Edge Conference

FAQs

What does it cost?

Tickets are £100, which is used to pay for panelist travel expenses and a few minor things like lanyards and badges. All remaining funds will be donated to CodeClub.

Why is it on a Saturday?

We are using a corporate office as a venue, so we stage the event on a Saturday to avoid disruption to the people who normally work there and so that we can make better use of the facilities. As a side benefit, a Saturday makes the event more accessible to those who would not be permitted to attend by their employer if the event were held during the week. However, we do understand that for those lucky enough to be allowed to attend conferences as part of their job, you'd rather we didn't encroach on your weekend. If it's any consolation, if we were to use a commerical venue the ticket price would be at least twice as much as we charge for attending Edge.

Tell me more about the breakouts

Breakouts are boardroom-style (attendees sit in a circle or square around a single table), where a small group of people who are interested in a specific topic can discuss that topic in depth. Depending on the room, they have a 30-70 person capacity.

Each breakout is hosted by a facilitator who is subject matter expert, and will be provided with ice breaker exercises, topic starter suggestions, whiteboards, stationery, a scribe to write it up in real time on a live, collaboratively edited document, and a group chat channel.

Can you suggest somewhere to stay?

The following hotels are good quality, near to the venue and ranked from cheapest to most expensive:

Is the venue accessible?

The following information may be useful to delegates with accessibility needs:

  • Wheelchair users: The Facebook London offices and Rotunda Bar and Grill where the after party will take place are both fully accessible, with lifts and ramps where needed. Please note that the terrace area outside the Rotunda is partially cobbled and is on the canal with no rails around the water.
  • Hearing impaired: The main space within the conference venue is equipped with a hearing loop for hearing aid users. Audio equipment is brand new and sound is well amplified. There is no live signing or captioning available. In the breakout rooms, amplified audio is not always available.
  • Visually impaired: Blind and partially sighted delegates are welcome to bring a sight guide, and by arrangement we can offer a walkthrough of the venue on the day prior to the conference. Please drop us a line if you would like to pop in. Some ice breaker exercises require visual acquity, please let your breakout host know if you would prefer that they choose one that doesn't.

If you would like any special assistance getting to or from any venue or whilst at either venue, please let us know in advance, and we’ll make arrangements to assist you. This is no trouble at all if we know ahead of time, so please don’t be afraid to ask, but be aware that it’s hard to do this at short notice on the day.

Who should attend?

If you are a web developer using technologies that you can only find in pre-release versions of browsers, and you are finding that they don’t quite work as you think they should, we want to see you at Edge. Or if you have developed intricate workarounds, shims or polyfills to make up for the deficiencies of web standards or differences in implementation between browsers, you should come too.

Who's paying for everything?

Edge is supported and funded by the organisations behind the event: London Web Performance Group (via its year-round sponsors), Facebook and the Financial Times (via FT Labs).

How do you choose your panelists?

Some of the panelists are employees of the conference organisers and invited participating companies. They are paid to attend Edge, represent their company, and participate in the discussion as part of their job. They were nominated by their respective employers. The remainder come from exploring the networks of the organisers (a small group of employees of the FT and Google). We also reached out to spec authors, relevant industry leading organisations, and organisations that promote the interests of underrepresented groups, looking for panelist suggestions.

We particularly make an effort to solicit panelist recommendations from people who seek to promote the participation of women in technology, in order to correct any unintentional selection bias.

The makeup of each panel is designed to offer a balanced range of different perspectives and expertise.

How do you choose the delegates?

Each delegate is asked to provide a short summary of what they would bring to the event. We look at the summary and the name of their organisation (to avoid having too many delegates from the same organisation), and rank prospective delegates on a 1 to 5 scale. When we have more applications than we have capacity in the venue, we start sending invites out, starting with those with the highest score. We keep sending invites until all seats are taken.

What is your code of conduct?

Our conference is a place for free discussion and open exchange of ideas. We can only truly achieve that if everyone involved feels that they are warmly welcomed and valued participants and that they are in a safe environment. Although we may disagree with each other’s opinions, we should be able to do so without upsetting or being upset by others.

We therefore do not tolerate verbal comments or presentational material that makes inappropriate use of gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, age, or religion. We require participants to respect others' boundaries and do not tolerate deliberate intimidation, stalking, following, harassing photography or recording, disruption of sessions, inappropriate physical contact, or unwelcome sexual attention.

If a participant engages in harassing behavior, the conference organizers may take any action they deem appropriate, including warning the offender or expulsion from the conference with no refund. If you are being harassed, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, please contact a member of conference staff immediately.

Organisers are also bound by the codes of conduct of their respective organisations, which are available to view online:

Can I cancel before the event takes place?

If you registered, received an invite, and went on to purchase a ticket, you can cancel and get a refund up to 7 days before the conference by clicking the register button again and logging back in with the same email address you used to register in the first place. You will see cancellation options on screen.

If there are less than 7 days to go we would still very much appreciate knowing if you can't make it (since we can then allocate your place to someone else) but we do not offer refunds unless the event is cancelled.