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OpenRefine Barcamp 2025

· 5 min read

The annual unconference for the OpenRefine community

2025 BarCamp Banner

The OpenRefine 2025 BarCamp starts Monday, September 8 and runs through Thursday, September 11, online from 13:00 to 18:00 UTC each day.

Key Information​

  • ✅ Review, Propose, and Vote on Sessions: To see what's already been proposed, visit the list of BarCamp 2025 session ideas on the forum. You can vote, comment, or use those as inspiration to propose your own.

  • 🔗 Access to Zoom, Miro Board, and Telegram: Links to join the BarCamp are shared by email only with registered participants. 👉 Register here - Registration closes Sunday September 7.

  • 📅 Live Schedule (Public Calendar) You can view the evolving session schedule here: 👉 OpenRefine BarCamp Public Calendar

  • ❓ Questions: Email Martin at martin@openrefine.org

Event Agenda​

Monday, September 8 - Planning Day​

The first day is especially important as we welcome everyone, review session proposals, and build the agenda together.

Time (UTC)Session
13:00–13:30Welcome and orientation
13:30–14:30Icebreaker and getting to know each others
14:30–16:00Session proposal review and discussion
16:00–17:00Break - participants can continue to comment and vote on session
17:00–18:00Session Scheduling

We’ll collaboratively build the agenda for the rest of the week during the planning session. Everyone is welcome to suggest, join, or lead a session — no slides required!

Tuesday, September 9 – Demo Day​

📹 indicates that this session will be recorded

Time (UTC)Session
13:00–13:50[Demo] Intro to Using, Learning, and Training OpenRefine 📹
14:00–14:50[Demo] Using the OpenRefine LLM Extension 📹
15:00–15:50[Announcement + Q&A] OpenRefine Budget, Operating Model, and Fundraising Campaign 📹
16:00–16:45[Demo] Demo of the RDF Extension 📹
17:00–17:50[Demo + Discussion] Experience and Best Practices with New Clustering Feature(s) 📹

Wednesday, September 10 – Community Building Day​

📹 indicates that this session will be recorded

Time (UTC)Session
13:00–13:50[Presentation + Q&A] Presenting OpenRefine Goal Posts and "Roadmap" 📹
14:00–14:50[Discussion] OpenRefine & Wikimedia Communities
15:00–16:30[Discussion] Community Workflow Demos & Collecting Impact Stories Workshop
17:00–18:00[Dev] Extension Show & Tell

Thursday, September 11 – Contribution Day​

📹 indicates that this session will be recorded

Time (UTC)Session
13:00–13:50[Demo] How OpenRefine Is Used for Contributing to Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons 📹
14:00–14:50[Discussion] Contributor Experience Discussion
15:00–15:50[Discussion] Trainers’ Tips & Experiences for Effective OpenRefine Training
16:00–17:30Ask OpenRefine Anything & Closing Remarks

Event Overview​

Join us to discuss the past, present, and future of the OpenRefine project from Monday, September 8, to Thursday, September 11, 2025. This online event is open to all members of the OpenRefine community, as well as partners and stakeholders who are interested in helping to shape the project's future.

What is a Barcamp?​

A Barcamp is a participant-driven event: the agenda is shaped by you, the community. There are no pre-selected keynotes or speakers; this is an open invitation to propose sessions, join discussions, and share what matters most to you. Whether you're new to OpenRefine, looking to contribute ideas for the roadmap, or exploring technical details, this is your space to collaborate and connect.

Proposing a Session​

Sessions can be proposed on our forum using the barcamp-2025 tag. We invite participants to review, discuss and vote on sessions proposed prior to the event. We will select which sessions will go on the agenda during the planning session on Monday September 8.

Here are some session ideas we'd love to see based on last the Barcamp 2024 and past feedback:

  • UX feedback and user experience discussions
  • Hands-on code sprints or documentation writing
  • Issue triage parties
  • Feature scoping and roadmap input
  • Updates from developers on recent work
  • Tips from trainers and educators
  • ...or any other topic you want to propose!

At least one participant must propose a session for it to be included in the planning day agenda.

Event Logistic​

Schedule​

We'll run sessions for 4 to 5 hours each day between 13:00 and 18:00 UTC to be accessible across time zones:

  • Evenings in India 18:30–23:30 IST
  • Late afternoons in Europe and Africa 15:00–20:00 CET
  • Morning to early afternoon in the US, Canada and Latin America (East · 09:00–14:00 EST and West Coast 06:00–11:00 PST)

Monday, September 8 – Planning Day: We'll kick things off by reviewing session proposals, building the agenda together, and getting to know one another. During this day, we may also adjust the session schedule based on participants' time zones and interests.

Tuesday, September 9 to Thursday, September 11 – Session Days: Community-led sessions based on interest and availability. The agenda will be flexible and participant-driven. No preparation required, but you're encouraged to think of topics or questions you'd like to bring!

How to Participate​

Code of Conduct & Policies​

To ensure a welcoming and respectful environment, all participants must follow both our Friendly Space Policy during the event and the broader OpenRefine Code of Conduct for all community interactions.

The event will be held on Zoom and recorded. Sessions will be recorded unless participants request otherwise. We will also do live note-taking using Etherpad. Sessions will be in English. Zoom links will be shared with registered participants shortly before the event.