Ernesto Ramirez

October 14, 2014

Today we’re happy to announce that we’re opening up a scholarship application for the QS15 Conference and Exposition. Since our first conference in 2011 our aim has been to foster an inclusive environment, and with the help and guidance from many attendees we’ve benefited greatly from exposing ourselves to the wide range of ideas about what it means to get “personal meaning from personal data.”

Last year, thanks to the leadership of our own longtime friend and collaborator, Amelia Greenhall, we published our first anti-harassment policy for the 2013 QS Global Conference. We leaned heavily on the great work of the Ada Initiative to make sure that our event attendees were supported and protected. We were further inspired by QS Boston and QSXX Boston organizer, Maggie Delano, to implement a code of conduct in order to make sure that our meetups are a welcoming place where community members can come together and safely share and learn from each other.

Opening up this scholarship application is an continuation of these ongoing efforts to support diversity and openness. We’re taking cues from other exemplary events such as Portland’s XOXO Conference & Festival and listening to thoughtful leaders in our community. QS15 is not your typical tech-focused event, our conferences never have been. They’re special because they’re attendee-driven. The community guides the program by sharing their self-tracking experiences and facilitating discussions on a wide range of topics. It makes sense to turn our beliefs on inclusion and diversity into action by welcoming and supporting those who have typically been underrepresented in our events and the broader techno-culture. These efforts also reflect our mission to support access. We’re currently in the early stages of a new effort to encourage and communicate about the importance of personal data access (see our QS Access App here). But access doesn’t have to stop at being able to download a CSV file. Access to our community of leaders, exemplary users, toolmakers, and researchers matters too.

If you identify with a group that has been underrepresented and would like to attend the QS15 Conference and Exposition we want to hear from you. We’ve made a simple application form for you to fill out so you can tell us a little about yourself. We’ll be reviewing applications as they come in. Because the conference is attendee-drive we place an emphasis on those would like to contribute to the program. We run our conferences on a shoestring, but this year we are going to do what we can to provide both registration and travel grants in this program.

Apply for a Diversity and Inclusion Scholarship

Thank you to all those that applied. We are currently unable to offer any additional scholarships to the QS15 Conference at this time. 

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