Photo: Erik Westra

November 19 & 20 in Philly Support OpenNews!

Participation at SRCCON:LEAD

At SRCCON:LEAD, everyone participates in some way. Our hands-on sessions rely on participants who are ready to share their experiences and perspectives. Facilitators create space for in-depth conversations, design exercises, demos, and workshops, and participants bring questions and take ideas back to their newsrooms. In addition to sessions, folks help make SRCCON:LEAD an inclusive, welcoming place by leading group activities, volunteering, and even just saying hi to new friends and collaborators over meals and coffee/tea/hot beverages.

Inviting participants and allocating tickets

SRCCON:LEAD is intentionally small, with about 125 participants. This size means we were intentional about equitably distributing tickets and ensuring that there will be a mix of perspectives and skills at SRCCON:LEAD. Our call for participation form helped us understand who wanted to take part and what they wanted to get out of this event. With those responses, we’ve worked to create a schedule and audience that reflects the dynamic interests and needs of this community.

Our call for participation is now closed.

Details about ticket prices

This year we began experimenting with a tiered ticket pricing system. Accessibility remains a core value for us, and this is our attempt to balance the actual costs of our events with keeping prices as manageable for attendees as possible. We also continue to offer scholarships to attend.

Here are the tiers for tickets to SRCCON:LEAD (plus Eventbrite ticketing fees):

Here’s the most important thing to know about these ticket prices: We want you to choose the one that makes sure you can be at SRCCON:LEAD. We don’t review who pays what, and we won’t follow up with any questions. If you work for an organization where budgets have already been set or there’s not additional travel support available to you, choose a lower price and join us in Philly.

We based these tiers on community feedback encouraging us to find ways to share event costs. At SRCCON 2019, they were a huge part of what made it possible to organize an event with scholarships, free childcare, live transcription, two lunches, dinner, and ample snacks and drinks, and the support of a skilled event team in preparing sessions and constructing a schedule that lets attendees focus on learning and talking together.

If you have any questions at all about ticket pricing, please reach out.

Facilitating sessions

At SRCCON events, session facilitators regularly make up more than a third of attendees. All of our sessions are peer-led by conference attendees.

Welcome, first-timers

We think SRCCON events are best when there’s a mix of new folks and veterans. And we want new folks to feel able to participate in whatever ways interest you. There’s a spot on the form to ask for more information if you’re interested in attending but not quite sure how you want to participate. In reviewing forms, we’ll aim to have a healthy mix of newcomers and returning SRCCON participants. So SRCCON alums, you can put your name in without worrying that you’re taking a new attendee’s spot.

Financial & family assistance

We have a limited number of travel scholarships available to help people who wouldn’t otherwise be able to attend. The deadline to apply for a SRCCON:LEAD scholarship has passed, but travel support will be part of future SRCCON events too.

In addition to financial assistance for travel, we know that you may have childcare or caretaking responsibilities that affect your ability to participate in events like this. We’ll have more details about the childcare and caretaking support we can offer soon, and there’s also a question on the form to let us know you’d like all the info about that support.