December 5-8: Bellingcat Online Workshop (16-hour) [Americas-friendly time]

Register here

This workshop is an online social media verification and individual-focused research course, taking place December 5 – 8, 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM (EST/New York), covering the following topics:

  • Introduction to open source investigation
  • Creative search fundamentals
  • How to conduct (nearly) traceless and anonymous/pseudonymous research

Verification topics, including:

  • Verification of user-generated materials
  • Intuitive reverse search techniques in digital investigations
  • Geolocation & chronolocation of visual materials
  • Using mapping and satellite services in investigations

Social media research topics, including:

  • Fundamental techniques and creative search strategies on individuals & groups
  • Platform-specific tutorials, including Telegram and other services
  • Tracking transportation services (e.g. naval vessels, aircraft) for investigations

Screening

We manually approve all applications after registration on Eventzilla. We do basic due diligence checks on our participants to be sure that our trainers and other participants are comfortable with their participation. Members of any military or intelligence service are not permitted registration at our workshops, and we allow government employees only on a case-by-case basis. We also restrict access to our workshops from members of police forces, but make some exceptions depending on participants’ areas of responsibilities.

For example, in past workshops, we have approved the participation of government employees working on issues around election integrity and security. We very rarely approve members of police forces, but have made some limited exceptions for those working on issues of child exploitation and trafficking. 

The vast majority of participants are approved without any issue.

Payment Note

If we approve your participation you have to continue with your registration in Eventzilla. In case you select credit card or Paypal, you must complete payment when you start the process, otherwise Eventzilla will lock you out and we will have to manually delete and restart your registration. Wait to open the payment tab until you have your card or Paypal information ready to go!

Alternatively, you can choose “bank transfer” and pay later — many of our participants being sponsored by their employers choose this option.

You can find more information about our trainings and webinars in the event descriptions on Eventzilla, including an agenda for each workshop.

Costs and VAT

For our webinars, we charge a rate of 250 EUR/person per 4-hour block, plus any applicable VAT. For a 16h workshop we charge 1,000EUR/person, plus any applicable VAT and handling fees.

Cancellation

Please look closely at our cancellation policy before you register:

– You will be registered as a participant only after we have received full payment of the workshop fee;

– If you cancel your registration up to one week before the start of the workshop, you will be refunded the total workshop fee, minus EUR 25 (+ VAT and fees) (administrative costs);

– If you cancel within six to two days before the start of the workshop, you will be reimbursed 50% of the workshop fee. If we are able to replace you with a waiting list candidate, then the total fee (minus EUR 25 (+ VAT and fees) administrative costs) will be refunded. as described on the workshop Eventzilla registration page before you register.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I receive a certificate for the workshops?

Sure! Just email us (workshops@bellingcat.com) before or after the workshops, and we’ll send you a PDF certificate showing participation after the training is completed. 

Can I receive a recording of a workshop?

We do not record our workshops, or allow others to record them. However, we do provide copies of our training slides to participants after the completion of the training for their personal reference.

Who usually attends your workshops?

We have around 20-25 participants per workshop, and among those between a third to a half come from private companies or the corporate world. Among those, we have plenty of information security researchers, corporate security investigators, lawyers, due diligence experts, and other professions. Journalists are the next-most popular profession for our workshops (around a fourth or third of participants), and then we have a mix of human rights/NGO researchers, academics and students, and even retirees just curious about what this whole OSINT thing is all about.

Can I gift a workshop seat to someone else?

Sure! We have had quite a few people buy workshop attendance for a loved one as a birthday or Christmas gift. Just let us know the name of the person who you are buying the seat for when registration so that we can do a basic due diligence check on them (see the Screening section up above). Feel free to email us at workshops@bellingcat.com to make sure we have their proper contact details so they get all of the invitation information on time.

Our full workshop slate for the fall of 2023:

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