Welcome to the CultureCon Third Place Challenge!
Explore the places that help people connect, and help us discover more of them.
Earn credit by visiting featured Madison third places and submitting qualifying nominations. Participants with the most qualifying activity can win a ticket to CultureCon West 2026 or a custom Connection Crew T-shirt.
Throughout CultureCon, we are exploring what makes a place welcoming, meaningful, and good for connection.
Explore Madison with Sit By Me & Help SparkAnew Put SparkPlaces on the Map
Sit By Me identifies Community Connection Points into a live map where people are connecting. Find them in the Sit By Me app, visit the places that interest you, connect with someone while you are there, or suggest another place through the app.
SparkAnew is gathering nominations from Madison and communities around the world to begin building a living map of places where
community, comfort, and creativity come together.
You may nominate one of the featured Sit By Me locations, another Madison-area place, or a favorite third place from anywhere in the world.
Here are a few potential Sit By Me locations & SparkPlaces in Madison to get you started: