Conference FAQ

The Service Design Global Conference (SDGC) is organised by Service Design Network (SDN) and this is its 17th edition. The 2024 conference is organised together with SDN Finland chapter and in cooperation with Ornamo Art and Design Finland.

The conference will continue with its 3-day format, starting on October 2 with workshops and pre-conference networking events, followed by two full days (October 3 & 4) of a brilliant conference program. The timezone of the event is EEST (Eastern European Summer Time).

To be inclusive of our attendees who won’t be able to travel, we’ll continue with the hybrid format (in-person & online). The in-person event will be held in Helsinki, Finland at Paasitorni venue, and live streaming of the talks will be available via RingCentral (formerly known as Hopin) platform for our online audience.

Workshops will be held either in-person or online on Wednesday, October 2. In-person workshops won’t be streamed.

All conference talks happening on the main stage and on two side stages will be live streamed via RingCentral/Hopin platform and made available on video within half an hour. In-person networking events will not be live streamed, but separate networking events will be organised for our online audience.

The official language of the conference is English, this includes all talks, sessions and workshops.

Virtual ticket registration will remain open up until the end of the conference. As in-person tickets are limited in quantity, in-person registration will close when the maximum capacity of the venue is reached.

Full hybrid access to the two day conference program (in-person & online access) Opening reception on Wednesday, October 2 at the Helsinki City Hall “Replay” access to all talk recordings Lunch, as well as refreshments during breaks for both conference days Service Design Night events on Thursday, October 3 at various city locations Closing party on Friday, October 4 at Kellohalli Please note - if you have purchased a “Super early in-person ticket”, 1 in-person workshop is included in your ticket. Otherwise workshop tickets have to be purchased separately

Full online access to the two day conference program “Replay” access to all talk recordings Online networking Please note - if you have purchased a “Super early virtual ticket”, 1 online workshop is included in your ticket. Otherwise workshop tickets have to be purchased separately

Only if you have purchased a “Super Early Bird" ticket - then 1 workshop is included in your ticket. Otherwise, workshops are not included in the conference tickets and need to be purchased separately. As not all conference attendees can attend workshops, there is a separate workshop ticket available - these are available for purchase from the ticket shop. Please note that workshops will be held on Wednesday, Oct 2.

Workshop registration is currently open only to conference participants. Registration for non-participants will open on Sept 15.

Registration for workshops is open and you can purchase your conference and workshop ticket from the ticket shop. For more information on the side events and evening events, please check the website under "Program".

Yes, all our members with valid memberships can register at a reduced rate. When registering for the conference, select the SDN Member ticket. If you need to renew your membership, please get in touch at membership@service-design-network.org

Yes, SDGC24 is organised in collaboration with Ornamo Art and Design Finland and Ornamo members can register at a reduced rate. When registering for the conference, select the special Ornamo ticket.

Invoice will be generated after the ticket purchase. For any additional questions or requests regarding invoices, please reach out directly to our accounting at henz@service-design-network.org

We are offering a 25% discount to attendees registering for virtual attendance from countries classified as “Lower middle” or “Low” income economies. For the World Bank’s index, please check here if your country qualifies. To receive this discount on the virtual ticket, please contact us directly by email.

We would like to help. Regardless of the World Bank index, if you are experiencing financial hardships such as unemployment that limit your ability to attend, please send us an email.

Below group discounts are available for virtual and in-person tickets when registering 5 or more people of the same attendance type (so, either 5 and more in-person attendees, or 5 and more virtual attendees). Please note that these discounts are valid for Early Bird and Regular tickets, and are not applicable to the special Super Early Bird offer. 5% for 5-15 attendees 10% for 16-30 attendees 15% for 31 attendees and above

All tickets are non-refundable, but can be transferred to another person up until one week before the conference. In the unfortunate event that you are unable to attend, please contact us by email.

HOTEL SCANDIC PAASI Discount code for attendees: FIARB * hotel rates include breakfast The conference hotel Scandic Paasi is conveniently adjacent to the venue. Please use code FIARB to book your room under a reduced rate and use the following link for reservation. Hotel rates include breakfast which is served at the hotel breakfast restaurant. HOTEL CITYBOX HELSINKI Discount code for attendees: SDGC24 * hotel rates don't include breakfast The Citybox hotel is located in the Kallio district of Helsinki, and only about 7min walking distance to the conference venue. To book your room, please use the following link and use discount code SDGC24. Hotel rates at Citybox don't include breakfast, but guests can have breakfast at additional cost at the food court which is located on the -1 floor of the hotel. 'L’Artisan Le Café' is one of the places which offers a breakfast menu. All accommodation bookings should be done directly by attendees. Please note that bookings are subject to availability at time of reservation, and as Helsinki is a busy city with a lot of events happening in October, we encourage you to make your hotel booking as soon as possible.

If you prefer to stay in the city centre, good news is that the venue Paasitorni is easily reachable by public transport. Depending on where you stay in the city centre, it will take you approximately 10-15 minutes to reach the venue (for example from Helsinki railway station to Paasitorni takes approx. 10 minutes by metro). For those who enjoy walking, this will be a 20-30 min pleasant walk. There are also several hotel options around the venue and area (Kallio and Helsinki centre), with a wide variety of options for those who are looking for an experience, and for those who are satisfied with a reasonably priced option. We also recommend looking at the AirBnB options around the area.

The conference venue Paasitorni, a beautiful waterside art nouveau heritage building, is located on the edge of the Kallio neighbourhood. Known for its bohemian vibe and lively street life and cultural scene, Kallio is a popular area among students, artists, and young professionals. The area boasts a wide variety of bars, cafes, restaurants, and small shops, offering everything from vintage goods to contemporary Finnish design. The venue is located in the middle of the city, but away from the rush of the city centre and right on the shore of the Eläintarhanlahti Bay. Venue address: Paasivuorenkatu 5 A, FIN-00530 Helsinki.

We recommend arriving at Paasitorni by public transportation. Many bus and tram lines run through Helsinki-Hakaniemi, and there is a metro station as well. The Central Railway Station is roughly 1km away, a distance easily covered on foot or by bicycle. Paasitorni provides parking for bicycles on the side flanking Saariniemenkatu. There is a direct train from Helsinki Airport to the Central Railway Station. Metro, tram and bus For an easy way to locate Paasitorni, go to: www.reittiopas.fi Trams 3, 6 and 9 will take you directly to Hakaniemi market square from the front of the Central Railway Station. Several buses departing from Railway Square (at the Central Railway Station, next to the Finnish National Theatre) have stops in Hakaniemi. If you arrive by metro from the city centre, get off at Hakaniemi station - Exit E. Trains All long-distance and commuter trains arriving in Helsinki stop at the Central Railway Station. The Ring Rail Line will take you from Helsinki Airport to the city centre in about 30 minutes. The distance from the Central Railway Station to Paasitorni is short and convenient. Timetables: www.vr.fi

Attendees with reduced mobility can enter the venue through the inner courtyard (automated doors) between the main entrance (Paasivuorenkatu 5A) and Hotel Scandic Paasi (5B). If necessary, the venue staff will be happy to help (Conference Services, tel. +358 9 7089 613). Paasitorni’s premises used for the conference are accessible for guests with reduced mobility. The building has two lifts. Paasitorni’s accessible restrooms are located on floor 0 (Sirkus), 2.5 (Congress Hall) and on floor 3.

Yes, there will be a cloakroom managed by our volunteers where you can leave your coats and suitcases.

The Lost & Found will be located at the venue. Please let an on-site volunteer know if you have lost or found something.

We understand that many people have various food restrictions such as sensitivities or allergies, or follow a certain diet. When purchasing your in-person ticket, please let us know about your dietary requirements by answering the question in the registration form, and we will be happy to arrange for specific food options with our caterer.

In general, the talk recording should be available online in less than 30 minutes after the talk ends.

The time zone of the conference is EEST, as the event is happening in Helsinki, Finland.

Once you purchase your ticket, email us with the following information: name and surname as written in your passport, your full address and passport number.

Daytime temperatures are around 10°C (50°F), while nights can cool down to about 3°C (37°F). Helsinki in October usually receives moderate rainfall, averaging around 65 mm for the month - so do pack a warm jacket and an umbrella, just in case.

In-person attendees can already network during the pre-opening event on Wednesday, Oct 2 at the Helsinki City Hall. During the conference (Oct 3 & 4) you can visit our partner booths and you can also network during coffee/tea breaks and lunches. We have an awesome choice of evening events such as Service Design night on Thursday and our awesome conference closing party on Friday. For virtual attendees, group networking events will be organised on the RingCentral platform which will also allow delegates to schedule 1:1 networking.

You can schedule online meetings with other delegates, either 1:1 or as a group. For more details please check additional information here.

SDN’s mission is to continuously push the boundaries of the practice of service design by expanding awareness of its value and application of its mindset across multiple domains. Service design is uniquely equipped to positively impact the challenges of today and tomorrow. Through community-building, events and knowledge- sharing, the Service Design Network supports and grows the global community, enabling it to positively impact our society as well as our planet. The SDN invests in activities supporting the SDN mission: conferences, like the Service Design Global Conference or the Next Gen Conference, Service Design courses at our very own SDN Academy, Touchpoint - the Service Design Journal, the Service Design Award, accreditation programs, and community building. And we invest intensely in social media communication to create more awareness for service design in new communities in order to grow the outreach of the service design practice. The revenue of the SDN is shared between: HQ personnel costs: 50% Direct costs: publishing costs for Touchpoint journal, trainer costs for our trainings, speaker honorariums, venue/catering costs for our Global conference: 25% Indirect costs: IT infrastructure and accounting: 15% Investments in our digital future: 10% The non-profit status of the SDN is based on German law and tax regulations.

Thank you for considering partnering with us! For additional information and partnering opportunities, please reach out to our SDN Partnership team.

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