The Splice Beta logo — a yellow tuktuk inside a pink circle

Splice Beta 2023. November 8-10, 2023. Chiang Mai, Thailand

Here’s what happened at Beta 2023

Everything you need to build your home at our festival — and in this community.

Get Beta updates!

We’ll let you know when we have a date for Beta 2024.

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Splice Beta 2023 Twenty-seven presentations Twenty-six clinics Forty-nine speakers Fifty-seven countries One hundred and fifty-three organisations Two hundred and eighty people One media community One elephant One tuktuk

Listen to sessions from Beta 2023

Splice’s guide to your media future

For almost a decade, Alan Soon and Rishad Patel of Singaporean firm Splice Media have been talking about the ongoing transformation in the media, and advising start-ups across the region. What have they achieved thus far?

By Sudhir Vadaketh
Jom

Who is Beta for? The global media ecosystem

Media startup founders, creators, tech folks, investors, journalists, media development donors, product managers, media program managers, and academics.

“Loved the exiled newsroom talks, super relevant and will continue to be. Also, your commitment to diversity and inclusion was really inspiring. Thank you for making it part of this event and for making sure women had a voice.”

— Anonymous attendee, Beta 2023

Diversity, inclusivity, and access are a big deal for us.

54.4% of registered attendees at Beta 2023 were female and 42.6% male.

48% of our speakers were female and 48% male. Almost 76% of speakers had never presented at Beta.

We had attendees from 57 countries. The top five nationalities represented were Burmese, Indian, Filipino, American, and Singaporean.

Speaker presentations

We’ll add to these as they come in

“I was told that if I could attend only one conference a year Beta should be it. I now know why. I left with inspiration, motivation, new ideas, and new friends.”

— Sudeshna Chanda, Radio Zamaneh, The Netherlands

The Beta 2023 book

The Big Pink Elephant in the Room and Other Beta Stories

“This conference is like a warm hug. Always supportive, encouraging, and inspiring.”

— Anna Natividad
PumaPodcast

Some of the 155+ companies you met at Beta

606 Digital, AAJA-Asia, Agence France-Presse, Agência Pública, Amu TV, Article 19, Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact, Asiaville, Bandung Bergerak, Baraza Media Lab, Boomerang Media, Cambodian Center for Independent Media, Center for Investigative Reporting, Chiang Mai University, Climate Tracker, Commoner, Cuestión Pública, Davao Today, DealStreetAsia, Democratic Voice of Burma, Deutsche Welle Akademie, DFRLab, DigitalMama.id, DreamSpace Media, Earth.Org, EWMI-ODI, Exile Hub, Faqcheck, Fivestones, Fojo Media Institute, Following the Yuan, Frontier Myanmar, Future Forum, FYT Media, Girl's Podcast, Global Investigative Journalism Network, Global Voices, GMA Network, Google, Gravitas PH, Greenhouse, Himal Southasian, Himalmedia, Hong Kong Free Press, Icarus Media, Inclusive Journalism, Indigenous Media Network, Initium Media, Institute for People Centred AI, International Center for Journalists, International Fund for Public Interest Media, International Media Support, Jom, Josh Talks, Journalism Growth Lab, JournalismAI, Justice for Sisters, Kiripost Media, Konde.co, Kontinentalist, Le Havre Normandy University, Legal Initiatives for Vietnam, Lemon Press, Lighthouse Reports, Luat Khoa Magazine, Luminate, Macaranga Media, MeaVox Live, Media Development Investment Fund, Media in Cooperation and Transition, Mekong Review, MGID, Mindanao Institute of Journalism, Money2020, Morningtide Capital Partners, News19, Newsworthy.Studio, North Base Media, NU Jabar Online, OnionDev Technologies, Open Society Foundations, Outriders, Pakistan Press International, Prachatai English, Probe, Project Multatuli, PROTO Studio, Pulitzer Center, PumaPodcast, queerbeat, Rappler, Reuters, Rohit Upadhyay Mediaworks, Sanity, Semafor, Shh...Diam!, Stichting Democratie en Media, Stichting Radio Zamaneh, StoryFlow, Studio Zainal & Zainal, Suno India, Thammasat University, The Centrum Media, The Conversation, The Current, The Fourth, The Gender Beat, The Opener, Thibi, TNL Mediagene, Tokyo Investigative Newsroom, Tribal News Network, Trident Media, Trustmeimareporter.com, U Digital Content, ub.life, unnu.news, UX Thrive, Vietnam Weekly, Voice of America, WAN-IFRA, and ZAG Studios

Splice Beta helps connect to opportunities for all of us in media — from business models to audiences to jobs. We want to make sure everyone has a seat at the table.

Our Beta fund continues. Let’s help people who couldn’t otherwise afford planes and hotels to get to Beta 2024.

Help someone attend Beta

The Splice Beta Startup Pitch Stage

Huge congratulations to Catur Ratna Wulandari for winning the Startup Pitch Stage!

Ten pitchers. Five minutes. Five slides. Five thousand dollars.

The ten pitches were by Nang Nyi, Catur Ratna Wulandari, Grace Thu, Kiana Duncan, Voranai Vanijaka, Ekaterina Voronova, Yao Hua Law, Uyanga Altantuya, Panha Theng, and Ankur Paliwal — thank you for pitching your hearts out.

Ratna won the Google-sponsored prize of $5,000.

SPONSORED BY

“Attending Beta was like going back to school at the young age of 52. I learned many new things, got rid of several old assumptions, and had some of my own crazy ideas validated. Great job, team Splice!”

— Badar Alam,
Lok Sujag
Beta 2022

Animated tuktuk family

What is Splice Beta?

An inclusive and diverse media startup festival in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai. 

Beta is the only event in Asia that brings together the media ecosystem. This is the golden age of media. Let us show you what it looks like.

Tuktuk therapy for all.

A newbie’s guide to Beta
Alan Soon and Rishad Patel Alan Soon and Rishad Patel

A newbie’s guide to Beta

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.

Read More

Thank you to our wonderful sponsors — we could not have done this without you

Why you should sponsor Beta 2024

It’s a great marketing platform

Link to your organisation’s programs, work, and resources on the Beta website, newsletters, and social.

Launching a product, program, service? Announce it at Beta. Let us help you get the word out.

You meet the community

We facilitate introductions to participants. Find your next upcoming media entrepreneur or creator.

We have private meeting rooms for quiet conversations. No one likes noisy cafes for important meetings. We’ll have great spaces for you.

It’s your chance to build the community

Host a session to recognise the heroes from your programs. Let’s give them the acknowledgement they deserve.

You can help the community learn what they need

Run a workshop or presentation. Do you have case studies to present? Best practices to teach? That’s very Beta.

We appreciate you! 

We’ll show our appreciation for your support at the sessions, on our website, newsletters, social media, printed materials, signage. It matters to us, truly.

The Beta 2023 program

The Beta program covered creators, gender, journalism, product, mental health, AI, audience, tools, community, and identity.

Beta 2023 speakers

All the amazing Beta knowledge and experience on one page

Over 75% of our speakers have never spoken at Beta before.

We have a code of conduct.

We want to explicitly state what we — as a community — consider inappropriate behaviour.

At Splice, we want to create a harassment-free experience for everyone. We’re spelling it out so it’s clear to all.

Splice Beta from the past

Beta 2019
Chiang Mai

Beta 2020
Online

Beta 2022
Chiang Mai

Still miss Beta?

Let’s keep the conversation going on the Planet Splice Slack or the Splice Telegram group