Endings Summit at Techfestival 2019

In September 2019, I co-curated the Endings Summit at Techfestival in Copenhagen, an event focused on designing better endings for products, services, relationships, and life. I was also the producer and host of the Studio Stage and official Techfestival podcast.

The third edition of Techfestival took place 5-7 September 2019 in Copenhagen's Meatpacking District. Its participatory nature set it apart from conventional technology conferences. Rather than featuring dark rooms and hype talks glorifying technology, it fostered conversations about technology's societal impact and our role within it, welcoming more than 10,000 people.

Keynotes included Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales (US), hashtag inventor Chris Messina (US), 'the Robin Hood of data' Francesca Bria (IT), Center for Humane Technology Co-founder Aza Raskin (US), author Payal Arora (IND), Wired journalist Clive Thompson (CAN) and 'Europe's most wired politician' Marietje Schaake (NL).

The Endings Summit: Designing Better Endings

On Saturday, 7 September 2019, I co-hosted the Endings Summit with design researcher Joana Casaca Lemos. We were joined by three experts on endings:

• Shoshana Berger, Editorial Director at IDEO and author of A Beginner's Guide to the End: How to Live Life to the Full and Die a Good Death
• Joe Macleod, former design director at UsTwo, Founder of Andend (the world's first customer ending business) and author of Ends.: Why we overlook endings for humans, products, services and digital. And why we shouldn't
• Francesca Desmarais, systems thinker and strategist specialised in environmental and social design, and Venture Lead at the Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design (CIID)

Though Christopher Bullock wrote in 1716 that "'Tis impossible to be sure of any thing but Death and Taxes", the summit acknowledged that while taxes can be dodged, death cannot. We examined how not only life but companies, products, services, and relationships all eventually end yet we often find ourselves unprepared for these conclusions.

Drawing inspiration from the ancient Greek Fates (Clotho who spun the thread of life, Lachesis who measured it, and Atropos who cut it), the summit addressed how modern society tends to focus on beginnings and growth while neglecting endings.

The Day's Structure

The Endings Summit took a hands-on workshop approach, requiring active participation from all attendees. The day was structured around four short talks on endings in products, services, relationships and life; two creation sessions where participants designed better endings; a collective review of the output; and a wrap-up session that formulated protocols for handling endings in each area.

The summit formed part of the broader Techfestival experience, which included over 200 conversations, workshops and events centred on the relationship between humans and technology.