WE ARE INVITING BIDS FOR SEMIOFEST 2016

Semiofest is unique; it is an annual event set up to celebrate (applied) semiotic thinking.

We set up to provide a forum for ideas exchange, learning and networking about semiotics. Every year we invite all those interested in semiotics: practitioners, researchers, academics, students to come and participate in a celebrating semiotic thinking through short presentations, creative inspiration sessions and interactive group activities.

Our mission at Semiofest is to provide an inclusive platform to all practising professionals of semiotics – to exchange knowledge, ideas & experiences and learn from one another. We are all passionate about semiotics and believe in its value as insight tool. We are dedicated to propagating top class, applied semiotic thinking.

At Semiofest we believe in being:

• Innovative, creative
• Meritocratic, excellence (to raise standards)
• Co-operative, collaborative
• Open, diverse, inclusive, democratic
• Fun, pleasure, informality

Unbelievably, Semiofest is now in its 5th year…

That’s 5 whole years of thinking, presenting and discussions on the topic of semiotics! Semiofest was founded in London in 2012 and incorporated in 2013. It has celebrated 4 successful annual conferences. Semiofest 2013 was held in Barcelona, Spain, Semiofest 2014 in Shanghai, China and Semiofest 2015 has just taken place in Paris, France.

The Board of Semiofest is the guardian of the Semiofest brand. Every year after the event has finished, in the late summer, our thoughts turn to the following year. We generally use a bid process (perhaps similar, but less grand, than that of the International Olympic Committee, IOC) in order to select the next Semiofest venue among interested parties. We have again come to that time again where we pass the Semiofest torch onto a fresh venue.

The rationale for the bid process is simple: it is simply to allow us to find out a bit more about you, your team and your plans for the event and for you to think more about your vision for the event organization. It is also just an opportunity for us both to assess the feasibility of holding the event in your proposed city, geographical location. In our experience, hosting a Semiofest is an extremely rewarding experience and we commit 100% to supporting you in the planning, and organization of the event but ultimately it will be your event so we we're curious to see what new ideas you might have. Of course, we have things we’d strongly suggest you include – e.g. in Barcelona we added a training day and in Paris a client Boot Camp, which we’d want to retain - and things we definitely want: our branding, funky venue and an informal atmosphere.

The Semiofest is about fostering mutual learning and knowledge exchange of the best semiotic thinking (ideas, insights, models, tools, frameworks) and experience (case studies, client impact) among semiotics practitioners. We want it to take place in a relaxed and collaborative atmosphere, while maintaining standards of quality in content and presentation.

In our experience there are some key areas we feel (aside from your team commitment to see the process through to fulfillment) are most important to the success of the Semiofest event. We have boiled these down to the following criteria/questions. We will assess all bids on these 12 areas. We encourage you to take the time to describe your thoughts and ideas in as much detail as you need so that we can get a good understanding of what you have in mind.

In case of any questions etc, please do mail us on info@semiofest.com for any clarifications before finalizing your bid. And thanks in advance for your interest in Semiofest.

1. Could you state your reasons for wanting to host Semiofest? Write as many as you like…

2. Where would you hold the event? What would be the nature and capacity of the venue?

3. Could you name the organizing team? What is the background and experience of members?

4. What innovations would you propose to the program from the previous two Semiofests?

5. Will there be a social program? If so, could you suggest some items from that program?

6. What ideas do you have for the format; i.e. training / education and interactive exercises?

7. How many people do you estimate would attend from your home market? From outside?

8. What plans do you have for promoting and marketing the event? To which key audiences?

9. How do you propose to handle the ticketing and logistics of the event? Administrative help?

10. What funding would you be able to source for the event? Would there be any sponsorship?

11. What will be the impact on the semiotics community? How would you share event learning?

12. What unique qualities do you think your location/city will bring to Semiofest’s 2016 event?

Once we have all the forms in, we will collate and evaluate responses to all the questions and evaluate each bid on its merits. When we say ‘we’, we mean the Semiofest Board of Lucia, Chris, Hamsini as well as previous organizers of Semiofest: Gabriela from Barcelona 2013, Vladimir from Shanghai 2014 and Sam & Luca from Paris, 2015. Since they know what it takes.

DEADLINE: All bids should be send to info@semiofest.com by 11th September 2015
ANNOUNCEMENT: 1st October 2015