Meeting C++ - the last online conference?

published at 21.09.2023 17:55 by Jens Weller
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A few days ago it caught my attention that Meeting C++ 2023 would be the last C++ organisation with an online part of its conference.

This is the case because last year the online part did find its interest in the C++ community. I think it serves the goals of Meeting C++ to continue an online presence for the conference as long as this is feasible. Reasons for other conferences to give up on online include either not enough funding/interest or the overhead an online event causes. Focusing only on being on location does have its advantages I have to admit, returning to what conferences were like before the pandemic. And its preferred by most speakers and sponsors. Though it leaves the online audience behind.

So let me highlight that Meeting C++ 2023 is hybrid, and offers the unique option to view the main program in a live stream and attend an exclusive online track. The online track will consist of prerecorded talks with the speakers hanging out with you in the chat during the talk. You'll be able to chat and ask questions, this would not be possible in a live talk.

From the start for 2023 Meeting C++ has committed to being hybrid, offering a similar conference experience like last year. Hosting 3 tracks onsite, one track online and streaming the main track is what went well last year. And this has not changed, doing this also enables Meeting C++ to hold online events through out the year with Meeting C++ online, which are free to attend.

Like last year we will prerecord the talks for the online track, so that speakers can hang out with you in the chat during their talks and answer the questions live. This worked very well last year. Whats different this year is the plan to hold public precording events with Meeting C++ online. The first one will be on October 12th, with more following in the second half of the month. This gives speakers two chances to engage with the audience of Meeting C++ and gives the C++ community an opportunity to see some of the talks.

Last but not least let me say something on the pricing. Every time one halfs the price, one needs to double the sales. While competing with the free videos on youtube. Meeting C++ continues to release the videos later for free on its youtube channel. The online conference aims at an audience that can buy the ticket through their employer/school mostly. The streaming and online platform are expensive and take some time to setup and run the conference it self on. And (un)fortunately the online conference is the wrong audience to sell things to. So far I've not had a sponsor ask a particular question about the online conference. This is currently 100% funded through ticket sales.

Like in the last two years - we'll be using hubilo for the setup. Everything will be available to you within a few clicks. The student and support programs offer limited free tickets for the online event. Buying a ticket through your employer will ensure that there is enough funding to continue this for the coming years.

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