19Oct
Sharing our approach for the first hybrid RightsCon
This blog post was updated on November 15, 2022 after we launched our Call for Proposals to reflect progress in our vision for next year’s hybrid event. Today marks the public rollout of our journey towards our first hybrid RightsCon and we want to share with you our current approach for successfully delivering an event of this scope and scale. Engaging with you, our community, when undertaking big decisions is an important step for us. It's one we’ve valued at every turn, whether in 2020, when we transitioned our summit online or today, as we build our first hybrid experience. RightsCon started in 2011 as an in-person only summit, a model that we replicated and improved upon for eight years, and which became a critical shared space for a global multi-stakeholder community to meet and coordinate face-to-face. In transitioning RightsCon online, we adapted our model to a new context, learning for the first time the importance and power of virtual convening for expanding accessibility and inclusion, creating asynchronous engagement opportunities, and attracting participation from the highest levels of government and companies. RightsCon Costa Rica (June 5-9, 2023) is a new inflection point for our convening model, requiring us to bridge our expertise in hosting in-person and virtual spaces to create a connected experience that is tailored to meet participants wherever they are and however they choose to join us. And what we know is that while a majority (55%) of surveyed 2022 participants told us they planned to join in-person, the remainder were split down the middle: they either planned to join us online or they weren’t sure yet. Whatever the reason a participant may have to join us virtually – including but not limited to vaccine or health related concerns, travel or visa restrictions, or a desire to reduce their carbon footprint (a motivation we share and will be communicating ab
