"Best conference content and experience in a very, very, very long time."

"Well-paced, engaging, and most importantly, a safe space."

"I'm ready to sign up for next year!"

"Exactly what we need more of in the world."

"What a much needed breath of fresh air."

"Definitely worth the price of admission!"

"I genuinely took something valuable away from every talk."

"Best conference content and experience in a very, very, very long time." "Well-paced, engaging, and most importantly, a safe space." "I'm ready to sign up for next year!" "Exactly what we need more of in the world." "What a much needed breath of fresh air." "Definitely worth the price of admission!" "I genuinely took something valuable away from every talk."

February 3-5, 2027

Save the date for Throughline 2027

An online conference from Active Voice

early-bird tickets go on sale in september

Who should attend

Designers, researchers, content folks, product teams, and anyone who cares about building great user experiences

what you’ll learn

How to influence your company, navigate change, and decide what you want the next era of design and UX to look like

what you’ll get

Two days of practical talks and community conversations that leave you with new energy, new insight, and new ideas for your work

Call for speakers coming soon

Have a talk idea for Throughline 2027? Your chance is coming up! Look for a call for speakers in summer 2026.

  • "What a much needed breath of fresh air."

    Throughline 2026 attendee

  • "It was extremely well organized, felt like a safe and inclusive space, and the wisdom shared by the speakers and via the workshop was relevant, actionable, and oh so relatable."

    Throughline 2026 attendee

  • "Everything was fantastic (the speakers, the resources shared etc.) but the community itself is incredible! Kind, thoughtful, talented."

    Throughline 2026 attendee

  • "Exactly what I needed when I needed it. All the talks and sessions made my brain light up."

    Throughline 2026 attendee

  • "No toxic or fake positivity. Just real talk about real issues and feelings we're all having. I felt like I was hearing from people who were walking in my shoes."

    Throughline 2026 attendee

  • "I genuinely took something valuable away from every talk."

    Throughline 2026 attendee

  • "Every detail of the conference felt thoughtfully considered from all angles by people who care deeply about creating and holding space for others."

    Throughline 2026 attendee

Become a 2027 sponsor

Let’s shape the future of design—together.

Support our scholarship program

Our 2026 sponsors allowed us to award 34 all-access scholarship tickets to people who otherwise couldn’t afford to attend. Sponsor Throughline 2027, and you can help us do even more.

Get a team pass with every sponsorship

Every sponsorship also comes with a team conference pass—so you can level up your design org and build a more inclusive industry… at the same time.

why sponsor

Build a stronger pipeline

Recruit the best! Reach the 3,000+ talented design professionals who are part of the Active Voice community.

Increase your brand’s visibility

Get your name and work in front of 300+ conference attendees—all experienced designers, researchers, and content folks.

Grow and inspire your people

Invest in your team’s  confidence and capabilities—so they can do their best work, and your design org can thrive.

Interested in learning more? Send us a note.

Strengthen the whole design community

Every sponsorship dollar will go directly to providing scholarship tickets to designers who otherwise could not afford to attend.

Photo of Sara Wachter-Boettcher on the left, and Jen Dionisio on the right. Sara is tall with dark wavy hair and ears a white sweater and jeans. Jen is shorter, with long layered blond hair, and wears a camel cardigan with a dotted blouse and jeans.

Brought to you by Active Voice

We’re Sara Wachter-Boettcher and Jen Dionisio, the team behind Active Voice—a tiny company on a big mission to make work better for people in design and tech.

We developed Throughline because we know it’s hard out there—and designers need spaces where people are willing to get real about it… without descending into doom and gloom. So we’re taking our years of experience running online workshops, group programs, and events, and pouring it all into one big, bad, totally untested (but guaranteed to be amazing!) conference… because we know this field is full of some of the most creative, compassionate, whipsmart people around. And we want to be part of whatever UX becomes next.