You are here:

SHiFT 2009 will happen in Spring 2010 - Important Announcement

SHiFT 2009 is shifted to Spring 2010

We are changing the dates of the SHiFT 2009 conference. The conference was scheduled to happen on October 16-17, in a little more than one month, and will now happen in Spring 2010 at dates to be announced shortly.

This is a very important decision, not lightly made by the team. We have carefully explained our reasons to our sponsors and speakers and we are excited with their feedback and very grateful for their understanding and collaboration.

You are probably surprised by this announcement and its timing, so close to the conference date, so let us explain the reasons that lead us to make this decision, that we believe helps serve the Conference's mission and community better.

For the benefit of those who can't read the entire explanation, these bullet points highlight the most important factors that shaped our decision:

Spring is a more favorable period for organizing SHiFT
This will allow us to drive more meaning and value from our partnerships
We will have a new, better, more SHiFTy venue
Prices will be under 100 euros

Read on to know the whole story and for the practical implications to those who have already bought tickets, proposed talks and made plans for the October 2009 event.

SHiFT Conference 2010

SHiFT means Social and Human Ideas for Technology. We are a non-profit, 100% volunteer-based organization that began a journey in 2006 to create a conference that would bring together people from all walks of life to debate how technology and humans can interact to make a better world in an unique environment. SHiFT has had two previous editions - in 2006 and in 2008 - and they were great by all accounts. So our decision to move the 2009 event to 2010 is in line with our mission and structure.

Shifting from Fall to Spring is something that has been on the table for some time. The September/October date period has, since the beginning, been a major difficulty in our project: summer vacations affected our capacity to mobilize our community and partners (not to mention our team), corporate budget decisions were made way before or after the event thus penalizing our planning, our academic partners were caught in between quarters, and overall it's tough to compete with the rentrée.

So we are going to seize the opportunity now to redesign our partnerships to drive more meaning and value from sponsorships, working even closer with our partners as to build the formidable environment of SHiFT, where ideas flow freely and without limitation. The environment will be set in a new and more SHiFTy venue, different from last year's.

Finally, and you're going to love this, we are also seizing the opportunity to re-align our pricing structure with our mission. Whereas we felt that SHiFT should have the same pricing strategy as other conferences that line up the same quality of speakers, participants, venues and in-conference services, we have decided that SHiFT must assume its difference and will serve its mission better by doing it differently.

So, in SHiFT 2010, prices will be unique and under 100 euros. Everyone should be able to afford going to SHiFT, and everyone attending SHiFT should have the direct opportunity to contribute to a better world. So, just like you could for the 2009 edition, you'll be able to allocate an amount of your choice to micro-financing entrepreneurial projects or micro-sponsoring SHiFT itself.

All in all, apart from the tight timing that makes this a little awkward, we are very happy with our decision and believe this only goes to making SHiFT an even better and unique experience. So, time for practicalities.

You have bought your ticket and/or made plane/hotel reservations?

Of course, we will refund all the tickets that have already been bought. We are already talking to these persons and have invited them to attend SHiFT 2010 at no cost. 2008 Golden Ticket holders will also be welcomed at no cost in SHiFT 2010.

If you have already made plans and reservations to attend SHiFT 2009 in October, please contact us and we'll do everything in our power to help you out.

Stay tuned

If you have any questions about SHiFT 2010, contact us at community@shift.pt - we'll be happy to answer all your questions and help you in any way we can.

We will soon announce the new dates and venue, so stay tuned to our blog, Twitter and Facebook accounts.

Thank you all, participants, speakers and partners, for your support over the years. You rock, and SHiFT rocks on.

View News Archive

Info

Shift Schedule is now
available here

Contacts

SHiFT - Social and Human Ideas For Technology

15 to 17 October 2008

Know more about the organizers