We build this together

Thank you SRCCON 2024!

On August 15-16, this community built an incredible space to imagine better futures for journalism together. Here’s what we did:

• Came together for 39 peer-led workshops, teaching each other new tools and techniques for journalism; exploring code, dataviz, ethics, art, AI, and team culture; and spending time in the kind of values-first culture we want to bring into our newsrooms to make them more equitable places for everyone.
• Led 10 more informal, social sessions during an evening program where we got to be together as people who do this work—sharing favorite hobbies and lessons in self-defense; getting out into Minneapolis for art at the Walker, a Mississippi river walk, and a WNBA game; playing games, making crafts, and chatting about all sorts of things we love.
• Connected throughout our two days over tasty meals and nice, long snack breaks, opening up even more time to meet new people, catch up with old friends, and keep talking about the change we want to make in journalism.

↪ Check out the SRCCON 2024 schedule 🎉

About this year’s program

Here’s our official conference schedule—we’ll get started at 9am on Thursday and close by 6pm Friday. In between, there’s so much to do:

• The SRCCON program: Our workshops are community-built and peer-led. We’ll teach each other to use tech and data better, we’ll reimagine journalism culture together, and we’ll find collaborators who can support us down the road.
• Our evening program: After dinner on Thursday, SRCCON has casual sessions about life outside of work—hobbies, games, and other activities that let us hang out and connect over the things we love.
• Meals & snacks & breaks: Our program includes lunch both days and dinner on Thursday, plus plenty of snacks and drinks and long breaks so you can keep chatting.

More things to do

SRCCON attendees love to bring games, tea, and other things to share, plus plan local activities together. Jump in here:

• SRCCON 2024 Information Share!

If you’re planning a meetup or related event while you’re in Minneapolis for SRCCON, let us know so we can share it with everyone!

COVID safety guidelines

We want everyone who comes to SRCCON to feel safe and cared for. We know that encouraging precautions like testing and masking make it possible for more members of our commuity to attend. Our team has been keeping an eye on journalism events since we last convened in October, and we’re seeing that it’s possible to come together in a group where some people mask and others do not as long as we’re all doing our best to look out for others.

We will not require masking at SRCCON 2024, but staff members will be masking, and we strongly encourage participants to wear masks, particularly in session spaces where people are gathering more closely together. We will have ample masks available, and we invite you to bring your preferred N95, KN95, or similar masks as well. We ask you to test before you come, and ask you to stay home if you’re not feeling well. We also strongly encourage all participants to be up to date on their vaccinations. If you have any questions or need further information, please reach out to us.

What you can expect

The SRCCON program is focused on the practical challenges that news technology and data teams encounter every day. At SRCCON, you’ll:

• Be part of hands-on workshops that reimagine newsroom tech, teamwork, leadership, community, and journalism itself—not panels where you sit back and listen, but sessions where you participate and learn.
• Connect with people who share your hopes and dreams for journalism—not just making professional acquaintances, but creating personal relationships that last.
• Bring who you are into a conference that thinks about the program, the schedule—even games & meals—as ways to celebrate everything you have to share.

SRCCON events are highly participatory, where participants come first so they can can feel comfortable digging into complex problems. The conversations that happen here come from the community and reflect its values:

• We lead change—by challenging the power structures that have failed our industry, we push for long-lasting change in our organizations, led by journalists of color and journalists in local and regional newsrooms.
• We support one another—by offering each other our expertise and empathy, we find new collaborators, help each other learn, and make our networks and organizations more resilient.
• We experiment in the open—by sharing our work and processes, we do the transformative work our organizations need to better connect with and inform our communities.

Who attends SRCCON events

Our participants represent organizations ranging from massive to tiny, and come from all over the U.S. and many other countries. SRCCON participants are developers, designers, journalists, editors, and allies: the practitioners and leaders who are transforming their newsrooms into more representative and innovative places to work. Participants come to SRCCON to change journalism by creating more intentional processes, better relationships with the communities they cover, and new ways to engage and inform people.

How much does it cost?

Ticket prices start at $275, plus ticketing fees. We also offer a limited number of need-based, free scholarship tickets as well as $500 travel or caregiving stipends.

SRCCON events don’t have open sale dates or lotteries. If you want to come to SRCCON 2024, our call for participation is how to let us know.

What’s next

The OpenNews newsletter is a great way to stay up-to-date on tickets, our call for participation, and other event information. You can also keep in touch with us on social media: We’re on Twitter, BlueSky, and LinkedIn. If there’s anything else you’d like to know about our events, we’d love to hear from you.

About us

SRCCON events are produced by OpenNews. We connect a network of developers, designers, journalists, and editors to collaborate on open technologies and processes within journalism. OpenNews believes that a community of peers working, learning and solving problems together can create a stronger, more responsive, and inclusive journalism ecosystem. Incubated at the Mozilla Foundation from 2011-2016, OpenNews is now a project of Community Partners.