What is Semiofest and
who should come?

What is Semiofest?

 

Semiofest*, a Celebration of Semiotic Thinking is a collective set up to champion and propagate the best in applied semiotic thinking and to help facilitate learning about semiotics. Semiofest is an annual event which moves location every year.

Semiofest came into existence as a platform where practising semioticians, both academic and commercial, could come together to exchange ideas, viewpoints, insights and methods in order to share and learn from one another. It has since become annual event that attracts academics, researchers and business people.

We are delighted to announce where Semiofest will be held in 2024. We’ve been through the selection process with our Advisory Council (all the ex-Semiofest organisers) and assessed three strong bids from different locations worldwide. We can exclusively reveal that the next Semiofest face-to-face conference will take place in Porto, Portugal, in Spring 2024!! The Porto bid impressed us with their exciting vision for the event and their passion and desire to facilitate soulful and inspiring interactions.

We have yet to set a date, but that will be coming soon. If you want to be kept informed of the development of the event programme and the latest updates, please register for our mailing list. We will post new updates on the evolving academic and social agenda, including the Event Theme and the Call for Papers as well as dates. Congratulations again to Sónia Marques and Susanna Fránek. We look forward to working with them to make this another special, unforgettable event!

Cheers,

The Semiofest Board

The ultimate objective of Semiofest is to raise awareness of semiotics as both a perspective and a methodology and thus to “grow” semiotics as an insight tool to full potential – through showcasing its wide applicability and its usefulness to clients. Whilst we started as a conference, our vision is to become a hub and learning zone for applied semiotics, hosting content, case studies and to facilitate networking too.

*Semiofest is a non-profit organisation headquartered in the United Kingdom.
The Semiofest brand and Semiofest logo are registered Trademarks.

Who should attend Semiofest?

 

Semiofest is a broad collective. There are those who see semiotics as synonymous with visual thinking, some see it as a branch of philosophy some who see it as closer to anthropology or to consumer trends – and others who see it simple as licence to join the dots between cultures. At Semiofest, we do not seek to favour or disallow any particular definition of semiotics and we do not seek to discriminate between the schools of semiotics featured at our events. As long as the writer or practitioner’s work sits within the broad umbrella of semiotics, then we welcome their contribution to the debate. The only thing we demand is high quality thinking and a willingness to share.

We would not want any potential attendee to feel that we subscribe to a narrow interpretation of semiotics. We believe that the semiotics field is broad enough to cater for all of us. We seek to create forum where semiotic theorists, practitioners, consultants, researchers and students come together for mutual benefit / learning.

We look for papers on methodology and case studies, but if you’re an academic interested in applications of semiotics, we would like to welcome you. We also welcome position papers, as long they promise to inform, edify and or inspire the Semiofest audience. We also value creative interpretations of semiotics or semiotic inspired creativity or artistic expressions. Anything that combines semiotics and fun.

But you don’t need to be an expert in semiotics to come. We wish Semiofest to become a forum for all who are interested in learning more about semiotics as well as those who are looking to build a capability in doing semiotics effectively (rather than just talking about it). Many attendees are brand consultants, qualitative researchers or other interested professionals looking to add ‘another string to their bow’ or just those who crave stimulating content on culture and communications.

We believe fervently in the value of semiotics as an applied insight and strategy tool and there remains a substantial education job to be done here. But we can’t do it alone. So, join us! At Semiofest we seek to be the catalyst and hub for a global community centred around applied semiotics thinking. This is our vision. And our mission is to champion and to propagate the very best in applied semiotic thinking.

One event at a time…

We look forward to seeing you at a Semiofest event soon.