Unveiling the Future of Product Management: A Preview of ProductCamp Chicago 2024 Sessions
As we approach ProductCamp Chicago 2024, a fresh array of sessions promises to captivate and educate the product management community. By analyzing these submissions, we can glean insights into the evolving themes that will dominate discussions this year, contrasted against the trends from the 2023 event. Thank you to everyone who submitted a session proposal and thank you to everyone who voted on the session proposals!
There were twice as many proposal submissions this year compared with last year. There was a 50% increase in the number of votes cast. The votes were more widely spread out across more proposal themes this year.
With an abundance of methodologies and tools, the questions that more product professionals are asking are around data-informed decision making, communication and influence as well as efficiencies and insights through AI and data. Strategy is still an important topic, but how it ties to product execution and delivery through collaboration and influence throughout the organization is a key theme. We continue to see a trend away from execution of product management as we continue to partner and empower engineering and design to lead these activities.
Product managers and their teams want to be as effective as possible. Interest in growth and career development in 2023 has shifted from “What do I need to know?” to “How can I make it happen?”.
Using the same theme categories in 2024 as in 2023, we see the shifts in interests in the Chicago Product community.
Variety of Topics and Formats
With a broader range of topics for this year’s sessions, we created new categories to more accurately describe the theme of each session.
The focus on users and analytics remains high on the list for many who voted for the “unconference” sessions. User Insights and Analytics are the basis of good products as well as the basis for gaining buy-in from teams and influencing stakeholders and there will be multiple presentations on this topic. The focus on Product Leadership also means that product managers recognize the breadth of skills needed to create great products throughout product planning in developing strategy as well as in development and execution to maintain the strategy and vision. These topics highlight a critical evolution towards leadership within product teams, emphasizing strategic influence and organizational skills as key drivers of business impact. This trend marks a shift from last year’s delivery-focused themes towards roles that influence broader corporate strategies and innovations through data, AI and analytics.
Innovation Through Technology
The 2024 sessions also showcase a strong inclination towards Technology and Innovation, especially AI, about which our keynote speaker will speak as well as one of the workshops that will be run in one of the sessions. This underlines a shift towards integrating advanced technological tools to enhance product capabilities and maintain competitive advantage, continuing the tech-centric discussions from previous years.
Product Strategy as a Continual Theme
The commitment to refining product strategies remains steadfast, with a workshop on strategic innovation and a panel of senior product leaders discussing strategy and how everyone can lead in their roles and have an impact on products and teams. These topics extend the ongoing dialogue about strategic frameworks that equip product managers to tackle future challenges effectively, affirming that strategic thinking and leadership is a continuous theme in the product management arena.
Shaping the Future Together
The comparison between this year's sessions and those from 2023 shows that ProductCamp Chicago is keenly attuned to the shifting dynamics of the product management field. The 2024 event promises to be a vital platform for leaders and innovators alike, offering insights and strategies relevant to today’s challenges. We invite all product management professionals to engage with these discussions, shaping the future of our industry together.
Thank you for everyone that participated in this ProductCamp Chicago 2024 voting and we can’t wait to see everyone soon! Check out our Event Guide for more information about ProductCamp Chicago 2024.