We'll figure out new ways to gather in many, many breakout spaces. (Photo by Alyson McClaran for Colorado Media Project)

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During this unfolding crisis, support for one another is taking on so many new and expanded and previously unfamiliar forms, and the OpenNews team is here as we figure it all out.

The current circumstances mean: we must reimagine SRCCON 2020, and our team has decided to make SRCCON 2020 a remote event. It had been scheduled for July 16-17 in Minneapolis, and we’re developing plans for what shape it can take online and in our homes, instead of meeting in that beautiful McNamara space (here’s an image of it for your Zoom background if you’d like to imagine you’re there, courtesy of Ryan Pitts).

Finding new ways to connect

There’s a lot of exciting experimentation happening with remote events right now, from Heather Bryant’s remote unconference during NICAR this year to conferences like the Collaborative Journalism Summit, Change @ Work, Allied Media Conference, and csv,conf. We’re looking forward to exploring how an interactive, collaborative conference like SRCCON might translate into virtual spaces.

And of course, to figure out what makes sense for SRCCON, we need your feedback If you already know you want to be at SRCCON, or a part of designing it this year, or you have feelings about what shape it could (or must not) take, please let us know. We’re going to be doing a lot of exploration and planning over the next several weeks, including thinking about what SRCCON could look like over several days (maybe even a week? Several of you have requested more days of SRCCON in the past, and this just might be a chance to try it out) and what will help participants feel connected to one another across cities and time zones. So if you know already, “yes, please, let’s have a Saturday session” or “no, oh my gosh, leave my weekend alone” or that we must have a virtual knitting circle or a freelance pitching skillshare or something you’ve never seen at SRCCON before …whatever is on the top of your mind right now, we really want to hear from you.

Here’s what we know already:

• SRCCON is a space where people get energy for their work and (re)connect with friends and collaborators, and will remain so
• SRCCON will take place online in mid-July, sometime around the original July 16-17 date
• SRCCON is made special by the participants and the care you have for one another, which will still be what animates every piece of the program

That’s how we’re thinking about SRCCON 2020 right now, and we’ll stay transparent as our planning process continues. In the meantime, to support some immediate taking care of each other, we’ve pulled together a COVID-19 Community Care Package (complete with artwork from Emma Carew Grovum).

We know that caring for each other is a huge part of getting through all this, and we’ll be building out resources about how to support and connect with each other as part of SRCCON and beyond. This care package will continue to take shape as your needs evolve (we’re also thinking about how care packages might translate IRL, so if something like that sounds fun to be a part of let us know).

While we’re disappointed that we won’t be able to gather in Minneapolis this year, we’re excited to imagine how we can adapt the SRCCON experience to the needs of this time. Oh, also to note, we are still planning another thematic SRCCON toward the end of the year, and we’ll decide what format for that event in a few months.

If you want to be a part of SRCCON 2020, let us know and if you might be interested in sponsoring and helping make it happen, we’d love to hear from you.