
We are delighted to invite DPC Members and members of the digital preservation community to attend our DPC Members Forum and Networking Event in New York City, USA!
This two-day event will take place over two days on Tuesday 21st and Wednesday 22nd of April 2026, generously hosted by ITHAKA in New York City. In 2026, three DPC Members Fora will take place globally - in New York City (USA), Edinburgh (Scotland), and Australia - with Members welcome to attend any or all.
The first day of this event is open to DPC Members and non-members alike, with programming designed to optimize opportunities for networking and information exchange.
Day two is exclusively for DPC Members. In addition to meeting and networking with other members of the Coalition, we will have an exciting program of fast-paced member led talks and discussions, providing the opportunity to take the floor and exchange ideas as well as showcase work and discuss key themes.
A hybrid option will be available for DPC Members who wish to participate remotely.
Keynote sessions and practical skills workshops
Opportunities to connect with the regional digital preservation community
Exclusive member-only networking time
A hybrid option for DPC Members unable to travel in person
Professional visits
Social dinners
This is a practical set of events which are designed to privilege operational staff working directly on digital preservation. We are particularly keen for the following groups to attend:
Junior staff recently appointed and looking for opportunities to build their professional networks.
New entrants to digital preservation seeking to apply professional know-how to this new field.
Experienced practitioners who have clear insights into the challenges of digital preservation in their own institutions.
Senior staff, researchers and students are also welcome, though it is practical knowledge exchange that will be most prominent.
Tuesday 21st April, 09:00 – 17:00 EDT (click for your local time)
Open to all
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Timings (local) |
Activity |
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09:00 – 09:45 |
Registration open. Please come early to meet your fellow delegates |
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09:45 – 10:00 |
A welcome from our hosts at ITHAKA** Kate Wittenberg, Portico Managing Director |
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10:00 – 10:45 |
Keynote address** Stacey Jones Erdman and Danielle Taylor, Digital POWRR Project |
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10:45 – 11:15 |
Practical advice for Getting Started with Digital Preservation** Anna Perricci, DPC 'Getting Started with Digital Preservation' will introduce participants to common digital preservation concepts and issues before walking through the firsts steps they can take to manage their digital assets. This includes how to start building simple workflows, bitstream preservation and providing access, before exploring other DPC resources which may help with the next steps of their digital preservation journey. |
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11:15 – 11:30 |
Break |
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11:30 – 12:00 |
Advocating for Digital Preservation** Sarah Middleton, DPC Like digital preservation itself, advocacy in our field is a continuous process and requires the co-ordination of a range of skills and services from within and/or outside our organizations. This presentation provides attendees with tips and skills for identifying stakeholders and champions required to affect change, ways to showcase digital preservation as an indispensable service for their organisation, and resources to help support their organisational advocacy activities. |
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12:00 – 12:15 |
Morning wrap-up and Lightning Talks from our sponsors** |
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12:15 – 13:15 |
Lunch and networking |
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13:15 – 14:30 Refreshments available midway |
Continuous Improvement Workshops: |
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DPC Rapid Assessment Model (RAM) William Kilbride, DPC The DPC’s Rapid Assessment Model (DPC RAM) is a digital preservation maturity modelling tool that has been designed to enable rapid benchmarking of an organization’s digital preservation capability and facilitate continuous improvement over time. This workshop explains the key concepts which make up the DPC RAM and helps users get started in establishing their base line for digital preservation. or DPC Competency Assessment Framework / Competency Audit Toolkit (CAT) Sarah Middleton, DPC Applying a carefully considered approach to continuous improvement of digital preservation capabilities can greatly benefit practitioners when looking to set and achieve objectives, sharing and embedding this responsibility across whole organizations. The DPC has created the DPC Competency Framework with accompanying audit toolkit (DPC CAT) and example role descriptions, to help facilitate this process. This workshop aims to provide attendees with the skills and tools to develop and implement a methodology for continuous improvement in digital preservation skills at their organization. |
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14:30 - 14:45 |
Regroup and recap. Those participating in professional visits to depart. |
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15:30 – 17:00 |
Professional visit |
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18:00 + |
Option to attend a social dinner with fellow event attendees and continue networking |
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*Subject to change
** To be livestreamed for DPC Members only
We are very grateful to the following organisations for their sponsorship of the DPC Open Networking Event:

For more information about sponsorship opportunities for this event, please contact sarah.middleton@dpconline.org.
Wednesday 22nd April, 09:00 – 16:15 EDT (click for your local time)
DPC Members only
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Timings (local) |
Activity |
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09:00 – 09:30 |
Registration open. |
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09:30 - 09:45 |
Welcome and introduction to the DPC Members Forum |
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09:45 – 10:00 |
Confirmation of morning programming |
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10:00 – 10:10 |
Break: Time to move into groups |
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10:10 – 10:55 |
Plenary room 1 Topic A |
Room 2/online stream Topic B |
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10:55 – 11:05 |
Break: Time to move into groups |
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11:05 – 11:50 |
Plenary room 1 Topic C |
Room 2/online stream Topic D |
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11:50 – 12:00 |
Break: Time to move into groups |
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| 12:00 – 12:45 |
Plenary room 1 Topic E |
Room 2/online stream Topic F |
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12:45 – 13:45 |
Break for Lunch |
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| 13:45 – 14:00 | Recap of afternoon programming | |
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14:00 – 15:00 |
Digital Preservation Games Session |
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| 15:00 – 15:10 | Break: Time to move into groups | |
| 15:10 – 15:55 |
Plenary room 1 Topic G |
Room 2/online stream Topic H |
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15:55 – 16:15 |
Group Discussion Feedback of any actions |
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*Subject to change – programming and the number of streams will be determined by the number of member-led session suggestions received, and whether these are to be delivered in-person or online.
Whether you have a task you want to work on with others, a fresh idea or solution you want to demo, or topics you want to discuss to learn from others’ experience, this part of the program provides a space for you to achieve all of this. Please pitch your ideas and we’ll fill in the (currently blank) program for you to make the most of the Coalition’s collective digital preservation expertise.
The call for session suggestions is now closed - watch this space for the program coming soon!
Each session will offer approximately 45 minutes for you to either:
Discuss: Pick the collective digital preservation hive mind and start a discussion about a topic
Learn: Demonstrate and share solutions or workflows so that others can learn from your experiences.
Share: Show and tell presentations of recent work, new ideas and achievements (or failures)
Play: Bring a digital preservation game you have created to try out on colleagues and have fun!
Delaney Sweep from the University of Calgary attended the DPC Forum and Networking Event in Nashville last year. She says:"I highly recommend attending the DPC’s member forum, especially if you are just starting out in the field of digital preservation. The event will not only provide you with an opportunity to learn from others in the field through the member-led talks but also welcomes you into a community of practitioners in your region." |
Full Members are invited to send up to 3 representatives to attend the event in-person, and Associate Members are invited to send 1 representative to attend in-person. Each member institution may register 2 additional participants for remote attendance. Members may also allocate their in-person spaces to an online ticket if required, as long as the total number of attendees doesn't exceed 5 for Full Members or 3 for Associate Members. Alternatively, members may opt for fully remote participation with the same attendance limits.
Non-members are welcome to send one representative for Day 1 only, with in-person attendance being the only option available for non-members.
Registration will close on for in-person registrations on 20th March and for online registrations on 14th April.
If you have any queries about this event, please contact anna.perricci@dpconline.org
We look forward to connecting with you all soon!
The DPC Community is guided by the values set out in our Strategic Plan and aims to be respectful, welcoming, inclusive and transparent. We encourage diversity in all its forms and are committed to being accessible to everyone who wishes to engage with the topic of digital preservation, whilst remaining technology and vendor neutral. We ask all those who are part of this community to be positive, accepting, and sensitive to the needs and feelings of others in alignment with our DPC Inclusion & Diversity Policy.
Sponsorship opportunities are available for the Open Networking Event on 21st April. DPC Supporters, please contact Sarah Middleton for more information.
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