On The Verge is happening October 22nd and 23rd, and you’re invited

Hello, Verge friends! It’s almost been 10 years since we launched (can you believe it?), and to celebrate we’re throwing a big party. It’s happening on October 22nd and 23rd in New York City — and we hope you’ll join us.

We’re throwing this party at Spring Studios, which has a rich tradition of bringing creative people together to show off the future of tech, art, and culture. The Verge will completely transform the space for two days and fill it with special guests, live performances, interactive art and games, awesome food and drink, and an opening night party.

Here’s some of what we’re excited about:

A Verge exclusive premiere screening

Everyone who attends On The Verge will see the debut of our biggest documentary to date, Springboard: The Secret History of the First Real Smartphone. A decade before Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone, a tiny team of renegades imagined and tried to build the modern smartphone. Nearly forgotten by history, a little startup called Handspring split off from the mainstream tech world to try and invent the future before the present was ready for it. And though Handspring has been relegated to the margins of tech history, many of the predictions they chased in the late 90s would be correct. After the screening, we’ll hold a live Q&A with Dieter and Nilay.

Live performances

Our opening night party will feature a live performance by The Stickmen: an amazing DJ and drummer duo that will transform our expo space with light and sound. And we’ll have a great lineup of other talented DJs to bring the space to life throughout the entire event.

A one-of-a-kind indie arcade

We’ve assembled a wildly creative group of artists & creators to make On The Verge fun and interactive. That includes the folks from Wonderville arcade in Brooklyn, who will be putting together their unique lineup of games for guests to enjoy. (We’re particularly excited about The Giffinator, which will let you put yourself and your friends inside of a Verge animated GIF.)

Experimental art

We’re gathering creators working on the edge of the future, including the wildly talented Zach Lieberman: an artist, researcher, and educator who creates performances and installations that take human gestures as input and amplify them in different ways. He’s bringing several works to On The Verge, including Reflection Studies, which will transform one of the largest spaces at Spring Studios into an interactive art experience.

The Creators Studio

We’re turning the roof of Spring Studios into a space for interactive talks, demos, and performances — including science and tech demos, a creative illustration class, and a repair school hosted by our friends at iFixit. And if you want to just hang out, you’ll be able to take in spectacular views of the city while enjoying some of the best food and drink it has to offer.

A special live Vergecast

Nilay and Dieter will be joined by Verge alum Joanna Stern and David Pierce to look back at 10 years of The Verge and talk about their favorite memories from creating the site. Then, they’ll be joined on stage by special guest Yänjaa Wintersoul: an award-winning memory athlete. The Verge hosts will see if their memory of covering gadgets for a decade can stand up to the skills of a World Memory Champion.

All-day programming

On top of all that, our main stage will be packed for both days of the event with live performances and talks with special guests, including:

• Dieter and Nilay will sit down with Nick Weaver, co-founder and CEO of Eero, to chat about the future of the smarthome
• Alex Heath will be joined by Snap SVP Ben Schwerin and Snap star Jacques Slade to talk about creating on the resurgent platform
• Dan Seifert will hang out with the iFixit crew and discuss the right to repair our devices, as iFixit tears down a Nintendo Switch live on stage
• Rapper, producer and songwriter Ricky Desktop will offer a live demo and share how he broke through TikTok into the music industry
• … and more

Head over to the event website to learn more about who’s coming.

This is The Verge’s first big event, and it won’t be our last. We hope you’ll join us as we kick off the next 10 years of The Verge, which will be bigger, brighter, and more exciting: just like the future we imagine.

Note: COVID-19 is still a reality, and the health and safety of everyone at the event is our first priority. So everyone who joins us will be required to follow masking protocols and provide confidential proof of vaccination. Stay tuned: we’ll keep everyone updated on the latest health and safety requirements.