Happening on January 14 - 15 in St. Pete, Florida, this event brought together top-notch speakers, our renowned learning format, and engaging social events.

Similar to a traditional kickoff, we reflected on recent trends and share stories from the frontlines. Additionally, we will delve into the current happenings and shed light on the future. Be prepared for an unparalleled in-person CMS conference experience that will equip you to move things forward. 

Here’s a few blog posts and useful summaries from the conference:

• Adam from ACTUM Digital: On The Evolution of 'M' in CMS, UX Overtakes Architecture and Agency Business Evolution

• Dan from DXP Catalyst: Key trends shaping the future of CMS and digital strategy

• Mathias from TYPO3: Confirmed beliefs, new questions, and great takeaways

• Mauro from Agility CMS: Three Quick Thoughts on CMS Kickoff 25

• Matt Garrepy & Matthew McQueeny in a 10-minute conversation

• Wes McChristian at Americaneagle.com with three key takeaways

World-class speakers at CMS Kickoff 25

What is the CMS Kickoff?

We started with CMS Kickoff 23, which was quite well received. We made it bigger and importantly better at CMS Kickoff 24. Now we’re building on it and working on making it even better with input and participation from our global CMS Expert community.

Conferences come in many shapes and sizes. This one had 90 participants.

The sessions are without the usual sales and marketing pitches. There’s also plenty of time for conversations, so that you can bring actionable insights back to your desk and your projects.

Who joined us?

It was an international conference with participants from Australia, Europe and North America. A friendly mix of vendors, agencies, analysts and customers who get together to learn, network and talk about what really matters in CMS right now and for the rest of the year.

Thanks to all who made the commitment to learning and networking.

Among the vendors and open source projects at CMS Kickoff 25 were Agility CMS, ai12z, BL.INK, Brightspot, Contentful, CoreMedia, dotCMS, Directus, Kajoo, Kentico, Kinsta, Kontent.ai, Magnolia, Modern Campus, Pantheon, SearchStax, Solodev, Squiz, StreamX, TYPO3 and Umbraco. As you can see, it’s not just the usual CMS vendors, but also from the larger ecosystem.

On the agency and consulting side, we were joined by experienced implementation folks from fine companies like 9thCO, ACTUM Digital, Americaneagle.com, BizStream, Blend Interactive, Crescendo Collective, Crowd Favorite, Distinction, Evolving Web, First Line Software, iMedia, Kingsway Digital, Lone Rock Point, MMT Digital and SilverTech. Tom “The AEM Guy” Cranstoun will also be there. Talk to them about what happens “when the rubber hits the road” and they’ll help you towards 2025 project success.

Among the analysts joining us were Dan Drapeau from DXP Catalyst Consulting, Mark Demeny from MACH Alliance, Matt Garrepy from CMS Critic and our host Janus Boye from Boye & Co in Denmark.

A key point is also digital leaders from the customer-side. You could meet with ICANN, Intuit, Johnson & Johnson, TELUS, WebMD Ignite and several others.

One last thing - the participants are quite mixed in roles. We had tech folks joining us, but we also had marketers, content strategists and really digital leaders with a diverse set of backgrounds.

Conference partners

Interested in becoming a conference partner? Fill out this brief form to start the conversation

Venue

We’ll be at The James Museum of Western & Wildlife Art in downtown St. Pete. The James is an ideal setting for a conference like ours with its spectacular modern and historic works of art that evoke the spirit of a wide-open frontier and the beauty of life in the American West. We have scheduled a tour of the museum and will use the opportunity to both reflect on what the future might bring and to shape it together.

St. Pete has many hotels in all budget ranges within walking distance.

Tampa International Airport is about 30 minutes drive away.