Our community is known for advocating curiosity and engagement through innovative science communication. But are we innovative enough in the way we communicate among ourselves? Do we dare explore alternatives if established session formats and social programmes of the past 25 years have served us well? We invite colleagues with experiences from the Ecsite Annual Conference, and other conferences, to question established approaches. “What if…” will be the leading question guiding this common brainstorming effort.While the session is not meant to revolutionize the conference, participants are invited to strive for better and use the discussion as an evaluation and development opportunity. You are all invited to debate, think and brainstorm about the future 25 years of Ecsite via #beyondEcsite25 on Twitter. Stay tuned, whether you join the session or not!