On Thursday, 20 June 2024, 17:00 – Open End at StadtPalais StadtPalais – Museum for Stuttgart, we want to work with you to break the culture of error in project funding in order to learn together from mistakes and failures.

When it comes to funding and project implementation, we usually want to show our best side and reassure the funding institutions that the funds are in good hands with us and that we will use them effectively - without any problems or mistakes. We also know that our plans rarely work out exactly as we intended.

With our Fuckup Night* we want to show the problematic side of our mostly flawless planning and processes and break the stigma that only “fuck-up-free” organizations can be supported.

Fuckup Nights are non-judgmental spaces in which we not only openly share our biggest mistakes with one another, but also celebrate them, precisely because we can learn an incredible amount from one another. This requires courage and trust. The format thrives on these two elements and is only effective if everyone present is prepared to stand on stage and talk about things that didn't go according to plan. We therefore want to invite anyone who is interested to take part in our Fuckup Night with mistakes, failures and trust in their luggage and to put humanity in the foreground in our organizations. We at Mindchangers do not exclude ourselves from this. In the last three and a half years we have been able to celebrate many successes, but at the same time it has also been a real hurdle race for us - which we are happy to share with you.

When registering, we therefore ask you to indicate whether you are willing to give a 10-minute presentation about your own mistakes and mishaps, as well as the solution or lessons learned. Of course, we also fully understand those who don't like being in the spotlight and would rather share their fuck-ups anonymously. That's why we have included an area in the registration where fuck-ups can be entered. We will then read these out at the event without mentioning the organizations, people or project titles.

The event begins at 17:00 p.m. in the StadtPalais in Stuttgart and is only possible with registration. Apart from a small ice breaker, there is no agenda for this event, as it is an open format. We plan to let the open part of the event end at around 19:00 p.m. Afterwards, all participants are invited to spend the evening networking as part of the Palais Après to end the evening. As always, snacks and drinks are provided!

We will gladly reimburse the travel costs for participation in accordance with the state travel expenses law.

* Fuckup Night is the official name of a format whose goal is to establish a constructive culture of error in which participants admit their own failures, learn from them and pass on their experiences to others. This is intended to establish an error-friendly culture in order to increase the ability to innovate and mutual acceptance. The audience should be encouraged to deal openly with mistakes, to actively search for their causes and to see them as an opportunity for growth. Learning that others also make mistakes should also lead to better handling of conflicts and failures.

Here it goes for registration.