Not every shiny bead is gold

As everywhere else, AI was a popular topic and received plenty of attention here too. The session that stuck with us the most was given by a fellow Dutch attendee, who urged the audience not to sleepwalk into the next trap of digital dependency just because of a few shiny beads.

The Fediverse across borders

Our main interest was in the sessions on decentralisation and the Fediverse. Speakers included Laurens Hof, Manfred Zielinski, Elena Rossini, Gina Plat, Ivan from Bonfire and representatives from Discourse and Reticulum.

During these sessions, projects and clients of ours were highlighted as good examples for the rest of the world. These included the City of Amsterdam's approach to Mastodon, NRC's steps towards the Fediverse and collaboration within Dutch journalism on an Open Social Web.

We were also pleased to see representatives from the Danish museum SMK and the person behind ReseauCulture.fr. We made contact with them for cultuur.social, a project we are involved in through our participation in the SVDJ Incubator.

More than just talks

Alongside the sessions, there was also time to meet various organisations from the sector and partners from our network at their stands. It was a great opportunity to catch up, strengthen personal connections and discuss new ideas and potential collaborations. Of course, there was also time to share a meal and exchange experiences.