We got an email this morning wondering about the format for the larger 2-day all-API-related event we’ll be doing on September 18th and 19th in Stockholm. I imagine that others are wondering this as well, so I thought I’d capture our answer in a blog post. This is our plan and we would love to get your feedback on it:

Registration for the event will start at 8:00 on Wednesday the 18th, and talks will kick off at 9:00. We’ll have a handful of keynotes, a break, and a panel discussion in the morning. Then, we’ll have lunch together in the open area of the Lustikulla Conference Center. After lunch, we’ll come together and decide on some topics from the morning that we’d like to drill into deeper, unconference style. We’ll breakup into 4 groups and spread throughout the two rooms, and see where our talks take us. Around 16:00, we’ll come back together and summarize the conversations  At 17:00, we’ll convene for the day, and meet up at 19:00 for dinner at a nearby restaurant.

On the second day, we’ll meet at 9:00, and start again with a few keynotes. Then, we’ll split into two tracks. These will run till 16:00, and we’ll have 4 or so themes for the day. These may be things like innovation, security, best practices, etc. If you have suggestions on topics you’d like to hear about or a would like to give one of those, leave a comment below or drop us a line. The event will end at 16:00, giving folks a chance to catch a plane around 20:00 if they need to jet off. For those traveling from far away like the States, we hope you’ll take a long weekend to enjoy Stockholm, which is in my personal top-5 list of favorite cities. This was the format used at Identity.Next in the Netherlands late last year, and it was very personal, and great for not only learning from the speakers but also the community. This resulted in new personal and business contacts, as well as new insights that I’m now benefiting from.

The conference center will also lend to this. It is a very cozy place just 6 subway stops from Stockholm’s central train station. We’ve booked two rooms — Liljeholmssalen (Liljeholms Hall) and Katrinebergssalen (Katrinebergs Hall). With these, we can accommodate hundreds of people. We’ve also reserved some room for exhibitions, so attendees will be able to mingle and talk w/ each other and the sponsors. You can see the floor plan below, and the conference center’s site has some great photos as well. The exhibition area, which can easily accommodate a dozen tabletops or small booths, and eating area are labeled Ljusträdgårdens (Candle Garden) in the following diagram. These can be separated by a makeshift divider if needed/wanted.

These are our current thoughts. We’d love your feedback, so we can adjust as needed to ensure that you all have a good event, which is our primary goal! Also, be sure to take advantage of the early bird registration which will last only a while longer. If you’re interested in sponsoring, we certainly need the help and support to make this a fantastic event, so please get in touch w/ us.

See you all September and on Twitter before then!