How to Organize Inclusive Events and Conferences

The ultimate guide to creating welcoming, safe, and accessible gatherings for everyone. With detailed strategies and illustrative examples, How to Organize Inclusive Events and Conferences uses principles of design justice to share how to put on truly inclusive occasions built for the needs and abilities of all. If you've ever attended or hosted conferences, organize events for fun or for a living, or if you have ever thought, "I guess these spaces just aren't made for me and I wish I could change that," this book is written for you! Expert events organizer Alex D. Ketchum provides the ethical framework of what true inclusion in action means, considering a broad variety of identities and experiences such as economic hardship, childcare needs, racial and ethnic identities, disabilities, neurodivergence, and more. Whether you're hosting an academic symposium, an activist meeting, a feminist zinefest, or a comics con, Ketchum offers a step-by-step guide through the planning and execution process, with useful tips, timelines, and templates along the way. This book is an indispensable companion to building events and conferences from an ethic of care, allowing us to cultivate authentic community and to create the better world we desire--together.

Dr. Alex Ketchum (she/her) is Associate Professor at McGill University's Institute for Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies (IGSF). She is a Lambda Literary Award Finalist and the Director of the Just Feminist Tech and Scholarship Lab. In addition to publishing many zines with Microcosm, Ketchum is the author of several books including Engage in Public Scholarship!: A Guidebook on Feminist and Accessible Communication (2022), Ingredients for Revolution: A History of American Feminist Restaurants, Cafes, and Coffeehouses (2022), How to Organize Inclusive Events and Conferences (2026), and Digital Queers, and High Tech Gays: the History of LGBTQ+ Cyber Activism (2027). She is also co-editor of the anthology: Queers at the Table: An Illustrated Guide to Queer Food with Recipes (2025). For more, check out alexketchum.ca.