8 conferences you should not miss in 2016
It’s January again, which means that we are gearing up for another busy year of events and conferences. Where will trends in journalism, open source & publishing be discussed in 2016? At Sourcefabric, we’re excited for another season of opportunities to network with industry leaders, show off our software and learn new things.
This year’s lineup of events surrounding journalism, innovation and technology is impressive. In case you are finding it difficult to decide which 2016 events to attend, we put together a handy guide to some of the top events we will be attending this year. You can also find an overview on our ever updated events page!
Are you planning to attend any of these events? Drop us a line, we would love to connect with you and meet up!
1. Hacks/Hackers Connect
February 5-7, 2016 - London, UK
Hacks/Hackers London is trying to figure out where the gap between a great idea and a great success story lies. To do this they’re launching Hacks/Hackers Connect London, an initiative for news entrepreneurs with great business ideas. With this two-day event, the aim is to stimulate and support a strong and profitable entrepreneurial community within the UK news industry. We participated in Hacks/Hackers Connect in Berlin last year, and we’re always up for a high-quality event focused on networking and building synergy around news and technology!
2. Leipzig Book Fair
March 17-20, 2016 - Leipzig, Germany
The meeting place for authors, readers, and publishing companies, the Leipzig Book Fair is a must for those in the industry. Whether you are interested in audio books, film, literature, or music, there are vendors from every background in attendance. Get ready for a bustling and lively atmosphere and if you get a chance, meet up with Julian Sorge, Managing Director of Booktype, who will be attending the fair.
3. International Journalism Festival
April 6-10, 2016 - Perugia, Italy
The beautiful city of Perugia will once again welcome attendees to its medieval centre. Leading journalism influencers will speak about journalism and the role of media in society. This year’s edition of the International Journalism Festival will be a special one: it is the tenth anniversary. We really appreciate its overall informal and accessible atmosphere combined with high-quality debates from the journalism experts worldwide. Attendance is free and we love to mingle with interesting speakers and attendees over a Spritz and aperitivo!
4. re:publica TEN & media convention
May 2-4, 2016 - Berlin, Germany
re:publica will turn 10 in 2016. Once a cosy meeting point for bloggers, re:publica has become one of the world’s leading festivals for digital society themes. This year, the organisers chose a meaningful motto: TEN is NET. Together with re:publica, we will also be attending the media convention, the most important congress for the international media industry happening in Germany. We look forward to the broad discussions: from net politics and technological innovations, to music, culture and media.
5. GEN Summit
June 15-17, 2016 - Vienna, Austria
The Global Editors Network Summit is the place where media industry opinion leaders discuss trends shaping journalism. They just announced two of the keynote speakers: Emily Bell, Director of the Tow Center, Columbia University, and Martin Baron, Executive Director of The Washington Post. Content distribution will be at the centre of the Global Editors Network Summit in 2016 and we’re eager to take part in the conversation on how we can future-proof our newsrooms. At the event, the Data Journalism Awards, the Startups for News, and the Editors Lab Final award winners are announced, making it one of the best places to find out what’s cooking in innovation and news for the years to come.
6. SRRCON
July 26-28, 2016 - Portland, USA
SRCCON - the “src” in SRCCON stands for “Source.” so it's pronounced “Source-con.” - is a hands-on conference focused on the practical challenges news technology and data teams encounter every day. The conference is produced by Knight-Mozilla OpenNews, they're doing a great job to support online journalism. We really enjoy getting our hands dirty with concrete problems so the active participation approach that is at the center of SRCCON is a piece of cake for our developers. Our CTO Holman has been going on about this conference for months already, so if you're heading to Portland, give him a shout.
7. ONA 16
September 15-17, 2016 - Denver, USA
The Online News Association conference checks the pulse of the best of worldwide journalism, both in terms of content and technology. Media influencers from around the world flock to the conference each year to learn about new tools, techniques and technologies, to discuss advancements and challenges in the industry, take advantage of the rare opportunity to network face-to-face, and share best practices with peers from all over the map. The conference brings together more than 2,000 attendees, and is famous for sparking a sense of vitality and optimism that is missing from most other news-related gatherings. There are more than enough reasons to be there!
8. Frankfurt Book Fair
October 19-23, 2016 - Frankfurt, Germany
You know an event is important where the whole industry gathers to attend it. The Frankfurt Book Fair has been the point of reference for publishers and editors to learn about new products and trends and much more. We will be attending again this year with our Booktype team, especially interested in the blooming world of self-publishing. See you there?
Dates to be announced
And if you haven’t had enough, there are a number of events that haven’t announced their dates yet, but we will certainly be attending the News Xchange and the Mozilla Festival.
For more events coming up you can always refer to our events page. We’ll keep updating it with the latest information on where you can meet us and get to know more about Sourcefabric’s latest ideas!
Are you headed to any interesting events this year? Feel free to send us a tweet or an email to let us know where you will be. We hope you enjoy the 2016 event season, I know we will!