Image: PKM Summit
The annual European gathering for personal knowledge management, tools for thought, and digital productivity, held in Utrecht.
Type: community / event
By: Martijn Aslander
When: First edition 22–23 March 2024, Utrecht (annual; next edition 12–13 March 2027)
Where it sits in their arc: the landmark — the field’s meeting point that Martijn founded
Where to get it / join: https://pkmsummit.com/
What it is
The European PKM Summit is a niche, community-run conference on personal knowledge management, founded by Martijn Aslander and organised by Digital Fitness (with Kim van den Berg, Lykle de Vries, and a team of volunteers). The first edition ran 22–23 March 2024 in Utrecht, drawing over 150 people from more than 10 countries; it is deliberately small (around 200–250 seats) and budget-friendly. The programme mixes keynotes with hands-on workshops on tools (Obsidian, Notion, Miro), methods (PARA, GTD), journaling, and building a second brain. It is held at Wonders of Work, next to Utrecht Central Station.
Core ideas
- A field needs a room — the Summit gathers the otherwise-scattered PKM and tools-for-thought community in one place once a year.
- Tools and methods side by side — Obsidian, Notion, PARA, GTD, Zettelkasten all share the floor; the Summit is tool-plural, not partisan.
- Small and practical — capped attendance and workshop-heavy, prioritising connection and doing over scale.
How it connects to the Guild’s practice
The PKM Summit is, in effect, the in-person version of what the Third Brain Guild does online: a cross-tool, cross-method community of practice (see The Disciplines — Many Lenses, One Room). Many of the leaders on this wiki have spoken there, including Tiago Forte and Nick Milo. For a Guild member it is the single best annual event to meet the field face to face.
Related works
- Digital Fitness (Digitale Fitheid) — the community that organises the Summit.
- How to Begin with Obsidian — the Obsidian on-ramp from the same author; the book closes on the Summit.
Notes from the room
Space for members to add their own takeaways, quotes, and how they used it.