It's almost summertime! For many, it's a time to kick off their shoes and relax by the pool, or take a much-needed vacation to a place far, far away. But as an advertising professional, you know that summer means conference season. For you, summer is a time to learn valuable insights from mobile marketing leaders, adjust your mobile ad strategy and...relax by the pool or vacation to a place far, far away. It's true! Summertime mobile ad conferences are anything but stuffy, boring or stressful. In fact, they can be as invigorating or relaxing as a lazy day at the beach. While there are a slew of mobile advertising conferences to attend all summer long, we're providing a list of some of our favorites that will help you boost your mobile ad game, network with the right industry professionals, and even allow you to party hard into the night.

Must-Attend Mobile Ad Conferences for Summer 2016

Mobile Ventures Summit

When: May 26, 2016Where: ChicagoWhat to Expect: Founded by Dirk Rients, the Mobile Ventures Summit brings together brands from various industries to discuss mobile marketing opportunities and learn from each other. While the summit agenda is still TBD, it is bound to provide attendees with valuable insights from industry thought leaders like Victor Bayata (Head of Mobile, IKEA), Alex Vetter (CEO, Cars.com), and Jim Kiszka (Senior Manager - Paid Digital Media, Kellogg Company).

MMA Forum London

When: June 6, 2016Where: LondonWhat to Expect: The MMA Forum London is a one-day event that hosts 300 of the mobile industry’s influencers, leaders and decision makers. This year's event will focus on building capability, knowledge, confidence, and understanding to accelerate the transformation of marketing through mobile. By attending MMA Forum London, you will be able to see, hear and discuss case studies on impacting business transformations, plus the latest opportunities in mobile marketing and advertising. Sessions include topics such as programmatic, location targeting, messaging and native ads, how to engage and monetize app users, using data and analytics to build great customer experiences, and more.

OPS

When: June 7, 2016Where: NYCWhat to Expect: The OPS conference, presented by AdMonsters, is the prime place to connect with other digital media strategists and make the next steps in turning your digital business into profitable, efficient enterprise. You'll learn from the sharpest minds in digital advertising, plus meet tech providers who are shaping the future of digital media marketing and monetization. OPS sessions will help you minimize the effects of mobile ad blocking and bot traffic, bring cross-platform campaigns to life, leverage header bidding more efficiently, push CPMs higher by increasing competition, discover the future of ad creative (native, dynamic, etc.), learn how to embrace mobile viewability without bleeding revenue, optimize digital ad targeting, build a great ops-sales relationship to drive bigger buys, and much more.

Mobile World Congress Shanghai

When: June 29 - July 1, 2016Where: ShanghaiWhat to Expect: Organized by GSMA, Mobile World Congress Shanghai is Asia's best annual gathering of mobile industry leaders and consumers who are passionate about the mobile industry. MWC's world-class exhibition, award-winning conference program, and outstanding networking opportunities all make MWC Shanghai an experience unlike any other. The conference at MWC Shanghai features insightful presentations on current and future trends from influential executives in the mobile industry. You won't want to miss mingling with 50,000+ attendees at this truly unique, global event.

MobileBeat

When: July 12 - 13, 2016Where: San FranciscoWhat to Expect: This year's MobileBeat conference presented by VentureBeat will dive deep into how AI and messaging is transforming the mobile app paradigm. Join industry leaders, innovators, visionaries, entrepreneurs, and agency champions in exploring this technology that is poised to disrupt mobile business as we know it. Learn from industry leaders like Joe Zadeh (VP, Product, Airbnb), Matt Lawson (Director, Performance Ads Marketing, Google), Chris Messina (Developer, Experience Lead, Uber), Tony Xu (Founder & CEO, DoorDash), and more. This mobile conference is sure to leave you feeling energized with insights and tools to boost your mobile strategy.

NATIVE 2016

When: July 19, 2016Where: San FranciscoWhat to Expect:  NATIVE brings together industry leaders to discuss today's native transformation and brainstorm tomorrow's possibilities. The summit encompasses all things content, technology, publishing, marketing and advertising through the simple lens that best experiences stand out by fitting in. Past attendees include 5,000 senior-level executives from some of the world's most recognizable brands, social platforms, publishers and agencies. This year's summit will focus on sponsored content, programmatic ads and video. The full agenda is still TBD, but some notable speakers include Dave Jabuowski (Adtech & Atlas, Facebook), Joe Purzycki (Head of Partnerships, Medium), and Jim Lanzone (CEO, CBS Interactive).

Casual Connect

When: July 18 - 20, 2016Where: San FranciscoWhat to Expect: Casual Connect brings together the best and brightest minds in the video gaming and mobile marketing industries for three days of in-depth, inspiring lectures. Join over 300 speakers representing the leaders in the next generation of games. Mingle with mobile marketers, game developers, account managers, analytics companies, and mobile network & ad management platform gurus. Topics are typically focused on cutting-edge, high-level strategies within the mobile gaming industry, including publshing, acquisition and monetization. Last year's keynote was Disney chief Michael Eisner.

Postback 2016

When: July 21 - 22, 2016Where: SeattleWhat to Expect: Postback 2016, organized by TUNE, is "the mobile event of the summer" that shouldn't be missed if you're down to learn new mobile marketing insights -- and party! The crowd leans to the younger side with 30, 40 and 50-somethings scattered about. Topics of discussion are generally focused on performance marketing. If you like EDM dance parties and afternoon party boat cruises, you're going to thrive at this event. Attendance to Postback will be capped at 1,000 people, so get your tickets before it's too late.

Mobile Media Summit

When: July 26, 2016Where: ChicagoWhat to Expect: Dynamic speakers are packing their bags for MMS in the windy city; heartland of retail and CPG. Fresh, new content will be discussed this year, including how different generations connect with CPG, how e-commerce and brick & mortar are colliding, and the  personalization of mobile commerce; from content to social shopping. While the agenda is still TBD, some past MMS speakers include David Veneski (Intel Corporation), Vincent Shine (Razorfish), and Jim Cridlin (Mindshare).

Marketing & Tech Events with Mobile Sessions

Incite Summit West

When: May 17 - 18, 2016Where: San FranciscoWhat to Expect: Incite Summit West is for in-house marketers. Touted as the best brand-focused marketing conference in the United States, Incite Summit will be returning to San Francisco for a third year to bring together an unrivaled list of Chief Marketing Officers and other senior players from the world's biggest brands. This year's focus is on the revolution in segmentation, targeting and personalization in digital marketing. Learn how to understand your customers better through data to deliver seamless marketing experiences, build unique customer views by looking beyond personas and demographics, and deliver personalized, relevant and engaging marketing to your core audiences. Some of this year's brilliant speakers include Jessica Jensen (Head of Brand Strategy & Product Marketing Communications, Facebook), Rob Wait (VP, Marketing, HP), Karen Martell (Head of Local Marketing, Square), and many more.

Clean Ads I/O

When: May 24, 2016Where: ChicagoWhat to Expect: Presented by AdExchanger, Clean Ads I/O is a conference about actionable solutions. The sessions take a look at the challenges within data-driven digital advertising, and how to keep it clean from fraud, malware, security and viewability issues. If you want to ensure your mobile advertising campaigns are running safely, smoothly and seen by actual people, this conference is a must.

Advertising Week Asia

When: May 30 - June 2, 2016Where: TokyoWhat to Expect: Debuting in Tokyo on May 30, 2016, Advertising Week Asia will be a hybrid of inspiring thought leadership with legendary entertainment and special events that celebrate the advertising industry and its innovators. Network with creatives, media professionals, digital gurus, brand marketers, media owners and technologists from all across the globe as you learn actionable insights (50+ workshops and seminars await you) that you can apply immediately to drive your business and your career forward.

TechWeek

When: Beginning May 2, and through the summerWhere: Detroit, Chicago, Toronto, Kansas CityWhat to Expect: TechWeek is building the world's largest community-driven tech platform to support tech entrepreneurship across the world. Founded five years ago in Chicago to showcase and support the city's emerging tech ecosystem, TechWeek has since expanded to seven North American cities in 2016. Expect to hear insights and network with everyone from Fortune 500 CEOs, to bootstrap, startup founders, developers, and investors.

TechDay West Coast

When: September 22, 2016Where: Los AngelesWhat to Expect: TechDay West Coast is the largest startup event in Los Angeles connecting 10,000 press, investors, job seekers and early adopters to more than 300 amazing companies. Exhibitors are looking to hire top-notch positions across every job function, including mobile. For the first time, TechDay will also give you the chance to see innovative startups debut their tech products on the Live Demo Stage. Attend TechDay for free, or exhibit your own company for a fee.Are there other summertime mobile marketing conferences you'd add to our list?