No Time to Wait! *

The No Time to Wait Conference at ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe

The »No Time to Wait« conference is back for its eighth edition, taking place from September 11 to 13, 2024 at the ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe.

»No Time to Wait« is a three-day conference dedicated to exploring open media, open standards, and digital audiovisual preservation. Organized by ZKM and MediaArea.net, this event is part of a conference series and represents the eighth installment since its inception in 2016. This event follows ZKM’s “Just in Time” conference (2022) on the status quo and future of electronic art preservation, ZKM is honored to host the »No Time to Wait« in 2024.

Livestreaming

We shall be live-streaming No Time to Wait on September 12th and 13th from MediaArea's YouTube page.

About Our Host

Founded in 1989, ZKM occupies a unique position in the global museum landscape with its commitment to electronic and digital arts. ZKM boasts a collection of over 12,000 works, including 100 video and audio installations, 1,500 videos, and 240 computer-based installations. These digital works, created between 1979 and 2022, make ZKM's collection one of the most extensive in the world for computer-based installations. In addition to the collection, the institution has acquired numerous artist archives, comprising over 23,000 videos, approximately 440 films, and 6,400 sound recordings. Aligned with its mission not only to support artists in their exploration of new technologies but also to safeguard the history of new media for future generations, the ZKM has thus developed recognized expertise in the preservation of electronic and digital works.

Over the past decade, the invaluable contribution of museum outsiders to the work of preservation and the exchange with other communities has proven to be a game changer in the care for these complex and fragile artworks. Hosting the »No Time To Wait« conference acknowledges these communities and serves as an example of the porosity between the world of archivists, film and art preservationists, and software developers.

exterior image of ZKM interior image of ZKM

Registration

If you'd like to participate in No Time to Wait, either in-person or online, please complete our registration form.

Call for Proposals

Our call for proposals is open at this form. We invite developers, dreamers, scholars, and practitioners to contribute their insights and research. If you'd like to see our proposals thus far, they can be reviewed at here.

This year we're considering the following themes. Our plan include programmatic blocks on these themes and end those with a topical roundtable.

  • Overcoming Obsolescence
  • Interconnecting Systems, Datasets, and People
  • Crafting Standards, Workflows, and Practices
  • Analog Advocacy
  • AI: Annoyances and Opportunities

Follow us

For inquiries and further details, please contact us.

For more background on the »No Time to Wait« conference please review our conference recordings.

Follow @nttwconf for news and updates about No Time to Wait. Our recommended hashtag is #nttw8.

The conference will be livestreaming on the MediaArea YouTube channel available here.

Travel Grants

This year we're able to offer 2x 250 € travel grants. Thanks in particular to MEMORIAV for sponsoring these travel grants. To apply please complete this travel grant application. We'll start reviewing and awarding applications on August 2, 2024.

For those based in the United States and employed as library, archive, museum or cultural heritage professionals, we encourage you to apply for the funding opportunities of the Digital Preservation Outreach and Education Network's Professional Development Funding program, which is able to fund travel-related costs to participate in No Time to Wait. Please see https://www.dpoe.network/professional-development-support/ to apply.

Sponsorship

The organizers of No Time to Wait strive to sustain this conference as a free registration event through efficient and transparent budgeting and via the generosity of our hosts and sponsors. The sponsors of No Time to Wait help make the discussions, presentations, and momentum of the No Time to Wait event possible and enable the event to maintain a high level of accessibility and involvement. Sponsors shall be acknowledged via the conference's website, printed programs, and presence at the conference. Sponsors may indicate that their contribution is allocated to a specific need, such as funding travel stipends, hosting a reception, or supporting live streaming. To discuss or inquire regarding sponsorship opportunities please please contact us.

Thanks to the following organizations for generously supporting No Time to Wait.

You can also support the No Time to Wait conference by becoming a MediaArea member.

What's the Word About No Time To Wait

No Time to Wait 2 was a strong statement in regard to the increased and enormously productive collaboration between film and media archivists and developers. It opened up a perspective for digital film preservation pathways and practices that are based on open standards, open source software, and business models which balance openness and the avoidance of vendor lock-in with plannability and adequate financial reward for developers.
-- Michael Loebenstein, Österreichisches Filmmuseum | Austrian Film Museum

No Time to Wait 3 was an inspiring event, bringing together a dynamic community of a/v archivists, developers and digital preservationists in a friendly atmosphere to facilitate open collaboration, information exchange, debate and consensus-forming. Attendees left with an invaluable network of supportive contacts as well as heads and laptops bursting with new ideas, resources and approaches to the challenges of moving image preservation. More than any similar event I’ve attended, the NTTW series operates like a vitamin injection of enthusiasm, energy and inspiration to face the work ahead!
-- Stephen McConnachie | Head of Data and Digital Preservation | British Film Institute

No Time To Wait 4 at Blinken OSA brought together a super curious, enthusiastic crowd of moving image, sound and photo archivists; code writers/developers; and digital preservation experts in the open source universe, from freelancers to small and large institutions.
The healthily mixed group presented and discussed finished projects, bringing forward knowledge and skillsets, and best practices, to facilitate sharing of ideas. NTTW is about exchange and open debate. The most popular part of conference was the "solve the puzzle": glitches, asynchronous moving image were played, and through comments from the crowd, the technical errors were named, and solutions were suggested.
NTTW is the most open, inspiring, and motivating A/V event, with its lack of pretention and truly inclusive spirit. After NTTW4 many of us is to look at their own A/V projects with renewed energy, ideas for solutions and dedication to our wonderful cultural heritage-related work.
-- Zsuzsanna Zadori, Senior Audio-visual Archivist, Blinken Open Society Archives

Want to Host No Time to Wait?

If you're interested being considered as a host for an upcoming No Time to Wait. Please complete this interest form and a member of our organizing committee will be in touch with you soon.

Code of Conduct

No Time to Wait is governed by the Contributor Covenant version 2.1. All coordinators, contributors, and participants agree to abide by its terms. To report violations, send an email to conduct@mediaarea.net or contact a conference coordinator.

Conference Planning

NTTW Organizing Committee

  • Dave Rice, Conference Manager
  • Valeria Dávila
  • Alessandra Luciano
  • Jérôme Martinez

NTTW Host Committee, ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe

  • Morgan Stricot
  • Anika Wilcox

Credits

* Event title inspiration from https://blogs.loc.gov/digitalpreservation/2014/12/comparing-formats-for-video-digitization/