Head of Team ofTeam CommUNITY (TCU)
The digital rights community, Team CommUNITY (TCU), has announced the location, dates, and format of the 2023 Global Gathering, saying it will take place in Estoril, Portugal, on September 15, 16, and 17, 2023 in a decentralized format.
According to TCU, this is the first event it will be hosting post-COVID pandemic and will serve as a soft launch for its annual Global Gathering, part of a three-year vision to build up to pre-pandemic numbers and format in a sustainable, safe, and secure way.
This year’s gathering, TCU said, will have a much more decentralized format and approach different from previous instances and the focus will be on networking and recharging with colleagues as there will be no sessions. It said for the majority of people, it will only have physical space to rekindle connections, with some exceptions.
TCU stated that the Official Global Gathering will consist of three parts: The Feira (Open to all Digital Rights Defenders, following approval); The Summit (for which admission will be by invite only); and Satellite Events (independent, organized by other organizations).
The Feira will this year be offering a physical space where Digital Rights Defenders (DRDs) can connect, and then head out together in the host city to participate in activities they self-organize. When possible, TCU will provide processes to facilitate self-organizing. The physical space will have food and other types of vendors, as well as host select social events sponsored by partners.
The Summit will be a very small, invite-only event of between 200 and 250 people. For this year’s iteration, TCU will be inviting managers and select community leaders to engage in a highly facilitated unconference around improving organizational and employee health, as well as mapping out emerging threats in the digital rights space.
For the Satellite Event, various organizations are planning to host their own private and semi-private events but TCU will not be involved in them.
Team CommUNITY (TCU) is a community-based membership network that brings together digital defenders from across the globe fighting surveillance, censorship, and other issues sitting at the intersection of human rights and technology.
For further information about the 2023 Global Gathering, please visit: https://www.digitalrights.community/blog/announcing-team-communitys-global-gathering.
