Free childcare is an important part of our program for SRCCON events. (Photo: gfpeck).

We talk a lot about helping participants bring their “whole selves” to SRCCON events. Our conferences are built around participatory, conversational sessions, and those work best—and challenge us the most—when people feel able to share from personal experience and talk about all the things they care most deeply about.

That means more than what we bring into our work as journalists, but where we are personally, too! When OpenNews builds a event, we try to put supports in place that help people bring their lives with them. Childcare has been part of our planning for event accessibility since the very first SRCCON. We’re super excited about the way it’s helped families be part of our conferences, up to and including SRCCON:POWER this December in Philadelphia.

We think resources like this are 100% worth the cost, and sponsors have always a big part of letting us offer things like childcare while keeping our events financially accessible for participants. (If you’d like to help SRCCON:POWER provide this important resource, we’d love to talk with you more!) Our partner in providing childcare will again be KiddieCorp—in the four years we’ve worked with them, we’ve found them to be as thoughtful about their work as we try to be for our overall participant experience.

If you’re thinking about bringing family with you to SRCCON:POWER, you’re in good company! Our own OpenNews team members have had young children in their care during many SRCCONs, and we’ve heard nothing but glowing (tiny-voiced) reviews. Our feedback from other family participants looks like this: “The childcare is amazing and such an opportunity. THANK YOU.”

Even if your partner is traveling with you for SRCCON:POWER, we encourage you to take advantage of our free childcare—maybe your partner would enjoy a few hours off in Philly too. There’s a ton more information about this year’s program on our conference childcare page and KiddieCorp’s registration form.

When you attend a SRCCON event, we want you to feel good about bring your whole self into sessions. Parenting is hard work, in a way that often intersects with the stress and schedule of our jobs as journalists. So we hope it helps to know you can not only bring your family to a SRCCON, but your kids will have a great time while you’re digging into the things that make your work meaningful.

November 29 is the advanced registration deadline for free childcare, so go ahead and register now. We’d also love to hear from potential sponsors by then too: childcare is free for caregivers, but if your company might be able to help us with the cost, we have details about sponsorship on our site.