Today I received a newsletter from the Conf3rence event—an event where HIVE was represented last year with an exhibition booth and a keynote speaker. Last year, the two-day event took place at the Westfalen Stadium in Dortmund. It was a wonderful event with many great partners and exhibitors.
Impressions from last year in Dortmund
The Newsletter (Text from E-Mail)
CONF3RENCE 2026 is now free for everyone
Hey, We're changing how CONF3RENCE 2026 works, and the short version is this: admission is free for everyone, on both days.
What's happening
CONF3RENCE takes place on 15 and 16 September at Kokerei Hansa in Dortmund. This year it runs inside the Festival of Arts, Tech & Taste — same site, same days, with a culinary programme, installations, a Ferris wheel and live formats across the grounds.
That co-location is what drove the decision. A fenced-off, ticketed area in the middle of an open festival campus would have worked neither operationally nor editorially.
What changes There are no paid tickets any more, and no VIP or premium tier. Every visitor has the same access to stages, programme and site. If you already bought a ticket, it has been refunded in full — and your place is secure, with nothing further needed from you.
What doesn't change The programme. We start at midday on 15 September with substantive discussions featuring speakers from Microsoft, Google Cloud, PwC, Deloitte, Union Investment, Chainlink and many more. The evening leads into the Opening Night. 16 September is a full day of hands-on demos, product onboarding, community programming and live activations.
Two days, two programmes, one open campus!
What you need to do Register at www.conf3rence.com. Free admission still requires a ticket, because capacity on site is capped and registration is now open to the public. If you're planning to bring colleagues or your community, register them early while places are available.
Don't forget to follow us on social media for the latest updates!
Warm Regards, Team CONF3RENCE
Ticket: 0€
HiveFest XI - Swarm Edition
Swarm Edition - Read more here: https://peakd.com/hive-106258/@roelandp/hivefest-xi-goes-swarm-self-organized-one-weekend-bcn-lets-do-this
HiveFest 2026 will take place in Barcelona—but without funding from the DHF—and each person is on their own. That’s why the Swarm Editions idea came about—groups that meet up in one place and organize things on their own. That means the event in Dortmund will take place on September 15 and 16, and HiveFest on September 17, 18, 19, and 20. That’s six days in a row—okay, I’ll admit, a six-day event in Dortmund doesn’t sound particularly appealing—but if some Hive users are interested in attending this year’s Conf3rence in Dortmund, maybe they could tack on a day or two afterward with various activities. Just throwing that out there for a brainstorming session.
Interested? Any other ideas? Feel free to share them in the comments.
