This weekend, leading immersive technology innovation and learning group XR Women is hosting the Thrive in 2025 Symposium event on February 7-9, 2025, at the Ringling College of Art & Design in Sarasota, Florida.
This follows four expert years helping to lead the AR/VR/MR industry with networking events that connect women professionals worldwide who are working to ensure a balanced forward journey of innovation.
The XR landscape is very much evolving, and the coming five years will be truly transformative in part due to the hard work of women championing learning, innovation, and leadership in immersive technologies. The Thrive in 2025 Symposium aims to cultivate and celebrate this legacy of leadership.
“This milestone event celebrates how far we’ve come and represents a moment to make new connections in person, inspire one another, and collaborate on shaping the future of immersive tech,” said Karen Alexander, Co-Founder of XR Women.
Alexander also noted that the event will “showcase the strengths in technology innovation represented by the Ringling College of Art & Design and the State College of Florida’s Advanced Technology Center, as well as our exhibitors and workshop leaders.”
A Landmark Celebration
Thrive in the 2025 Symposium is a landmark event for XR Woman. It marks the group’s 200th event, including in-person and virtual events.
XR Women Co-Founder Julie Smithson added:
As immersive technologies grow in adoption, it is important for the public to understand what XR is and what it can do and for practitioners to stay on top of developments in this rapidly evolving field. Providing such learning is part of the mission of XR Women, and we are excited to partner with the home of our first student chapter, Ringling College of Art & Design, on this unique event.
This weekend’s multi-day symposium includes an opening networking session, a rich exhibition floor, hands-on sample XR, VR, and AR experiences, workshops, in-depth focus-topic sessions, a keynote panel, interactive networking opportunities, and a tour of the State College of Florida Advanced Technology Center.
Moreover, the event’s leaders plan to cover various handy topics such as XR development tools, dealing with microaggressions, and the importance of standards in XR app creation, readying industry professionals working in digital fashion design, education, healthcare, arts, and the workplace.
XR Women is experiencing standout success across its four years of operation, getting roughly 1,200 members internationally representing 60 countries, highlighting XR’s global depth.
Check out XR Today’s event page to learn about more industry-leading events.
