Web3 Foundation was founded with one mission: to support a fully decentralized web. A decentralized web that will enable a way to resist censorship, provide privacy, and coordinate new economic and societal models that better represent users’ interests. As part of that mission, we aim to convene, facilitate, and fund the projects, teams, and individuals that are building the frameworks of our freedom.

The Web3 Summit is an extension of this mission. It is structured to be collaborative and break current norms — an experiment in creating a large scale, open source event. A gathering of developers, researchers, cryptoanarchists, democratic confederalists, privacy enthusiasts, technologists, blockchainers and “nocoiners”, do-gooders and up-to-no-gooders.

To demonstrate our commitment to an open, inclusive community, the Web3 Foundation has offered to fund ticket reductions for attendees at the inaugural Web3 Summit: If you’re contributing to the ecosystem or if you cannot afford the full priced ticket; you can apply for a subsidized ticket with a small contribution to the community. If you cannot afford the recommended contribution, Web3 Foundation’s ticket endowment team will review your request for a fully reduced ticket. This is an investment in our community, and a token of our appreciation for the individuals working relentlessly on open source protocols.

We very much welcome anyone who feels they are in a financial position forgo a price reduction and purchase the undiscounted ticket.

We are so inspired by the enthusiasm and participation we’ve seen from the community to organize, host, and generally contribute to the future success of Web3 Summit, which is why we have developed a plan to make the summit accessible to as many people as possible. It is representative of the openness and spirit of the community we work with on a daily basis.

Here’s what we’re looking forward to most about Web3 Summit:

Thirty-five interactive workshops ranging from privacy preserving smart contracts, various governance approaches, decentralized randomness protocols, and growing open source communities.

A hackerspace consisting of ten different nodes, where teams can self-organize, host their own events, whiteboard out ideas, and have a place to camp out and call home for three days. There will be a pop-up node that anyone can sign up for and utilize during the course of the Summit.

Web3 Summit is designed to be immersive and interactive, a place where you can also just hang out, meet others, share ideas, and make new friends. So we’ve gone beyond technical workshops and presentations to create a cultural program that includes documentary screenings, art installations, decentralized dance parties, and community organized pop-up events. We invite you to come with an open mind, engage, talk to strangers, and leave with something way more valuable than you’ll get from sitting in an auditorium looking at slides all day long.

Last but not least… this is all taking place in an incredible venue: Funkhaus Berlin. Built in 1951 by the Deutsche Democratic Republic, it was once the largest radio broadcasting site in the world. Much of the content recorded and distributed here functioned as DDR propaganda. In addition, Funkhaus served an active hub for Stasi secret police surveillance. We chose this historic venue to remind us of our collective purpose and what is at stake.

Early on we decided that we would deploy a no sponsorship policy. While sponsors help with offsetting a lot of the cost of putting together an event, they inevitably lead to pay-to-play dynamics and an oversaturation of logos and hyper-branded consumerism. We decided against bringing on sponsors to eliminate this noise so that we could focus on what really matters: the people doing the work.

Our initial goal was to create a sustainable Summit that could be funded fully through ticket sales — without the need to generate a profit. We also wanted the Summit to be affordable to a diverse group of people — not just those working on well-funded projects. We have struggled with the idea that money might create a barrier to entry for our community, even with existing discounts and our reduced ticket application for students and builders.

So, after thoughtful consideration, the Web3 Foundation has resolved to put our money where our mouth is and invest in our community. This means subsidizing the entry fee for everyone we can.

How Can I Register For a Partially or Fully Reduced Ticket?

Remaining tickets are limited and we will reach capacity. Sadly, we won’t be able to accommodate everyone. Therefore, we ask that you submit a short application form for consideration. We give strong preference to developers, researchers, designers, community organizers, and the teams supporting this ecosystem. If you are able, we still ask that you purchase a full-price ticket. Builders and contributors (you do not have to be a dev!), students and others who cannot afford the full price are able to apply for reduced or free tickets. Our suggested contribution is 200 euros for a reduced ticket, which aligns with a one-day ticket option (but you can come all three!).

What If I Already Bought A Ticket?

Anyone who has already purchased a ticket to the Web3 Summit will have an option to receive a full or partial ticket price reduction. Ticket holders will receive an email with instructions detailing the price reduction process. We welcome anyone who feels they are in a financial position forgo a price reduction (we’re looking at you, crypto rich folk and investors! :) to contribute their ticket cost to the Summit and the community that it will bring together.

What’s The Plan For Future Web3 Summits?

We do not regret the decision not to include sponsorships from the start, and we continue to believe that this is the only way to create an uncompromised and value-driven community. While we’d love to cover a significant portion of the entry costs to Web3 Summit every year, we unfortunately don’t have the funds to facilitate this on an ongoing basis. We will, however, explore creative options to extend this community-first model while supporting the same level of extraordinary programming we have put together for this special inaugural milestone. We haven’t begun planning the next one yet — but we hope you’ll join us!

Our aim is that this endowment conveys our appreciation to the individuals dedicating themselves to furthering the ecosystem. We also hope it sets the tone for our first Summit: we’re in this together. Be helpful to one another. Teach. Learn. Find common ground. Make friends. Build.

The future is so much brighter when we work together.