Mashable: Google I/O is back and it’s going virtual in 2021. “Not only is Google I/O actually happening this year, but it’s also free to ‘attend.’ Due to the ongoing pandemic, Google I/O 2021 will be held virtually, which is better than nothing considering the company fully cancelled the event last year.”
National Humanities Center: A virtual conference exploring the critical intersection between the humanities and artificial intelligence.. “Join us for a series of virtual events—presentations, conversations, webinars, film screenings, and an art exhibition—highlighting perspectives from leading humanists, scientists, engineers, artists, writers, and software company executives collectively advancing inquiry into key emerging questions…. Thanks to generous support from our sponsors, this conference is offered free of charge. However, registration is required to access conference sessions, view films, and explore the online art exhibit.” The conference takes place April 7-22.
Optics .org: SPIE Optics + Photonics Digital Forum opens with free access to 2,000 talks. “The online conference, which runs through Friday, 28 August, after which presentations will continue to be accessible via the website, includes over 1,200 on-demand technical presentations, 300 posters, and 900 manuscripts across three tracks: Nanoscience and Engineering Applications, Organic Photonics and Electronics, and Optical Engineering and Applications.”
Phys .org: COVID-19 forced us to move a conference from a Greek island to the web, and quickly. Here’s what we learned. “In May this year, we were convening a dream conference: 140 like-minded academics on a Greek island for three-and-a-half days to work on a topic we cared about—organizing sustainably…. Then the universe threw us a curveball in the form of COVID-19, which made us rethink sustainable organizing. Despite a complete lack of experience, and no funding, we decided to move online. More than 100 participants, across 14 time zones, decided to experiment with us.”
CMX Hub: A Comprehensive List of Tips, Tools, and Examples for Event Organizers During the Coronavirus Outbreak.”Virtual conferences can be quite powerful, and scale to many thousands of attendees that would be very difficult to gather in-person. And online meetups and roundtables give your members an opportunity to have intimate discussions from the comfort of their home. Are they the same? No. But they do have unique benefits. So while this is a *really* difficult time for a lot of community teams and event organizers, you can also look at this as an opportunity to build your chops on running virtual events. Who knows, you might decide to keep hosting them as a complement to your physical events long after we’ve found a Covid-19 vaccine!”
Web Strategist: 2020: Digital, Online, and Virtual Events for the Tech and Business Industry. “For the business person who’s now working at home, or is travel-restricted, it’s more important than ever to stay connected to the industry. Many physical-world conferences are shifting to digital, virtual, or blended experiences. This list will help you stay organized on which event to attend, and when. Event organizers and marketers: use this to coordinate market timing.”
CNET: Google I/O canceled due to coronavirus concerns. “Google on Tuesday said it’s canceling I/O, the search giant’s annual developer conference and its biggest event of the year, because of concerns about the novel coronavirus that’s caused worldwide disruptions.”
New-to-me and I think new in general, brought to my attention by Esther S.: Thisten. From the about page: “Thisten is an audio-to-text platform that transcribes speaker sessions at conferences, in real-time. The content from each event is aggregated to our app and website for users around the world to discover, search, and reference.” The tweet Esther used to let me know about Thisten also mentions future plans to provide transcripts for political rallies, sporting events, and movies.
TechCrunch: Google cancels Cloud Next because of coronavirus, goes online-only. “Google today announced that it is canceling the physical part of Cloud Next, its cloud-focused event and its largest annual conference by far with around 30,000 attendees, over concerns around the current spread of COVID-19.”
Bloomberg Quint: Google Cancels Internal Conference Over Virus Concerns. “Google canceled a major internal gathering over concerns about the spread of coronavirus, the latest in a wave of events and conferences being called off around the world. The internet giant’s sales and marketing event was set to take place in Las Vegas in March, a Google spokesman said.”
CNN: Facebook cancels its biggest conference amid coronavirus concerns. “Facebook announced on Thursday that it is canceling F8, its biggest annual event, due to concerns over the coronavirus. ‘We’ve made the difficult decision to cancel the in-person component of F8 this year, in order to prioritize the health and safety of our developer partners, employees and everyone who helps put F8 on,’ the company wrote on the F8 website.”
Neowin: Facebook cancels San Francisco summit due to coronavirus fears. “Facebook announced on Friday that it had called off its upcoming global marketing summit out of caution for the coronavirus outbreak, according to Reuters.”
RootsTech: RootsTech 2020 Free Livestream Schedule. “If traveling to Salt Lake City isn’t an option for you, don’t worry! Many of the sights and teachings from the conference will be streamed live on our home page—for free!”
Mashable: Google announces I/O 2020 dates. “Even though I/O is primarily a developer conference, Google typically announces some new hardware at the event. Last year, it was the Pixel 3a and 3a XL, and this year, we’ll likely see the new Pixel 4a, possibly accompanied with the new Pixel Buds. A new Nest device is not out of the question, either, given that Google launched the Nest Hub Max at last year’s conference.”
Genealogy’s Star: All of the MyHeritage LIVE 2019 Lectures Now Online. “I am not sure, but I think that this may be only the second time that an entire genealogy conference has been made available for free online with videos. The first time was from the MyHeritage LIVE 2018 Conference.”
