You are very right Dmitriy. One thing to add: it is currently absolutely unpredictable how situation will look like in June, but we need to get travel approvals, visas, reservations already now. And at least in central Europe all companies (especially big ones) are now in the alarmed state with incredibly strengthen travel regulations, so that at least for me even to start discussion about travel is very hard. Artem ---- typed from mobile, auto-correct typos assumed ---- On Mon, 9 Mar 2020, 10:10 Dmitry Tantsur, <dtantsur@redhat.com> wrote:
Hi,
It seems that the critical bit we don't know for sure is whether and to what extent the virus is affected by warmer weather. If it behaves similarly to flu, June should be safe, otherwise we will likely have to cancel it. Nothing can be reliably said about Berlin at this point...
Personally, I've been a long-term proponent of virtual events for many reasons, health situation included. As much as I would miss hanging out with everyone...
Dmitry
On Fri, Mar 6, 2020 at 9:58 PM Mark Collier <mark@openstack.org> wrote:
I wanted to make sure everyone saw this thread on the foundation mailing list, since I know not everyone is subscribed to both lists:
Archive: http://lists.openstack.org/pipermail/foundation/2020-March/002852.html
Please join that ML thread to share feedback on this topic, or you can reach out directly to myself or jonathan@openstack.org
I saw first hand how we all pulled together during the Snowpenstack in Dublin, so I know we'll once again pull together as a community to get through this!
Mark
On Friday, March 6, 2020 12:55pm, "Mark Collier" <mark@openstack.org> said:
Stackers,
Before I get into the current plans for the OSF events in Vancouver and Berlin, I wanted to say a few words in general about the virus impacting so many people right now.
First, I wanted to acknowledge the very difficult situation many are facing because of COVID-19 (Coronavirus), across open source communities and local communities in general (tech or otherwise). I also want to say to everyone who is on the front lines managing events, from the full time staffers to the volunteers, to the contractors and production partners, that we have some idea of what you're going through and we know this is a tough time. If there's anything we can do to help, please reach out. In the best of times, event organization can be grueling and thankless, and so I just want to say THANK YOU to everyone who does the organizing work in the communities we all care so much about.
OSF 2020 EVENTS
When it comes to the 2020 events OSF is managing, namely the OpenDev + PTG in Vancouver June 8-11 and the Open Infrastructure Summit in Berlin October 19-23, please read and bookmark this status page which we will continue to update: https://www.openstack.org/events/covid-19-coronavirus-disease-updates
When it comes to our community, the health of every individual is of paramount concern. We have always aimed to produce events "of the community, by the community" and the upcoming event in Vancouver is no exception. The OpenDev tracks each morning will be programmed by volunteers from the community, and the project teams will be organizing their own conversations as well each afternoon M-W, and all day Thursday.
But the larger question is here: should the show go on?
The short answer is that as of now, the Vancouver and Berlin events are still scheduled to happen in June (8-11) and October (19-23), respectively.
However, we are willing to cancel or approach the events in a different way (i.e. virtual) if the facts indicate that is the best path, and we know the facts are changing rapidly. One of the most critical inputs we need is to hear from each of you. We know that many of you rely on the twice-annual events to get together and make rapid progress on the software, which is one reason we are not making any decisions in haste. We also know that many of you may be unable or unwilling to travel in June, and that is critical information to hear as we get closer to the event so that we can make the most informed decision.
I also wanted to answer a FAQ by letting everyone know that if either event is cancelled, event tickets and sponsorships will be fully refunded. Please note that if you're making travel arrangements (e.g. flights, hotels) those are outside of our control.
So as we continue to monitor the news and listen to health experts to make an informed decision on any changes to our event plans, we'd like to hear from everyone in the community who has a stake in these events. Our most pressing topic is of course Vanvouver, but if you have questions or concerns about the Berlin plan feel free to share those as well.
If you'd like to connect directly, you can always contact Executive Director Jonathan Bryce (jonathan@openstack.org) or myself (mark@openstack.org).
Key Links: - STATUS PAGE: https://www.openstack.org/events/covid-19-coronavirus-disease-updates - Vancouver OpenDev + PTG https://www.openstack.org/events/opendev-ptg-2020/ - Berlin Open Infrastructure Summit: https://www.openstack.org/summit/berlin-2020/
Key Dates for OpenDev + PTG in Vancouver: - Schedule will be published in early April - Early bird deadline is April 4 - Final day to sponsor will be May 4 - Final registration price increase will be in early May
Mark Collier COO, OpenStack Foundation @sparkycollier