Events I Attend in the Second Half of 2026
Like I did for the first half of the year, here is my list of events I attend from August 2026 on. Some of these I help to organise, some are run by good friends, and at some of them you’ll find me with a camera in my hands. Maybe more to come, but those are the events – in chronological order – where I have travel and accommodation booked and where I’d love to meet you ;)
Forward Festival, Berlin
Forward Festival is a creativity festival that started in 2015. The Berlin edition takes place at Haus der Kulturen der Welt, known from the good old TYPO events that have always been there. 50+ speakers across three stages over two days, mixing talks with workshops, an expo area, installations, side events and parties. The line-up leans towards design, branding, art direction and motion, with names like Stefan Sagmeister, Anton & Irene, Mr. Bingo, FutureDeluxe and Gemma O’Brien. Less “sit and listen”, more “wander, meet people, get inspired” and I am lookimng forward to meeting a lot of the above listed people, who have spoken at beyond tellerrand.
📆 27–28 August 2026
💰 €370 (Late Bird), Students under 28 €125, Day Pass €205
👉 Programme and tickets
Smashing Conference, Freiburg
SmashingConf Freiburg is a bit of a homecoming for me. Vitaly Friedman and I founded this conference series back in 2012 and Freiburg is where it all started for Smashing Magazine. This is already the 14th edition in the beautiful Historisches Kaufhaus right at Münsterplatz: two conference days, one track, twelve speakers, plus workshop days before and after. Expect design systems, AI, accessibility, CSS, animation and a lot of “this is how I actually work” live sessions rather than polished showcases. Speakers include Jake Archibald, Emma Bostian, Hidde de Vries, Eva Ferreira, Ioana Teleanu, Joe Natoli and a mystery guest.
📆 7–10 September 2026 (conference 8–9 September, workshops 7 and 10 September)
💰 Conference €770, Workshops €590, bundled tickets and team discounts available
👉 All information and tickets
Hatch Conference, Berlin
Hatch is Berlin’s conference for product and UX designers, hosted at Silent Green – a former crematorium turned cultural quarter (also home of Berlin Letters), which gives the whole thing much more of a design festival feeling than a corporate conference. Two stages, around 15 sessions and a line-up curated for topics rather than follower counts: Paula Scher (Pentagram), Randy Hunt (Notion), Sara Vienna (Metalab), Nicole Michaelis (Pleo), Mehmet Aydın Baytaş (Attio) and others. There are also full- and half-day workshops on the two days before the conference.
📆 18 September 2026 (workshops 16–17 September, onsite only)
💰 Onsite sold out – Online €75 (+ VAT), 5 passes €300, 10 passes €500
👉 Programme and tickets
Kirby Konf, Mainz (GER)
Kirby Konf has a story. The first one was supposed to happen in 2020 – venue booked, tickets sold out, hotels reserved, catering ordered. And then the first lockdowns hit two weeks before the doors were meant to open. Six years later, the team is giving it another try and I’m happy to be part of the crew organising and helping with it. Two days at the Gutenberg Hub in Mainz for everyone building websites with Kirby. Developers, designers and people who just love a CMS that stays out of the way. Confirmed speakers include Matthias Ott, Bruno Meilick, Fabian Michael, Thomas Günther, Johanna Hörrmann, Yoshie Agata, Justus Kraft, Markus Denhoff and Sascha Bregenhorn. If you work with Kirby, this is the place to be this year.
📆 25–26 September 2026
💰 €159 (sold out – waiting list active)
👉 Speakers, schedule and tickets
Craft & Work, London
Craft & Work is run by my good friends Keir Whitaker and Craig Cooper, and it’s the opposite of a big stage event: 50 people in one room at Wallacespace Clerkenwell, a mix of short presentations, hot-seat interviews and group discussions with plenty of room for actual conversation. The audience is made up of soloists, founders and leaders. Many from the Shopify partner ecosystem, but also people from ecommerce, SaaS and consulting. No gurus, no formulas, just honest talk about what it takes to build and run something. The ticket also includes “The Amuse Bouche”, a relaxed evening gathering the night before. I’ll be there taking photos and looking forward to good conversations. As always.
📆 9 October 2026 (pre-event evening on 8 October)
💰 £235 + VAT (~€270)
👉 All details and tickets
Storyblok JoyConf, Mainz
JoyConf is Storyblok’s own conference and Storyblok has been a partner of beyond tellerrand for a while now. Last year’s edition brought together 750 attendees from 35 countries with 70 speakers and the 2026 edition moves to the Rheingoldhalle in Mainz, 25 minutes from Frankfurt Airport. The theme is “Content Confidence. Human Connection.”, aimed at developers, marketers and digital leaders working on content systems in an AI-driven world. Speakers announced so far include Dame Dr. Maggie Aderin-Pocock, Keelan Leyser, Stefan Baumgartner, Sahil Gambhir (Lokalise) and Dominik himself. And the best part: it’s free.
📆 28–29 October 2026
💰 Free (registration required)
👉 Agenda, venue and registration
Certainly there are more events around the world, but event budget – also with me – is tighter than it used to be. Less earning, less spending. Easy math done here.
If you need event photos or want to hire me as event consultant – with more than 25 years of experience in that field – to help you with you events, please get in touch
Apart from that: which events are you attending? Will we meet somewhere? Do you know of exciting new events that I don’t know of yet, but that should be on my radar?