The First-Timer’s Guide to IIEX West 2026
Technically, everyone at IIEX West 2026 is a first-timer.
October 27–28 marks the inaugural IIEX West in San Francisco, which means there are no veterans who already know the best table at lunch or where everyone gathers between sessions. We get to create that experience together.
And if this is also your first IIEX event, your first insights conference, or your first time attending an industry event on your own, even better. A little preparation can help you make the most of your two days without trying to plan every minute.
Here’s where to start.
Before you go
Pick your two roundtables
There will be eight hosted roundtables each day, with 16 different topics across the event. You can participate in one each day.
Take a look at the topics before you arrive and identify the conversations most relevant to what you’re working through right now. Maybe you’re trying to demonstrate the ROI of insights, improve data quality, navigate the convergence of UX and market research, or figure out where synthetic insights belong in your work.
Choose the conversation where hearing directly from other practitioners could be most useful.
Roundtables are designed for participation, so coming in with a question, challenge, or experience to share gives you a natural place to start.
Explore the IIEX West roundtables
Find a few people you’d like to meet
The event app gives you a chance to see who else is attending and arrange private meetings during IIEX West.
You don’t need a calendar full of them. Start with one or two people you’d genuinely like to know: someone working in a similar role, someone whose perspective you’ve followed, or someone at an organization tackling a challenge your team shares.
Having a couple of conversations planned gives you useful anchors during the event, particularly if you’re attending on your own.
Choose a few must-see sessions
With three stages and sessions running throughout both days, there will be more to see than you can fit into your schedule.
Pick a handful of sessions that are especially relevant to you and use those as anchors. Then leave some flexibility around them.
You may hear about a session that suddenly feels more relevant, meet someone you want to keep talking to, or find that one conversation sends you toward a topic you hadn’t planned to explore.
Give yourself room for that.
Decide what you want to bring home
Before you travel, write down one or two questions you’d like IIEX West to help you think through.
What does your team need to get better at? What decision are you trying to make? What are you curious to see other organizations doing differently?
Having something specific in mind gives you a lens for the sessions you attend and an easy starting point for conversations throughout the event.
It also makes answering “What did you get out of the conference?” much easier when you get home.
During the two days
Follow the conversations that interest you
Your schedule is a guide, not a contract.
If a session sparks a question, ask it. If you meet someone whose work interests you, keep the conversation going. If someone recommends a speaker you hadn’t planned to see, take a look.
Some of what you remember most from IIEX West may be exactly what you expected to hear. Some of it may come from something you never planned for.
Take notes you’ll actually use
Instead of trying to capture everything, pay attention to the ideas you want to remember, share, or do something with.
A useful question after a session is: What would I tell my team about this?
Write that down.
A few clear takeaways, ideas to investigate, or people to follow up with will probably serve you better than pages of notes without context.
See what’s being built at the Insight Innovation Competition
Make time for the Insight Innovation Competition, where emerging companies pitch their ideas live to a panel of industry judges.
It’s a chance to see new approaches and technologies being developed across the industry, hear the questions judges ask, and get an early look at companies you may be hearing much more about in the future.
Follow up while the conversation is fresh
If you meet someone you’d like to stay connected with, send them a message through the event app while you’re still at IIEX West.
You don’t need an elaborate follow-up. Mention where you met or what you talked about so there’s context for continuing the conversation later, and share a link to your LinkedIn profile.
See what’s being built at the Insight Innovation Competition
Make time for the Insight Innovation Competition, where emerging companies pitch their ideas live to a panel of industry judges.
It’s a chance to see new approaches and technologies being developed across the industry, hear the questions judges ask, and get an early look at companies and ideas that could shape what comes next.
Learn more about the Insight Innovation Competition
A few practical notes
IIEX West takes place at Pier 27 on the Embarcadero in San Francisco.
Registration and coffee begin at 7:30 a.m. both days, with programming throughout the day. Lunch and scheduled breaks are included in the agenda, giving you plenty of opportunities to meet other attendees between sessions.
If you’re traveling home after the event, give yourself enough room in your schedule to stay through the final programming on Wednesday.
Your first IIEX West starts here
Choose your roundtables. Pick a few sessions you’re excited about. Find a couple of people you’d like to meet. Bring a question you want to explore.
Then leave some room for everything you can’t plan.
The first IIEX West only happens once, and everyone in the room will be experiencing it for the first time with you.
IIEX West 2026 takes place October 27–28 at Pier 27 in San Francisco.
Speakers, participating companies, sessions, and event details were confirmed at the time of publication. All speakers, sessions, schedules, and program details are subject to change due to circumstances beyond our control.