The Service Design Network (SDN) is pleased to announce that we are now officially accepting proposals for cities to host the next Service Design Global Conference in 2024.

The Service Design Global Conference is the annual gathering of 900+ service design thinkers, doers and leaders for a 2-day event dedicated to supporting the growth of service design and the ongoing success of the members who make up our network. The sharing of experiences, ideas and diverse perspectives is unprecedented and thanks to the open-minded and creative nature of the service design community who attend, participants are guaranteed to mark this event as the highlight of their service design year.

Why Host Service Design Global Conference 2024?

Playing host to Service Design Global Conference is an excellent opportunity to put your city and chapter in the spotlight. We welcome your proposal to take on this high-profile role and to showcase what makes your city so unique to our global community! Because we work in partnership with your on-site team, rest assured, you won’t be doing this alone. The SDN headquarters staff works in close collaboration to provide hands-on support and invaluable advice in the area of project management, marketing, communications, ticketing, etc., ensuring this event exceeds everyone’s expectations.

Who Can Host?

We are looking for SDN chapters to bid to host the conference. If you're a chapter with experience of hosting events like national conferences and meet-ups, that's great. If you're a chapter who's not yet got much experience with events, then we can help. Two or more chapters can also work together. If you're a city or organisation without connection to the SDN, then you will need to submit with one of our local chapters.

Benefits to the conference Host City/Team

• Free conference tickets (6 total)
• Opportunity to shape the direction of the conference from the selection of the venue, to the speakers, content and so much more
• Premium access to 900+ global service design professionals, businesses and academics
• The profiling of your team throughout our various communication channels, i.e. Touchpoint journal, the SDN website, conference brochure, social media channels etc.
• A guaranteed infusion of funds into the economy of your beloved city

Host Team Responsibilities

• Availability to conduct regular conference calls with SDN headquarter and conference volunteer team regarding conference strategy and execution
• Local hotel and venue guidance
• Support with speaker selection; input and outreach
• Support with workshop host and facilitators selection; input and outreach
• Support with identifying local partners 
• Guidance concerning local expertise for conference design and execution
• General conference support  pre-, during and post event

Please note that host city proposal submissions will be accepted up until June 30, 2023. Proposals will be reviewed by our board by mid-July, with the “winning” city notified soon thereafter.

Host City Submission Guidelines

• Our SUBMISSION GUIDELINES outline all the details you need to know
• All host city submissions must be submitted by an existing SDN chapter or an SDN chapter in the process of applying. Partnerships between chapters and local organisations are welcomed. 
• Names of the key members of the host team must be included along with a short biography for each.
• What is the status of the service design community in your location? i.e., how large, how active, noteworthy projects, etc.
• Have you or other team members attended an SDN conference in the past? Which one? What did you enjoy? What would you look to improve?
• Why do you feel your city is the best locale for SDN to hold its next conference? What makes it special for our community?
• Provide us with a list of some interesting venues that can accommodate 600–800 people, including breakouts for 250–300 people. Also provide cost estimates. 
• What hotels are located in close proximity to the conference venue(s)? We would expect to have options of varying pricing and quality to meet the range of needs of conference attendees (i.e. from 3-star to 5-star accommodations)
• Insights into potential venues for such events as the pre-conference networking event or the official conference party
• What are your initial thoughts on a conference theme and why?
• Our host city organisers as our partner should share the same values as SDN - for more information, please check our SDN Partners' Pledge
• We are here for you! If you have any questions or need any additional information, please don’t hesitate to reach out at any time by sending an email to conference@service-design-network.org

Timing for Submissions

• All proposals must be submitted no later than June 30, 2023
• The review of all submissions will take place no later than mid-July 2023
• Shortlisted cities will be contacted during the review process and may be required to provide additional insights and answers
• Our goal is to officially announce the selected city during Service Design Global Conference which will take place in Berlin from October 5-6, 2023

Important Note: We base our timeline according to an anticipated number of applications; therefore dates may fluctuate. Any changes to our schedule will be communicated accordingly.

If your city sounds like a great fit for our conference, we encourage you to apply. Please send us your proposal in the form of a PDF presentation that includes visuals of the venues as well as the city to give us a feel of the conference experience to conference@service-design-network.org 

We look forward to receiving your proposal!