Dear Conference Attendees,
As we’re putting together final touches to host you in London for the 2024 International Conference on Social Media & Society, we have some important news and tips to share with you.
#SMSociety Future
- After many successful years of stewardship, the founders and current organizers, Anatoliy Gruzd and Philip Mai from the Social Media Lab at Toronto Metropolitan University, will be passing the torch to a new team of organizers based in the UK. Over the past 14 years, Anatoliy and Philip have dedicated countless hours to guiding the #SMSociety conference from its humble beginnings to become the premier venue for sharing and discovering new interdisciplinary research on how social media affects society. For more details, see the full announcement here.
Last-Minute Travel and Conference Tips
- Planning your conference schedule: Review the conference schedule to plan and decide what parallel sessions to attend so that you don’t miss anything of interest to you. (Pro tip: Click on the star ⭐ in the upper left cover of each session to create a personalized schedule. Be sure to do this on the device+browser you intend to use at the conference.)
- Accessibility Requirements: If you have any accessibility requirements, please email us at [email protected]
- Workshops and Tutorials: Day 1 of the conference features hands-on sessions, such as workshops and tutorials. All of them are included as part of your conference registration; there is no need to sign up in advance. Please note, however, that most of these sessions have two parts designed to be attended one after another (check the conference schedule for more details).
- Tour of the London College of Communications (LCC) and Printing Presses: Our host chairs are organizing a campus tour on Day 1 (4-5pm) to take you through LCC and its history, including a look at printing presses, media and creative technology labs, the digital space and other historical and contemporary media technology sites of production and creativity. To participate in the LCC tour, you must sign up in advance using this form.
- The Evening Social on Day 1 (Tue, July 16) at the Four Quarters Elephant Park Arcade Bar (Map easy ~10-15 min walk away). You can drop by anytime between 6:00pm – 10:00pm, but please note that light refreshments (e.g., burgers (beef+vg), hotdogs (vg), chicken nuggets, fries and onion rings) will be served between 6:00pm-7:30pm. You will also get two drink tokens redeemable for alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages during the Social. FYI. Due to the space capacity limitations, the event is open to registered participants only.
- Conference Dress Code: There is no dress code at the conference, but as it’s summer and most buildings in London are not air-conditioned, we suggest light/breathable clothing. Also, as the weather in London is unpredictable, be ready for both rain and sun.
- Off-Conference Activities: There are many exciting tourist attractions in London. If your travel schedule permits, we encourage you to plan your off-conference activities in advance, as many tourist attractions now require pre-booking and/or timed entry. Without duplicating travel guides here, we want to highlight one such activity – Morning coffee at Sky Garden (8:15-9:15 am), which provides an amazing 360-view of the city in a lush green garden in the sky. You can book this activity in advance for £10.50 at https://skygarden.london/sunrise/