Beyond the Sessions: What the Week in Anaheim Actually Looks Like
TDWI Transform 2026 runs September 20–25, and for people who haven't attended before, it's worth having a sense of what the week feels like beyond the formal program.
The conference starts Sunday with morning and afternoon masterclasses — no opening ceremony, just straight into the work. Monday adds a keynote and opens the Leaders Summit, and by Monday evening there's a welcome reception followed by an optional Disneyland® outing for those who want it. That combination of a full day of learning followed by an evening at one of the more memorable social venues in the country tends to set a good tone for the rest of the week.
Tuesday and Wednesday are when the Exhibit Hall opens, which brings in the technology side of the ecosystem. If you're evaluating vendors or just want to see what's available, those afternoons are the time to do it. Wednesday evening has the AI Impact Showcase and Awards, and there's a rooftop meetup afterward at the Parkestry Bar & Lounge where you can vote for the winner.
Thursday winds down with a Garden Walk Dine-Around, and Friday is a shorter day of sessions that finishes in the early afternoon.
The consistent feedback from attendees is that the informal conversations — during lunch, at the reception, in the hallway between sessions — are as valuable as the scheduled content. That's hard to engineer, but TDWI's setup makes it reasonably easy for it to happen. Most people are there for the full week, everyone is working in roughly the same space, and the shared context of the sessions gives you something concrete to talk about.
When attending together as a team, it's worth thinking about how to split up across tracks rather than attending the same sessions. You'll get more out of the week if you can debrief across different areas at the end of each day.
View the full agenda and register here.