendations for stuff to do outside the World Forums?
I'll do a rundown!
So, if you're going to Dallas, hit up Billy Bob's. It's the world's largest honky tonk dance arena, and they also do bull riding! Super fun! I went there like every Thursday night in college.
If you're going to Tokyo, there is a phenomenal amount of cool stuff in the city. The teamLab company, the one that does that amazing light installation museum in Tokyo, that museum alone is very fun. They also have a five-star restaurant. It's not in the same location. It's called Moon Flower. I would look it up. It is like 15 courses, and they all have a light show. It is the coolest dining experience I've had.
In Melbourne, the 12 Apostles. So, Melbourne on the western coast has these like 12 big rock formations out in the middle of the water and driving there, there's a lot of other cool nature stops. It's where we saw koalas and cockatoos and kangaroos. It was very cool.
In New York. I always recommend going to see a show. Broadway is famous for a reason. There's a whole host of amazing musicals going on right now, I'd recommend any one of them.
In Paris, the Paris Opera house is one of the most beautiful buildings I've ever seen, and they do night tours that I highly recommend doing. It's like €30 to do the night tour.
I think that's a pretty good rundown of recommendations! I apologize to Toronto, Rotterdam, and Munich, but I hopefully I can add to that list in the coming years. That would be really cool.
In fact, put it in the comments of this blog! If you have recommendations for any of these cities, I would love to see those!
There you have it!
Lauren shared some fantastic tips — from making sure to catch the keynote, to setting up your networking game plan, to must-visit spots in each city. Our World Forums are a great place to learn, connect, and have some fun.
Attending an upcoming World Forum? Be sure to check out both the links below to learn more about World Forums, register for the event, and explore our AI Meetups in each city!
Register for a World Forum!
Join us for an AI-themed Developer Meetup!
Lastly, like Lauren said, we’d love to hear your recommendations! If you’ve been to any of the cities we’re visiting, drop your favorite spots in the comments below!
