The Panic Room at transmediale/conversationpiece is a space for informal discussion that has a continuous rather than event-based form. The metaphor of the panic room suggests both a context for dealing with urgent topics and for withdrawal: visitors can re-orient themselves within the ongoing festival and engage with topics out of their specified domains. The topics of each of the three Panic Room sessions reflect issues that are common to the transmediale content streams, and select participants from other events are specifically invited to join. In addition, actors and stakeholders external to the official transmediale program have been invited to participate on informal terms, broadening the scope of the discussion. The setting invites exchange, conflicting views, and perspectives from all backgrounds.