[FOSS4G-Oceania] [Decision needed] What happens to the 2021 conference?

Wed Oct 13 20:55:55 PDT 2021

Thanks Claire. I'll need to dive deeper on the report, but it looks like
there is a lot of useful info that we can reference for future conference
planning.

Just some context regarding this committee. It is rather by design that
FOSS4G SotM Oceania has not been planned as a digital first conference. In
the early days of conference planning, there seemed to be shared sentiment
of online conference fatigue and thus in-person events were favoured. This
worked well in 2020 because risk was distributed across a variety of hub
locations and we put on a successful conference with in-person events.
Surprisingly the COVID outlook for our region will be worse this November
than it was November in 2020. The distributed model that reduced risk last
year is making an online pivot harder, though still possible.

It is likely that the future of FOSS4G SotM Oceania will resemble 2018 and
2019 where it is held in one location. When this happens, we should
definitely design the type of conference that is accessible online. With
one location setting up filming and livestream becomes less challenging.

I'll make sure to read through the report and see how we can incorporate
that into future planning.

Cheers,

Ed

On Wed, 13 Oct 2021 at 20:36, Jonah Sullivan <jonahsullivan79 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Thanks for the info Claire. I'm having the same issues with the Canberra
> Python User Group. We're trying to differentiate from the plethora of
> online engagements by providing a unique offering that leans heavily on in
> person interactions (including formal presentation events and informal hack
> events).
>
> I think the FOSS4G Oceania conference has a similar perspective. I'm
> personally less inclined to attend online only events but I'm probably in
> the minority.
>
> The conference series would definitely be more resilient with a digital
> first premise.
>
> On Thu, 14 Oct 2021, 13:57 Trenham, Claire (O&A, Black Mountain), <
> Claire.Trenham at csiro.au> wrote:
>
>> Hi all,
>>
>>
>>
>> Apologies, I’m just a casual by-stander, but as someone who’s deeply
>> involved with “the future of meetings” (see
>> https://thefutureofmeetings.wordpress.com/), I feel like this situation
>> has, perhaps not unexpectedly, come about through not planning FOSS4G-2021
>> as a “digital-first” conference, but instead been driven by a desire to do
>> face-to-face with just some support for online participation via the hybrid
>> model. If you plan digital-first from the start (not virtual, but where
>> digital support for all attendees is planned to enable broader
>> accessibility), then it’s much easier to pivot to hybrid or fully online.
>> Hybrid is the toughest to plan and implement and most expensive, so unless
>> you’re very confident you can pull off an in-person event, planning for
>> virtual options from the start is pragmatic in the current travel
>> environment.
>>
>> I’d note even CarpentriesCon for 2022 have already made the call to be
>> online.
>>
>> Sure, catching up in person is fabulous. But we’re no longer in a world
>> where that can be realistically expected, for so many reasons not just
>> related to travel restrictions, but also funding availability, inclusivity
>> of those with caring responsibilities, and aversion to unnecessary carbon
>> emissions.
>>
>> I’d encourage the FOSS4G-Oceania organising committee to read the TFOM
>> report <https://zenodo.org/record/4345562#.YWeVFRpBw2x> and give serious
>> consideration to the advantages of a digital-first approach so that
>> disappointment doesn’t recur and a broader range of people are able to
>> participate.
>>
>>
>>
>> Kind regards,
>>
>> Claire
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> *Claire Trenham *
>>
>> Experimental Scientist
>>
>> Oceans & Atmosphere | CSIRO
>>
>> Climate Science Centre | Sea level, waves, and coastal extremes
>>
>> Claire.Trenham at csiro.au | +61 2 6246 5232
>>
>> GPO Box 1700, CANBERRA ACT 2601
>>
>>
>>
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>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> *From:* FOSS4G-Oceania <foss4g-oceania-bounces at lists.osgeo.org> *On
>> Behalf Of *Edoardo Neerhut
>> *Sent:* Thursday, 14 October 2021 12:01 PM
>> *To:* foss4g-oceania <foss4g-oceania at lists.osgeo.org>
>> *Cc:* Nemaia Koto <nemaia.koto87 at gmail.com>; Elisa Puccioni <
>> elisa at kenex.co.nz>; Rateiti Vaimalie <rateitiv at fisheries.gov.ki>; Ms.
>> Ueakeia Tofinga <ueakeiatofinga at gmail.com>; Steven Haslemore <
>> steven.haslemore at gmail.com>; Adi Luisa Duguivalu <
>> s11135909 at student.usp.ac.fj>; Aliti <dweinbeitaki at gmail.com>; Gander
>> Wainiqolo <gander.wainiqolo at cookislands.gov.ck>; Ratu Isikeli Sawailau <
>> s11175721 at student.usp.ac.fj>; Halva Cenar <Helavacenar at gmail.com>;
>> Merelita Lewabete <lewabete.m at gmail.com>; Jeannane Vika <
>> jeannanevika at ymail.com>; Mohammed Abdullah Bin Shorab <
>> abdullahshorab at hotmail.com>; Tom Czertowicz <tom at kenex.co.nz>; Carrol
>> Chan <carrol.mchan at gmail.com>; Tooa Brown <tooa1996 at gmail.com>; Chayn
>> Sun <Chayn.sun at rmit.edu.au>; Kristina Duguivalu <kduguivalu at gmail.com>;
>> Dawn Hendrick <dawn_hendrick at hotmail.com>; lilian.fierroarcos at utas.edu.au;
>> Sebastian S. <mapping at consebt.de>; Luke Ransfield <
>> luke.ransfield at gmail.com>
>> *Subject:* [FOSS4G-Oceania] [Decision needed] What happens to the 2021
>> conference?
>>
>>
>>
>> Hi everyone,
>>
>>
>>
>> Tl;dr: *We need to make a collective decision about the 2021 conference.*
>>
>>
>>
>> The conference is less than a month away and we are at a pretty critical
>> juncture. An uncertain COVID situation has caused Auckland to postpone
>> until 2022 and some other hubs are in doubt. Perth looks the most likely to
>> go ahead successfully, but has stated that they will postpone if the COVID
>> situation changes.
>>
>>
>>
>> While I would be quite disappointed to postpone, I do not want to put
>> together a sub-par conference. I have detailed what I perceive to be our
>> options here under COVID contingency planning
>> <https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xcrwLjSF4mlLUv8Rfmt_qBPoZPp2KyKTqXXErN41ydQ/edit>.
>> My personal preference is that we put together a simplified online
>> conference together and regroup in 2022 for an in-person event.
>>
>>
>>
>> *Making a collective decision*
>>
>> Ultimately each hub is entitled to make their own decisions, but for the
>> health of the FOSS4G SotM Oceania brand, I think we should coordinate as
>> best as we can. For the hubs that are unable to run in-person events, we
>> should decide whether we move the conference online or postpone it to a
>> date in 2022. Auckland has already stated that they will postpone.
>>
>>
>>
>> How do you feel we should proceed? Should hubs that can't meet in-person
>> put together an online format or should we postpone?
>>
>>
>>
>> *Tomorrow's meeting*
>>
>> FOSS4G SotM 2021 Planning
>> Friday, 15 October · 12:00 – 13:00 AEST
>> Google Meet joining info
>> Video call link: https://meet.google.com/rxs-vvpk-rvo
>> Or dial: ‪(US) +1 617-675-4444 PIN: ‪339 595 475 9774#
>> More phone numbers: https://tel.meet/rxs-vvpk-rvo?pin=3395954759774
>>
>>
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>>
>>
>> Ed
>> _______________________________________________
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>> FOSS4G-Oceania at lists.osgeo.org
>> https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/foss4g-oceania
>>
>
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