DConf Online '22 this weekend! Videos are up!

[Mike Parker]

DConf Online '22 is this weekend, December 17 & 18. The 
livestream links and links to all the videos I've uploaded are 
published at https://dconf.org/2022/online/index.html. A couple 
of the talks aren't ready and have no links yet, but the rest are 
there. The remainder will be ready to go by Saturday.

### Overview of how to participate
I had intended to publish a video on how to participate in DConf 
Online '22, but circumstances conspired against me. I'll try to 
make time for it tomorrow, but in the meantime, here's a text 
description.

* The Q & A livestream turns on at 13:45 UTC on Saturday and 
Sunday. I'll be in around 13:50 to kick things off.
* Each speaker will join me in the livestream 5 minutes before 
their talk starts. So the first speaker will be there by 13:55, 
the second by 15:10, etc.
* During each talk, I'll have a conversation with the speaker in 
the livestream. I'll be recording it for publishing as a separate 
Q & A video after the conference. Viewers are encouraged to 
*leave the livestream* and watch the speaker's talk. Our 
conversation will be full of pauses and gaps as I tweet, answer 
emails, and do other things. The edited version after the 
conference will be more interesting.
* Also during each talk, the speaker will answer any questions 
posed in the talk's chat box, first by typing a short answer in 
the chat box, and second by verbalizing that answer in the 
livestream and possibly verbally elaborating with more details. 
Again, I'm talking about the chat box on the pre-recorded video, 
not the livestream chat. Any question in the livestream chat will 
be answered verbally.
* After each talk, viewers will automatically be redirected back 
to the livestream for the Q & A session. Any viewer whose 
question gets answered in the post-talk Q & A will be eligible 
for prizes.
* We'll end the Q & A session at an appropriate point (when the 
there are no more questions, when we have less than 20 minutes 
before the next talk, etc) and the livestream will go quiet until 
5 minutes before the next talk.

### Special sessions
There are three special sessions this year that won't follow the 
above pattern:

* The AUA with Walter and Atila takes place entirely in the 
livestream. It's like a post-talk Q & A without the talk.
* Adam Ruppe's livecoding session is in a separate livestream. 
We'll have a break after the Day One Q & A livestream ends, 
during which time Adam and I will set up his livestream. We'll 
start broadcasting it at 20:15 UTC on Saturday. He's told me 
he'll go at least an hour-and-a-half, but I don't know yet what 
he's coding this year.
* Brian Callahan's workshop at 20:15 UTC on Sunday is a 
pre-recorded video, but it's taking place *after* the Day Two Q & 
A Livestream ends. He has a talk at 19:00, the last regular talk 
of the conference, that is the same as other talks: he'll be in 
the livestream at 18:55, we'll chat during his talk, and we'll 
have a Q & A at the end. After that talk, we'll wrap up the 
livestream sometime by 20:00. Brian's workshop video will 
premiere at 20:15. He'll be available to answer questions in the 
video's chat box, but there will be no livestream at that point.

### The Q & A sessions
There are two problems that have come up in the past editions of 
DConf Online with the freeform livechat Q & A sessions we've had.

First, questioners had to stick around until the end of each talk 
to know if they won that session's prize, until the end of each 
day to know if they won the daily prize, and until the end of the 
second day to know if they won the grand prize. Then they had to 
email me and take an extra step to verify that they own the 
YouTube handle that won the prize.

Second, in the AUA last year the livestream chat was so busy, we 
couldn't keep up with the questions. Razvan and I both were 
scrolling and squinting to see the questions people were telling 
us we missed, and things got further crowded with all the chatter 
about missed questions.

This year, I've set up an email address for the Q & A sessions: 
qna at dlang.org. We'll still take questions from the livestream, 
but anyone who wants to be eligible for a prize will need to 
email their question to that address. It works like this:

* You only need to email your *first question* for each talk's Q 
& A session (the AUA is an exception; see below) and only if you 
want to be eligible for a prize.
* Additional questions from the same person, or any questions 
from anyone who doesn't care about the prize, can be asked in the 
livestream chat, but should be prefixed with "QNA:" so that they 
stand out.
* For the AUA, to avoid a repeat of the crowded chat from last 
year, we will only take questions via email.

Emails should have the following format:

__Subject__: Name of the question's target (e.g., Walter)
__Body__: The question, followed by either a) the name you wish 
to be addressed by in the chat if we announce you as the winner 
of a prize (your real name, a nickname, your YouTube handle, or 
even "anonymous"; whatever works for you), or b) an indication 
you don't want to be considered for the prize.

After the conference, I'll email each prize winner directly to 
describe how to claim their prizes. So if you want to use a 
throwaway email address, that's perfectly fine. Just be aware 
that if I receive no reply by the 26th, or if the email bounces, 
I'll select a new prize winner.

Prizes for each talk's Q & A session will be an item from the 
[DLang Swag 
Emporium](https://www.zazzle.com/store/dlang_swag?rf=238129799288374326).

Participating questioners on each day (those who email their 
questions and provide a handle to call them by) will be eligible 
for the daily prize of a $50 Amazon eGift Card at the end of each 
day.

Participating questioners during the entire conference will be 
eligible to win a $100 Amazon eGift Card at the end of the 
conference.

Again, you can only be entered once in each prize drawing. So 
e.g., someone emailing at least one question during three talks 
on Saturday and one talk on Sunday would be eligible for four 
talk prizes, both daily prizes, and the grand prize, while 
someone asking at least question in at least one talk for the 
entire conference would be eligible for one talk prize, one daily 
prize, and the grand prize.

I'll post all of this on the web site tomorrow.

### The video & slide links
In addition to posting all the links on the web site, I'll post 
the livestream links to here in the forums and on our Twitter 
feed each day. I'll post each talk link in the livestream chat 
before the talk starts, and will also tweet it unless I forget.

I'll publish all of the slide links the whole day's talks on the 
website before each day's livestream begins. I'll also post each 
slide link in the chat box for the corresponding talk (the talk's 
chat box, not the livestream chat) once it premieres.

### See you there!
I look forward to hanging out with all of the speakers in the 
livestreams this weekend. I expect Walter will do what he's done 
in the past two editions and hang out with me for most of the 
conference (though he hasn't yet confirmed it).

Also, don't forget about BeerConf! It starts the day before the 
conference and runs all weekend. Folks usually jump in during the 
break after the post-talk Q & A sessions. Some people keep it 
open the whole time, multitasking between BeerConf, the 
livestream, and the talks.

However you participate, I hope you enjoy it!