A newbie’s guide to Beta

A traditional stylised Thai illustration of a group of differently sized pink elephants standing together in a forest clearing. There are two pink tuktuks on either side of them.

There are two things that most people bring to — and take away from — Splice Beta. One is the friendships, and the other is a renewed excitement around what’s happening in media. If you leave Chiang Mai with both of these, you’d have made the most of these couple of days.

Build friendships, ideas, trust, product, collaborations, brand, prototypes, audiences, revenue, businesses. Build your home in this community.

So how do you go about creating the best Beta experience? Here are some tips:

  • No one is a stranger at Beta. We mean this. Get in touch with people before you get to Beta — and keep the friendships going long after you leave. Jump on the Telegram group, or Planet Splice. Say hello and tell everyone what you want to get out of Beta, and what you’re able to share.

  • Share generously. You’re in a community of people who are keen to learn. So talk about what you’ve done — where you’ve succeeded, and where you’ve failed.

  • We have great respect for failure at Beta — especially when we learn from it. And we cherish the journey that brought you here. Share your knowledge. What worked? What didn’t? What did you learn? It might make all the difference to someone’s work.

  • Build your own program. The sessions are set up differently. Some are full plenary sessions, while others are workshops. There are also 1-to-1 clinics. We have many great sessions for you, so make sure you’re planning ahead.

  • Conversations are the real sessions. Hang out and chat. Lunches are long just so you can get to know each other. Remember, lifelong friendships start at Beta. See someone who doesn’t have a lunch buddy? Invite them to your table.

  • There are no stupid questions. Just ask away so that we’re all learning from each other.

  • Listen.

  • Be respectful of people. Respect their race, colour, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, religion, language, national or ethnic origin, and disability. We are all here to learn.

  • Read our code of conduct. Your behaviour matters to this community — and to us.

  • Keep things positive. We’re in the Golden Age of media!

  • Stay in touch. Keep the conversations and the friendships going on Telegram and Planet Splice.

Alan Soon and Rishad Patel

We’re the co-founders of Splice, our media startup that celebrates media startups in Asia. Subscribe to our newsletters here.

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