Propose a session for the Worker Co-op Conference

Session applications are due by April 15, 2024

We will confirm selection of sessions as soon as possible. If you are submitting a session, please record the following deadlines.

  • June 14th – Submit all session information for the program – session agenda and description, presenter biographies and headshots
  • August 9th – Submit materials (handouts, presentations, printed guides, surveys etc.) for the conference app, and translation if necessary.

If you have any questions, reach out to conference@usworker.coop.

About Our Sessions

We are excited to host the conference this year at the Chicago Teachers Union Foundation. The venue is a little different from past years, which will affect the kinds of workshops that we will be equipped for:

  • There will be 4 session blocks
    • Friday: two 90 minute session blocks
    • Saturday: one 120 minute session block and one 90 minute session block
  • In each session block:
    • there will be one “featured” session, which will be a larger session, able to hold up to several hundred attendees (also the plenary space). The conference team will work with facilitators to craft content that works for the space and is attractive to a larger audience.
    • Other session spaces range between 26 – 60 person capacity rooms, with most of them holding around 40 people. This means there can be much more variety in session content! Since there are a few smaller rooms, it’s possible to create sessions that are more specialized and directed toward a target audience.
    • Session presenters (up to 2 per session) will receive $100 off registration (estimated between $250-$280). There will be an application for scholarship and housing/travel stipends available in June.

 

The theme of this year’s conference is “United We Work”. While every session does not need to be customized to fit this theme, this should be top of mind in your session application.

This year’s conference will foster relationships and collective strategies across the worker co-op community, and knit us closer to other labor movements. United within the worker co-op ecosystem, we can share our skills and experiences to strengthen our existing network. United with aligned labor and solidarity economy movements, we can scale worker co-ops, and lean into our shared goals of economic justice, worker voice, and worker power. Together, we work!

 

We are looking for sessions that build skills, highlight best practices, and make space for collective consideration and discussion of important or emergent topics in the field.

Still need ideas? Here are some sessions we’d like to see, based on feedback from members, clients, and partners of the USFWC:

  • Financial storytelling (i.e. open book management)
  • Tools for supervision in worker coops
  • Best practices for building strong worker co-op startup business
  • Vertical supply chain integration and getting co-ops to contract other co-ops
  • Planning for longevity – for established co-ops
  • Should we/ how should we grow? – for established co-ops
Posted in WCC24.