Daniel Buckmaster (Oct 31 2024 at 20:44): Daniel Buckmaster (Oct 31 2024 at 20:44):I really loved the reasoning in this article about why even have an online conference:
https://www.scattered-thoughts.net/writing/what-is-the-point-of-an-online-conference/
My experience of online conferences has mostly been underwhelming. They typically borrow the form and structure of an in-person conference without considering whether those still make sense online, and whether the goals of an online conference should even be the same as an in-person conference.
And I was pretty happy to hear Jaime is keen on using Zulip as the primary "interface" for the event:
There are many platforms that offer all-in-one conference hosting, but the chat tends to be an anaemic little sidebar that has few features (eg no threads) and that disappears once the conference is over. In conferences that use these platforms I've seen much less conversation than in conferences where the chat is the main focus of the UI.
In HYTRADBOI 2022 the chat spawned myriad subthreads and continued for several days afterwards as people rolled in and out from various timezones. So for HYTRADBOI 2025 I'm using zulip, which has the best threading UX of any chat I've used, and I'll leave it running indefinitely.
I'm really tempted to attend just to appreciate the organisation! The topic is slightly out of my wheelhouse.
Anyone have thoughts on the online conference format?
Last updated: Dec 12 2024 at 15:40 UTC