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"The eighth edition of The Next Web Conference will take place from the 24th to the 26th of April 2013 and here at The Next Web we're all really excited about it. We've watched the conference grow from a small but cozy one-day event to one of the industry's leading conferences without losing the same intimate atmosphere and personal touch.\r\n\r\nLast year was an amazing experience as we welcomed over 1,600 people to Amsterdam. This year though, the conference is going to be even bigger and better and we're going to top last year's conference by far. We've added loads of new elements, changed some parts of the format, implemented improvements from your feedback and added new ideas.\r\n\r\nThe Next Web Conference has always been about connecting with all layers of the tech industry. We believe the changes we've made to the format will help to improve the overall experience and create more opportunities to do business. Expect each domain within the tech industry to be represented at TNW2013 by the most talented and leading professionals in their respective layer.\r\n\r\nDevelopers, entrepreneurs, marketeers, SEO specialists, press, investors, business leaders, thought leaders and decision makers from large corporations, the hottests startups and the best interactive agencies will be there, together with everybody else that is involved in the tech scene.\r\n\r\n\r\nTwo tracks, one concept\r\nLast year was the first time we had two fully-fledged tracks, one of them focussed on business while the other had an emphasis on startups. We realised it was important to avoid having a difference in quality of the content between the stages, so we focussed on making a program that rocked both stages but with a difference in topics of interest.\r\n\r\nWe received a lot of positive feedback on the multi-track approach, but also some great points of feedback. This year we really want to program talks and keynotes in such a way that there is minimal overlap in interest from an attendee\u2019s point of view and more variation in the content. There are 3 important changes we're implementing to get this done:\r\n\r\n1) - Programming\r\nWe're bringing even more speakers to the stage this year. In addition to our top keynote speakers, we're adding industry expert sessions in which we invite several leading experts to dig deeper into topics such as m-commerce, quantified self or crowdfunding. In each of these sessions, three speakers will take the stage for 10-minute talks after which they'll sit down for a 15-minute Q&amp;amp;amp;A session with a TNW editor or other journalist.\r\n\r\nYou can help by suggesting a speaker you'd like to see at the conference.\r\n\r\n2) - Communication\r\n\r\nThe program is going to be absolutely packed with keynote sessions and business opportunities. We're going to maintain a strict time schedule and we'll make sure it's very clear and easy to see what is happening where and when, both online and offline. Moderators on both stages will be updating you on what's happening at the other stage to make sure you don't miss out on anything.\r\n\r\n3) - Production\r\nWe're treating both tracks as equal and investing heavily in the technical setup of the stages, the look and feel etc. Each stage will look just as impressive on its own, the only difference will be that the stages are color coded; The Red and Blue stage.\r\n\r\n\r\nStartup Rally\r\nLast year we integrated the Startup Rally competition into both tracks of the conference and added an extra preparation day in which startup finalists received professional pitch training the day before the conference. It was a success and we're going to repeat and improve this process.\r\n\r\nThis year we're giving 20 startups the chance to launch or announce new products or services in front of a global audience on main stage. It's a great way to give your startup international press coverage, meet investors and get funding.\r\n\r\nStartups can apply here online before the 1st of March (free) and will have to pass several judging rounds to move up to the finals which are held at the conference.\r\n\r\n\r\nKings of Code - Hack Battle\r\nLast year we started with a hackathon right before the conference. It was a success but there was plenty of room for improvement. This year we\u2019re inviting a max of 150 developers (back-end, front-end -web and mobile- and some designers) to hack brilliant stuff in 30 hours. We have a dedicated venue next to the conference and some of the best API partners joining such as Sendgrid and Spotify.\r\n\r\nThe Hack Battle starts on Wednesday, and on Thursday the final presentations of all hacks will be held on stage at the conference! We do this not only to emphasize how important and fun the Hack Battle is, but also to show attendees what can be achieved in just thirty hours.\r\n\r\nIf you\u2019re a talented developer, check out how you can request an invite to the hack battle (free), show your skills to a worldwide audience and win awesome prizes.\r\n\r\n\r\nSide events\r\nThis year you can also organise your own events in and around The Next Web Conference. Are you a speaker who wants to organise a workshop, or a company wanting to set up a get-together, party or dinner... all you need to do is send us the details and we'll help you with promoting the event by adding it to our conference website.\r\n\r\nFind out more about some of the upcoming side activities happening in and around the conference or read more about submitting your event in our Side Events PDF where we've bundled all information, questions and guidelines. You'll find a link there to submit your event, after that we'll help you get set up!\r\nJoin us now, grab the super early bird!\r\nJoin 2,000 online professionals and secure business at The Next Web Conference 2013. Meet the TNW team, new business contacts, old friends, potential investors, exit partners and inspiring industry leaders. You can still grab the Super Early Bird tickets available at a 35% discount rate until january 31st. Get them now (pay online or get an invoice first and pay later via bank transfer) via our online event ticketing shop.\r\n\r\nThere\u2019s a lot more information to come over the next few weeks. Stay tuned, and see you in Amsterdam!\r\n\r\n\u27A4 The Next Web Conference 2013\r\n\r\nFollow all of our coverage of The Next Web Conference 2013 here."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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