About SRCCON
SRCCON (a contraction of “Source con”) is a highly participatory and extraordinarily inclusive conference where participants come first so they can focus on collaborating on the work at hand: transforming the way journalism works for them, their colleagues, and their communities. About 1/3 of attendees are also session facilitators, leading conversations and collaborative workshops focused on the practical challenges that news technology and data teams encounter every day.
Learn more about how our program comes together, and see what we have in store on the official schedule for SRCCON 2019!
We welcome about 300 attendees, and everyone at SRCCON actively participates, whether they’re facilitating a session, contributing to a conversation over lunch, or meeting new colleagues and supporting their work. The entire structure of the event—from the venue to the program to the pace of our days—is set up to allow participants to get to know each other and learn from the wisdom in the room. We have smart sessions and hard conversations, but we also have long breaks, group meals, and social events that create space for the life side of our work.
When & Where
SRCCON 2019 takes place July 11 & 12 at the McNamara Alumni Center on the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis. Attendees tend to arrive on Wednesday and leave Friday evening or Saturday, depending on how the flight times work out. Learn more about how our program works, and check our logistics page for hotel, schedule, and more information about taking part in SRCCON.
What You Bring to SRCCON
- Who you are, in your work as a journalist and outside of it too. This conference works because our audience is inclusive. Whatever your experiences—on a large team or a small one; as a developer, a reporter, an editor or manager, or in a hybrid role that feels kind of hard to explain; as a journalist of color or a member of another underrepresented community; as a person who lives on a coast or far, far away from one—you’ll contribute perspectives that this event needs.
- The toughest problems you and your organization are working on. The sessions on our program are interactive and conversational, and the rest of the schedule leaves plenty of room to talk with the people you meet. Sharing whatever it is you’re struggling with is a great way to rally together with folks facing the same thing, and to leave with ideas about new solutions to try.
- Energy that helps us connect as a network, reenvisioning how journalism can operate. SRCCON is hands-on and engaging, with peers creating a conference together. There are lots of ways to participate, and we’ll help you find the ones that work best for you!
What You Take Away from SRCCON
- New ideas to transform the way you do journalism. Our program is a mix of technical workshops and sessions about workplace process and culture, and you can create whatever SRCCON experience will help you bring change to your organization.
- Skills to share with your colleagues. Peer training is one of the key ways our community builds knowledge—we see it in action at SRCCON and we know it’s a priority when you get home. Our plans for SRCCON 2019 include a peer-training kit full of tools for teaching others in your own community of practice.
- Stronger connections with the journalism-tech community. SRCCON will help you build relationships you can rely on for future collaboration, support in trying out tools or techniques for the first time, or feedback when you’re feeling alone in your work.
What It’s Like at SRCCON
- Meals (and snacks) are provided. It’s easier to get the most out of an event when you don’t have to wonder when you’ll get a chance to eat. We provide lunches on both conference days, and a delicious dinner Thursday night. We’ll also have tea, coffee, and plenty of snacks—healthy and sugary, both—throughout the day.
- Every attendee is a peer. Our conference badges don’t flag organizations or speaker status. We’re all here to learn from each other.
- There’s space set aside for work. We hope you’ll be able to fully engage with the community at SRCCON, but we know that deadlines and projects back home don’t magically disappear when you get to Minneapolis. If you need to get a few things done, we have some open work space in the venue.
- We offer financial assistance. We offer a limited number of travel scholarships to help people who wouldn’t otherwise be able to attend.
- Many sessions have live transcription. We work with White Coat Captioning to provide live transcription of a portion of SRCCON sessions and all group talks.
- The venue is accessible, with space for quiet and nursing. Our venue is transit accessible and the entire building is ADA compliant with accessible and single-use restrooms. We also have a quiet room and space for nursing parents.
- We offer childcare. We offer childcare support throughout SRCCON, and have worked with the provider KiddieCorp for the last several years.
- We’ll connect you with local support groups. We want to make sure people are aware of nearby meetings that can be helpful. If there’s a group you’d like to see listed here, please let us know.
- Alcoholics Anonymous. On Thursday night, the closest meeting to SRCCON is at Drinkytown AA, University Lutheran Church of Hope 601 13th Av SE, which meets Thursday at 6:30pm. It is an “open” meeting, meaning that you don’t have to be alcoholic to go. AA Minneapolis also hosts a full list of area meetings.