Protocols for Publishers ✨ Toronto
Toronto, October 5-6 2026
Protocols for Publishers is a series that brings together publishers, developers, and researchers to explore open protocols for a sustainable agentic web.
Why?
We're on the path to a new kind of web, with an uncertain future: AI-based user agents are fast-becoming a core interface to the internet. Platforms have increasingly seized control of the publisher-reader relationship: search engines are squeezing out web publishers to juice ad revenue, while social platforms have captured audiences with algorithmic reach and paid promotion.
How can publishers engage in this platform shift beyond being a dataset to be scraped? How can we avoid being trapped by a new wave of mega-platforms? And how can publishers on the web reach real users, build lasting relationships, and continue to have a equitable business model?
We believe now is a critical time to get technologists & publishers working together to explore—and define—real answers to these questions.
What & When?
Following our successful events in New York City and London we are now bringing PfP✨ to Toronto. We will kick off PfP✨ Toronto with a public Showcase featuring a number of short talks, followed by an invite-only day-long Stakeholder Summit where publishers and technologists can deepen the discussion.
On October 5th, 2026 from 7PM join us for an evening of presentations and open discussion, where protocol builders and publishers share their thinking about the future of the web. You will hear short talks about opportunities in protocol-based publishing that give you control over your content including leveraging AI ethically, new monetization methods, and media provenance across social media. Each talk will include a short Q&A. Following will be a relaxed mixer over drinks and light bites with the speakers and peers.
Over the next few days we will be announcing each speaker. Follow us on 🦋 Bluesky, 🐘 Mastodon, or 💼 LinkedIn for announcements and check back to see the full lineup by mid-September.
Speakers
As AI transforms digital discovery, how can independent newsrooms build modern, audience-centred products and sustainable business models without relying on Silicon Valley’s platform dominance? Drawing on The Green Line’s new website architecture, product roadmap and Action Journey®, our model for moving audiences from passive information consumption to meaningful civic participation, this session will explore how we’re using first-party and zero-party data, ethical AI and privacy-first features to deepen direct relationships with readers. We’ll also share how those relationships underpin our revenue diversification strategy, as we work to grow memberships, sponsorships and consulting into recurring streams while maintaining editorial independence and using grant funding as a catalytic rather than a defining source of revenue. Presented by The Green Line publisher Anita Li and head of product and growth Temitayo Akinyemi.
Hit the button above to apply to get into the Stakeholder forum where we will have a full day of focused conversations. We'll rotate through small-group discussions on real-world challenges, share new protocol capabilities, and work through the strategic landscape to identify opportunities to leverage for a better future for the web publishing ecosystem.
Build relationships creative and knowledgeable people from both the publishing and technology domains. Chatham House Rules are to be observed, ensuring everyone has a safe space for deep discussion.
PROPOSED AGENDA
09:30 - Doors open, morning tea/coffee and light breakfast
10:00 - Discussion 1: The New Monetization
11:00 - Tea/coffee break
11:30 - SPECIAL PRESENTATION: TBA
12:00 - Lunch
13:30 - Discussion 2: The New Audience Engagement
14:40 - Tea/coffee break
14:50 - Discussion 3: The New Sovereign Stack
16:00 - Closing
Supporters
Thank you to our partners for
helping us bring this to Toronto!
Bluesky is a social app built on the AT Protocol, an open source toolbox for building social apps that can all talk to each other.
The Dais is Canada's platform for bold policies and better leaders. The Dais is a public policy and leadership think tank at Toronto Metropolitan University, working at the intersection of technology, education and democracy to build shared prosperity and citizenship for Canada.
Hypha is a worker-owned cooperative and technical consultancy, partnering with organizations who seek out our deep knowledge and expertise in cryptography, decentralized governance, web protocols, and distributed ledger technologies. Working in solidarity with our global neighbours, we collaborate to imagine and create alternative digital futures.
The Canadian AI Journalism Network (CAIJN) is an industry network committed to fostering the responsible use and development of AI technologies in journalism across Canada.
Sponsorship & collaborations
If you're a publisher, protocol builder, or other supporter of a capture-resistant web futures and want to get involved as a sponsor contact us here.
PfP Team
Image credits: Photo by Venrick Azcueta and line art by Martin Martz on Unsplash.