January is always full of experts’ predictions on how their industries will change over the coming year, and the API world is no exception. So far, we’ve heard from SOA, 3Scale and Steve Marx and John Sheehan in their always-entertaining API economy podcast, “Traffic and Weather.”

These thought exercises can be interesting but are often fluffy, “like blog-post marshmallows,” as John quips. So, instead of a predictions post, I’m going to kick off our 2014 Pulse on Tech series with a shortlist of recommended API conferences and related events.

It is still only January, so not every API conference has an agenda and website ready. My list is based on past experience and information from last year’s events, so if John’s prediction that we’ll see “…twice as many API conferences in 2014 as in 2013” holds true, there’ll be a few new ones worth noting and not listed below. Here’s what I have:

DeveloperWeek

San Francisco | February 18-19, 2014

DeveloperWeek is organized by the folks who did last year’s API World. It has a collection of panel discussions and presentations around API topics such as how to grow and nurture an API community and test tools for API development. You can filter the agenda by track for more detail (Python, Java, API and more).

Circus Mashimus

SXSW by Mashery | March 7-11, 2014

I’ve never been to SXSW, but Mashery runs the Business of APIs conference that I attended last year. It had great speakers on trends, business models and best practices. If Circus Mashimus is half as good, this’ll be a great event.

API Strategy and Practice

Amsterdam | March 26-28, 2014

This event was a highlight for me last year. I’m definitely returning and may also be speaking about how to go global with APIs.

Glue Conference

Broomfield, CO | May 21-22, 2014

I haven’t attended Gluecon before, but many people I spoke with at other conferences strongly recommended it. There’s an API track, so it’s great for those working in the web services ecosystem.

API Craft

Detroit, MI | July 28-30, 2014

I couldn’t make last year’s event due to scheduling conflicts, but you can just sense from their Facebook group that this is a passionate community of API developers dedicated to the philosophy and advancement of their craft.

Business of APIs Conference

Location and date TBD

This is another event from Mashery. Last year’s was a great mix of topics from business to technology and I look forward to this year’s, too!

API Days & Hackfest

Location and date TBD

Based on last year’s event sequence, this will probably be in San Francisco in the summer and Paris in the winter. Though I couldn’t attend last year, I spoke with the organizers and they’re doing a great job mixing execution and hacking with presentations and thought leader interaction. I very much look forward to this year’s events.

Let me know if you’re organizing or attending an API event you think we should know about!

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