About Tram Forum
Tram Forum - or as we used to be called back in the day - Spårvagnsstäderna spring and fall conference was organized the first time in 2009. Much has changed since then and the event has gone from being a small meeting by a few Swedish technical experts and decisions makers to be the natural meeting place for the whole tramway sector in the Nordics.
Tram Forum isn't like the others, we write more about that below.
What sets us apart from the others?
The Swedish light rail association Spårvagnsstäderna is the organizer of Spårvägsforum and we have always worked to create a natural meeting place where topics surrounding light rail can be brought up and discussed. Our topics expand away from just visions and new technology and delve deeper into the more difficult topics like accidents or maintaining operations in times of crisis.
To be able to discuss these questions in a credible manner, the Tram Forum has a few basic principles and ethical guidelines in order to remain an independent arena free from relying on sponsorships. Competitors are colleagues at Tram Forum. This means that we are different from our competitors in these ways:
- Tram Forum is organized by Spårvagnsstäderna which is a non-profit association. This means that we don't turn a profit on our event and set our prices based on that.
- Tram Forum doesn't allow sponsored presentations. You as a participant should know and be comfortable in the fact that speakers have been invited because they have something interesting to contribute, not because they paid us.
- Tram Forum also doesn't allow sponsoring of surrounding events such as dinners or technical visits. These are events that are included in your participant fee. You can therefore know that the person sitting next to you at the dinner has chosen to do so, not paid the organizer to be placed there.
- We also realize that there is an interest for our participants to visit some sort of product showcase so we do offer a limited exhibition space clearly separated from the conference content available to book. These exhibitors can also put marketing materials in the participant package. But that's as far as the exhibitor benefits go. Sometimes the exhibitors might speak as well, but only if they can contribute to the discussion.
With the principles above we create a safe and inclusive arena, where you can be comfortable not only on a personal level, but also in your professional role knowing that the people who you network with actually want to talk to you and that your presence isn't sold as a product. We know this is especially important for those employed in the public sector. We always have been and will continue to be an ethical and transparent event.