Participants are carefully selected and invited by the board of advisers and the organisers on the merit of their writing and their relevance for a symposium’s topic. They are assumed to be committed to engaging other authors and the guest speakers in an intellectual and interpersonal way, and possibly to sharing their views at a public event on the last day. There should be a roughly equal number of participants from Germany, Britain, the United States and other countries.

The guest speakers are eminent personalities and experts from academia, culture, politics, business, think tanks, the NGO sector, and international institutions who have interesting things to say about a symposium’s topic. Their contributions should inform the other participants and spark the discussions. The speakers’ interest in participating lies in being able to speak to and discuss with a group of eminent writers and opinion leaders, mostly under Chatham House rule.

All participants' and speakers' costs for travel, board, and accommodation are covered by the organisers. Between and after the formal parts of the event the participants and speakers have plenty of time to get to know each other socially and to discuss other issues. During leisure periods they can go for walks around the estate or withdraw to do some work. Internet and office facilities are available for everyone. In the evenings the participants are given the opportunity to go on horseback and carriage rides, or to gather around a bonfire in the park for drinks. All participants and speakers are welcome to bring their partners and children along to Gut Ankelohe, albeit at their own costs for travel, and activities may be organised for them

The distinguished writers and speakers who participated in AnkCon 2008 were:

Brad Adams, Human Rights Watch;
Oliver August, author of Inside the Red Mansion
Dr. Kerry Brown, author of The Struggling Giant - China in the 21st Century;
James Crabtree, Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR);
Jonathan Fenby, author of Alliance;
Robert Gifford, author of China Road;
David Goodhart, Editor-in-chief of Prospect Magazine;
Isabel Hilton, Editor-in-chief of Chinadialogue.net;
Dr. John C. Hulsman, author of Ethical Realism;
Lutz Kleveman, author of The New Great Game;
Dr. Di Miao, Beijing University;
Alissa Quart, author of Branded;
Peter Maass, author of Love Thy Neighbour;
Firoze Manji, author of African Perspectives on China in Africa;
Isaac Mao, United Capital Investment;
Dr. Richard Parker, Harvard University;
Christoph Reuter, author of My Life is a Weapon;
Dr. Eberhard Sandschneider, German Council on Foreign Relations;
Harald Schumann, author of The Globalisation Trap;
Dr. Robert J. Shapiro, Chairman of Sonecon, LLC;
Hu Shuli, Editor-in-chief of Caijing Magazine;
Nicholas Young, China Development Brief;
Dr. Wei Zhang, University of Cambridge

The distinguished writers and speakers who participated in AnkCon 2007 were:

Daphna Baram, author of Disenchantment;
Bartle Bull, author of Around the Sacred Sea;
James Crabtree, UK Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit;
Paul Domjan, Director of John Howell and Company Ltd;
Elena Egereva, author of London;
Paul French, author of North Korea: The Paranoid Peninsula;
Masha Gessen, author of Ester and Ruzya;
Misha Glenny, author of The Balkans;
Joshua Hammer, author of Yokohama Burning;
Isabel Hilton, editor of OpenDemocracy.net;
Paul Kingsnorth, author of One No, Many Yeses;
Lutz Kleveman, author of The New Great Game;
Christina Lamb, author of House of Stone;
Adam LeBor, author of Complicity with Evil;
Jim Ledbetter, author of Starving to Death on $200 Million;
Dr. Seungho Lee, University of Nottingham;
Mark Lynas, author of High Tide;
Fred Pearce, author of When The Rivers Run Dry;
Dr. Stefan Rahmstorf, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact;
Dr. Michael Renner, Worldwatch Institute;
Christoph Reuter, author of My Life as a Weapon;
Elizabeth Rubin, The New York Times Magazine;
Dr. Wolfgang Sachs, author of Fair Future;
Dr. Daniel Schaffer, Academy of Sciences for the Developing World;
Jana Simon, author of Denn wir sind anders;
Harald Schumann, author of The Globalisation Trap;
Michael Thumann, author of Der Islam und der Westen;
Dr. Dan Todman, Queen Mary at the University of London

The distinguished writers and speakers who participated in AnkCon 2006 were:

Daphna Baram, author of Disenchantment;
Dr. Colin J. Campbell, author of The Coming Oil Crisis;
Prof. Kenneth Deffeyes, author of Beyond Oil;
Jonathan Foreman, author of The Pocket Book of Patriotism;
Basil Gelpke, director of Oil Crash;
Nathan Glasgow, co-author of Winning the Oil Endgame;
Prof. Dr. David Goodstein, author of Out of Gas;
Christiane Grefe, author of Climate Change;
Mark Hertsgaard, author of Earth Odyssey;
Lutz Kleveman, author of The New Great Game;
Prof. Dr. Mojib Latif, author of Klima;
Adam Lebor, author of City of Oranges;
Jim Ledbetter, author of Starving to Death on $200 Million;
Dr. Jeremy Leggett, author of The Carbon War;
Mark Lynas, author of High Tide;
George Marshall, author of The Psychology of Denial;
The Honourable Prof. Lord Ronald Oxburgh, ex-Chairman of Shell;
Silvana Paternostro, author of In the Land of God and Man;
Simon Retallack, author of Stop;
Christoph Reuter, author of My Life as a Weapon;
Dr. Jeremy Rifkin, author of The Hydrogen Economy;
Dr. Wolfgang Sachs, author of Fair Future;
Harald Schumann, author of The Globalisation Trap;
Stefan Schurig, climate activist of Greenpeace;
Thomas Seifert, author of Schwarzbuch;
Rory Stewart, author of The Prince of the Marshes;
Mike Tidwell, author of Bayou Farewell;
Chris Turner, author of Planet Simpson;
Vijay Vaitheeswaran, author of Power to the People;
Steve Westwell, Vice President BP Alternative Energy.