HHC 2020 - status update

[Gene]

Probably not a big surprise, but the HHC 2020 in person conference in October will ** not ** occur this year due to the COVID-19 restrictions and uncertainties.

We wanted to get this out to everyone as soon as we were really sure there was no way we could pull this off, so here it is.

Notice the key words in that first sentence: in person.

We are working on an alternative this year that would be virtual. Nothing to announce yet, but stay tuned.

Thanks all.

[Giancarlo]

Hello Gene,
Thank you for this message. I can understand how difficult was To take this decision.
My personal feeling - for what it worth - is that this is a wise decision.

Let’s see the positive side now...

If the conference can happen ( not in person) And in a different way, please consider that some people on the other side of the pond could be interested to be connected.

Thanks

Giancarlo

[Eddie W. Shore]

Thank you, Gene. I'm hopeful for a virtual conference this year.

Eddie

[Dave Britten]

Allow me to get the obvious joke out of the way:

Coronavirus is a TI conspiracy!!!

Anyway, that's a bit of a bummer, but not a big surprise at this point. Maybe the video conference approach will allow for record-breaking attendance.

[pinkman]

(06-13-2020 10:00 PM)Giancarlo Wrote:  If the conference can happen ( not in person) And in a different way, please consider that some people on the other side of the pond could be interested to be connected.

Yes, me!

[grsbanks]

+1 -- as long as it's not Zoom being used!

[John Galt]

(06-15-2020 06:43 AM)grsbanks Wrote:  +1 -- as long as it's not Zoom being used!

I'm with you: ? Zoom.

[Eric Rechlin]

Just curious, what makes Zoom unsuitable for a virtual conference?

[grsbanks]

It's the appalling privacy and security issues that were identified and brought to the public's attention a few months back.

OK, the issues have since been resolved, but that doesn't alter the fact that someone at Zoom thought it would be a great idea to give (or sell, more like) all their users' personal details to Facebook. They also thought it it would be fun to install a web server on a Mac that was not removed when uninstalling Zoom, so Apple had to release a silent Mac OSX update that did remove it.

I simply don't trust a company that does that kind of thing, even if it has since been fixed.

[Dave Britten]

Maybe we can use Twitch, and set up Twitch Plays Bagels.

[Jonathan Busby]

(06-15-2020 04:09 PM)grsbanks Wrote:  It's the appalling privacy and security issues that were identified and brought to the public's attention a few months back.

OK, the issues have since been resolved, but that doesn't alter the fact that someone at Zoom thought it would be a great idea to give (or sell, more like) all their users' personal details to Facebook. They also thought it it would be fun to install a web server on a Mac that was not removed when uninstalling Zoom, so Apple had to release a silent Mac OSX update that did remove it.

I simply don't trust a company that does that kind of thing, even if it has since been fixed.

WOW :| I didn't know about these privacy violations until I read your post, and I've been using Zoom :| Thanks for the info!

Perhaps we could use ( shudder ) Skype? Or maybe some other alternative? ( eg. see this google search )

Regards,

Jonathan

[Jake Schwartz]

(06-15-2020 06:50 PM)Jonathan Busby Wrote:  

(06-15-2020 04:09 PM)grsbanks Wrote:  It's the appalling privacy and security issues that were identified and brought to the public's attention a few months back.

OK, the issues have since been resolved, but .....

WOW :| I didn't know about these privacy violations until I read your post, and I've been using Zoom :| Thanks for the info!


Regards,

Jonathan

But as has been said above , the issues have been resolved.
Jake

[Gene]

Correct, the issues earlier have been corrected.

If we are going to use products only by companies that have not made serious mistakes before... we may need some cans and a lot of string. :-)

(P.S. and I am not downplaying the earlier issues... but they are earlier ones)

[David Hayden]

I'll truly miss the personal interaction with everyone but I understand the decision. It's probably for the best.

I look forward to a virtual conference!

Dave

[grsbanks]

(06-15-2020 08:09 PM)Gene Wrote:  If we are going to use products only by companies that have not made serious mistakes before... we may need some cans and a lot of string. :-)

There are serious mistakes and serious mistakes.

There is a big difference between a security flaw in software that was clearly unintentional and a conscious decision to pass your users' personal data on to a third party without informing said users. I don't call that a "serious mistake", I call that "willful deceit for profit".

[Craig Bladow]

Gene,

Thanks for the update, I feel going virtual is the right thing to do. Going virtual should allow many more attendees and many first time attendees. I trust the committee to make the virtual tool choice that will work best for the conference. My personal experience is that Zoom has worked for everyone I know, and on every platform, while jitsi.org has not. I did attend a conference with ~8000 attendees that was hosted by GoToWebinar and that tool worked very well.

Most important is to make sure we continue to get Richard's ad hoc commentary that occurs between speakers.

[GeoffC123]

Sorry there cannot be an in-person conference for everyone but this will be the first HHC I will be able to attend!

Getting the date sooner rather than later would really help with blocking out my calendar.

Thanks.

Geoff

[Monte Dalrymple]

So... is there at least a tentative date yet?

[Craig Bladow]

I’ve been checking for the website every few days hoping it will go live soon. Despite not purchasing airline tickets, I had a dream where I had purchased air fare and traveled to the hotel even though the in person meeting was canceled.... and so did everyone else!

[Eddie W. Shore]

Fingers crossed that HHC 2021 will still happen, I'll take a hybrid conference (in person and on line).