It has been an intense period for the SponGES’ team. Besides a summer of research cruises, the EU project has been actively engaged in many events, conferences and international meetings. Some examples? Andrew Davies (Bangor University) has introduced the project in the framework of the 2nd Deep-Sea Ecosystems Special Interest Group meeting at the Challenger Society Conference. Ana Riesgo Gil and her lab at the Natural History Museum of London have focused on sponges (of course, including deep-sea ones) during the 2016 edition of Science Uncovered, also celebrating the European Researchers’ Night. Hans Tore Rapp, SponGES’ coordinator, has presented the project at the UiB Alumni Network Conference in Brussels as well as during the 6th International Deep-Sea Coral Symposium in Boston, celebrating the value of collaborative and trans-Atlantic research. These themes have been also addressed by Ellen Kenchington (Fisheries and Oceans Canada) in the 2016 UN Bottom Fishery Workshop in New York, as well as by several other SponGES’ members at international conferences and research meetings all around Europe and beyond. Time to speak about sponges, then – and much more to come!