Stilefield
Get tickets

Build services for places that aren't cities.

Stilefield is two days of talks and workshops for people who make public and community services work in small towns and rural places.

Get tickets See the schedule
When
Thursday 13 and Friday 14 May 2027
Where
The Granary Hall, Ashbridge
Size
Two rooms, about 200 seats

Programme

Thursday 13 and Friday 14 May 2027. Times are local to the venue.

  1. Doors, coffee and pastries
  2. WelcomeThe Stilefield team Talk
  3. Start with the phone linePriya Raman Talk
  4. The library is the help deskSelin Kaya Talk
  5. Break
  6. Research in the village hallRafael Ortiz Talk
  1. Doors and coffee
  2. A booking system for twelve busesOwen Achterberg Talk
  3. When the signal dropsHannah Cole Talk
  4. Break
  5. Keeping a service running with three peopleSpeaker to be announced Talk
  6. Testing on a slow connectionJoel Mwangi Workshop

See the full schedule

Most conferences are built for big cities and big budgets.

If your team is three people serving a whole district, the advice from a big-city stage rarely fits. Stilefield is built the other way round.

  • Talks you can use on Monday

    Every talk is a case study from a small team, and every speaker shares a template, checklist or script you can take home.

  • Tickets priced for small budgets

    A lower rate for councils, charities and small organisations, a student rate, and a travel fund for people coming from far away.

  • Access is planned, not promised

    Live captions on every talk, a step-free venue, a quiet room, and food labelled for every diet.

A bright hall with wooden ceiling beams, tall windows and rows of white chairs facing the front.
The Granary Hall, set out for talks. Sample photo.

Speakers

Six of the twelve. Everyone speaks about work they did themselves, with the people it was for.

  • Priya Raman

    Service designer, district council

    Rebuilt how a rural district handles bin collection reports, starting from the phone line.

    Start with the phone line

  • Owen Achterberg

    Developer, community bus cooperative

    Built a booking system for a volunteer-run bus service with two developers and no budget.

    A booking system for twelve buses

  • Selin Kaya

    Librarian and digital lead

    Turned three branch libraries into places to get help with forms, benefits and job applications.

    The library is the help desk

  • Joel Mwangi

    Accessibility tester

    Tests public services with screen reader users in places with slow broadband.

    Workshop: testing on a slow connection

  • Hannah Cole

    Product manager, regional water company

    Moved outage alerts from letters to text messages for a region with patchy signal.

    When the signal drops

  • Rafael Ortiz

    Researcher, community health network

    Runs research sessions in village halls instead of labs, and writes about what changes.

    Research in the village hall

Fictional speakers for this template, shown with initials. Replace them with your line-up.

Two days, two rooms

Talks in the main hall, hands-on workshops in the barn room, and long breaks to meet people.

Tickets

Both days, lunch and captions included in every ticket. Choose how many of each and continue.

  • Standard

    For companies and larger organisations.

    • Both days, all talks and workshops
    • Lunch, coffee and Thursday's drinks

    $240Sample price

  • Small organisation or council

    For charities, councils and teams of under twenty.

    • Everything in Standard
    • No proof needed: we trust you

    $140Sample price

  • Student or unwaged

    For students, people between jobs and volunteers.

    • Everything in Standard
    • Ask about the travel fund

    $40Sample price

Total $0 No tickets chosen

Sample prices for this template. The travel fund covers train fares for people coming from more than three hours away; ask when you book.

Questions

Anything else: [email protected]

Will the talks be recorded?

Yes. Talks in the main hall are recorded with captions and published a month later. Workshops are not recorded.

Can I get a refund?

Yes, up to two weeks before the event. After that you can pass your ticket to someone else for free.

What access support is there?

Live captions on every talk, a step-free venue, a quiet room, reserved seats near the front and the screens, and an access contact on the day. Tell us what you need when you book. More on the venue page.

Is there a code of conduct?

Yes. It applies to everyone, including speakers and organisers, and there is a named person to talk to on both days.

Can I speak next year?

The call for talks opens in the autumn. We especially want first-time speakers from small teams.

Two hundred seats, two rooms, two days.

Get a ticket now, or look at the schedule first.

Get tickets See the schedule