Celebrate a week of innovative conversations and new connections during our closing night party.

Last year’s SAG-AFTRA strike exposed the deep concerns writers and actors have toward pay equity and emerging technology infringing on their work. And the music industry has been grappling with the same concerns. It’s a time of reckoning for creatives across the board. So how can new technology move industries forward in a way that fosters creativity but doesn’t erode artists' rights? Hear from SoundExchange CEO Michael Huppe and producer, singer-songwriter Shaboozey on charting a path forward.

Join us for a celebration of Fast Company's Best Workplaces for Innovators Awards honorees.

Kick off the start to Fast Company's 10th annual Innovation Festival with our opening night party.

The $1.7 trillion fashion industry is at an economic and environmental crossroads. The current business model operates on the premise of design garments, produce them in large quantities, and sell them to consumers. But this approach is ruining brands and the planet. Each year, billions of pounds of textiles are thrown in landfills and numerous brands, retailers, and manufacturers have closed. In this session, attendees will get firsthand experience designing a garment of their very own using the on-demand fashion manufacturer Resonance’s AI-powered operating system One. One empowers creators to design any garment, sell it to any customer, and make it on demand at scale, resiliently, sustainably, and profitably. Participants will also hear directly from designers currently using the platform and see how this innovative technology can be applied across industries.

Busy Philipps is no stranger to late night TV—but this time she has something to sell you. QVC+, the shopping network's free streaming service, premiered Busy This Week earlier this year, a shoppable late night show aimed at blurring the line between organic programming and video commerce. Join Busy and David Rawlinson II, president and CEO of Qurate Retail, as they discuss the future of stoppable streaming.

Join us for a celebration of Fast Company's 12th annual Innovation by Design Awards honorees.

The CEO role within brands has seen a major shift in recent years. What was once a job focused on raising venture capital, scaling a business, and creating innovative solutions has now evolved into something much larger. In order to win, today’s brands and the CEOs behind them need to stand for something. That’s how they’re building communities and cult followings for themselves and their products. From being vocal about reproductive rights in a Post-Roe world, to the growing environmental crisis, the CEOs of Blueland, Wisp, and August will share how they’ve steered their brands into advocates of today’s most pressing conversations, in turn winning the hearts of consumers, retailers, and investors. 

Amid a highly publicized loneliness epidemic, there’s something we’ve lost: an innate element of human connection that we forgot or misplaced when we were “digitally distanced”. Connections used to come much easier, but digital and social technology has divided us – especially in younger generations – and now connection is work. We need to put in an effort to connect with other people. That effort can be play, or deep questions, or gathering with meaning. It’s not only important for our mental health to regain a sense of connection, but “microdosing joy” is essential for fueling the creative process; without some spark to connect, innovation is less possible – and joyful innovation is impossible. Through the lens of new research of the proven power of play and connection, being debuted at this very presentation, we’ll explore the role of slime in feeling connected to your emotions, how asking better questions can enable empathy and connective communication for more meaningful answers, and how to align ideas, communities and futures towards a more shared, connective world.

Although women make up a large portion of the nearly $100 billion global fitness market, most workouts are not designed to address their bodily changes, and, to women’s detriment, emphasize a one-size-fits-all routine that does not evolve as their physiology does. Pvolve's low-impact method, developed by clinical experts and professional trainers, utilizes functional movement and patented resistance equipment to enhance strength, mobility, and stability, providing an adaptable workout for women at any life stage. Join Pvolve for one of two workout sessions led by chief training officer Antonietta Vicario, followed by a discussion with Vicario, president Julie Cartwright, and Amy Hoover, Pvolve’s chief physical therapist, to learn how this cult-favorite workout is breaking through a crowded fitness space (and developing partnerships with celebrities like Jennifer Aniston).

Another day, another LGBTQ+ marketing campaign, another round of anti-LGBTQ+ backlash, another brand crisis and apology cycle. It's been seen before and will be seen again: The question is, how can true innovators break this cycle that spurs uncertainty and stifles inclusion? How can brands create marketing plans that proactively account for the disproportionately loud "anti-woke" sentiment on social media? At this Fast Track, an expert panel will discuss how companies can get ahead of the backlash inclusive marketing campaigns are bound to receive while shaping a more creative culture reflective of a more diverse nation.

Although women make up a large portion of the nearly $100 billion global fitness market, most workouts are not designed to address their bodily changes, and, to women’s detriment, emphasize a one-size-fits-all routine that does not evolve as their physiology does. Pvolve's low-impact method, developed by clinical experts and professional trainers, utilizes functional movement and patented resistance equipment to enhance strength, mobility, and stability, providing an adaptable workout for women at any life stage. Join Pvolve for one of two workout sessions led by chief training officer Antonietta Vicario, followed by a discussion with Vicario, president Julie Cartwright, and Amy Hoover, Pvolve’s chief physical therapist, to learn how this cult-favorite workout is breaking through a crowded fitness space (and developing partnerships with celebrities like Jennifer Aniston).

Network with fellow Best Workplaces for Innovators and Innovation by Design honorees during a breakfast at Fast Company's headquarters.

Join David Rock, the founder and CEO of the NeuroLeadership Institute, as he leads participants through the SCARF assessment to better understand the five domains of human social experience: status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness, and fairness. Attendees will learn about their own personality and work style and walk away with the tools to collaborate better and be more effective in providing training and feedback.

Do your brainstorms stall out? Do your efforts toward problem-solving and innovation lack momentum? It's not about how brilliant you or your team are, it's about how you manage the process of creative problem-solving. In this interactive session, led by NeuroLeadership Institute’s director of research, Emma Sarro, and research scientist Christine Chesebrough, you'll learn about the neuroscience of insight, why brainstorming often fails, and the techniques for how to generate "aha" moments that inspire creativity and accelerate buy-in when tackling challenging problems.

Conservative interest groups have been targeting DEI initiatives across education with the Supreme Court ending affirmative action last year. And now these groups have set their sights on the workplace. But with the diversity of American business at stake, entrepreneurs and their legal teams aren't going down without a fight. Get an inside look at the war on "woke" in the workplace and understand how it may affect your business.

Quiet quitting carries a hefty price tag: Gallup estimates that low worker engagement currently costs the global economy $8.8 trillion, a staggering 9% of global GDP. Low engagement is the culprit. In this session, a diverse group of executives will share strategies for inspiring and empowering employees to boost morale along with profits.

In 2023, 5.5 million new small-business applications were filed, making it the highest year on record. There's been a clear surge in entrepreneurship since 2020—and in the wave are first-time founders learning, adapting, and growing as business leaders. In this panel, you'll hear how these first-time founders made their career switches and are finding success in entrepreneurship—not without some trials and errors you can learn from.

Instead of continuing the endless conversation around the future of work and whether employees are returning to the office, it's clear that work environments must adapt and reinvent themselves. PENN1 is at the forefront of this transformation, offering a comprehensive office space designed for work and a well-rounded lifestyle by enhancing productivity, fitting seamlessly into personal lives and lifestyles, and providing ample opportunities for socializing and networking. Join Industrious for a session filled with networking opportunities, a panel discussion with leaders on the future of work, a classic food & beverage experience, and an accompanying DJ set.

Join award-winning digital marketer and video expert Kim Rittberg for a lively and interactive session where she’ll walk you through some of the top AI tools to enhance your existing social media marketing or brand building. Say goodbye to wooden, irrelevant posts clearly crafted by a robot. You’ll learn how to leverage AI to craft better content and have higher output that relates to your (human) customers. Participants can expect to walk away with fresh ideas and a sample post.