Hey folks! It’s that time of year where we start thinking about Flock. I am going to lay it out up front: based on the severity and ever-changing nature of COVID-19, we have to cancel this year’s edition of Flock to Fedora. We worked with our events team to evaluate the situation. No one can say at this point if conditions will support having a conference in August. Even if the public health situation improves, we understand that many of you won’t feel comfortable traveling and participating in large events.

Let me be the first to express how sad this news is to hear, and to deliver. Flock is one of the best ways we have to express our gratitude for all of the hard work our contributors do throughout the year. It is also an irreplaceable event, because in a lot of ways we work together online as if we were side-by-side on a regular basis. 

Flock is about being together. It is about getting inspired and invigorated for the upcoming year. Flock is about connecting with your fellow contributors, nurturing friendships, expounding on ideas, and encouraging growth. It is also about getting away from our day to day lives to focus on this shared passion in a concentrated way. 

Even though we are unable to hold our usual event, it doesn’t mean we won’t be doing  anything. I had a fun idea (in the shower of course) — Fedora’s 2020 gathering can be virtual, it won’t be our normal Flock to Fedora — it will be Nest with Fedora! I got really excited about organizing some alternate reality version of Flock, and I hope you can get excited too. Making this event virtual actually offers the chance for a lot more people to participate. 

It also gives us a chance to get a little creative with it– what do you think of a Cake with FCAIC session?? Everyone comes with a dessert and we chat and then I award the badge to the attendees at the end of the session. Or what about a Meet my Pet session? Those with pets, (or anyone), can show up and wonder at all of the cats, dogs, iguanas, bunnies etc, etc, that we care for in our daily lives, and wouldn’t usually be able to show off to our Fedora friends. (How many people have I shown pictures of my cat??) My point is, if this is alternate reality Flock, I think we can make it just as FUN as we want. 

I also hope that we can craft an event that can capture some of the best parts of what Flock normally gives us. We are new at this, but so is (mostly) everyone else, and we will need your help! Instead of our usual Call for Proposals, we are opening a more broader Call for Ideas. Please note that we are limited by the whims of technology, and of course, budget. Full virtual reality conferences are not on the table 😉 Here are some things to help inspire you:

Format:

• What kind of virtual events have you attended? What did you like/not like about them?
• What kind of software have you used/seen being used for virtual events?
• What kind of sessions should we include? (lightning talks, short talks, demos, social hours, etc)
• Please share any resources you may have on virtual events as well! (articles, blog posts)

Topics:

• What do you want to share with the community about your work with Fedora?
• Fedora’s new vision statement (how does it relate to your work with Fedora?)
• Team year in review (successes, failures, plans for the future)
• Lessons your team has to share with other Fedora teams
• Growing our community
• Trends in technology that we need to pay attention to
• Collaborating with upstream and peer projects

We welcome you to submit ideas for Nest with Fedora on the Flock repository for anything you might want to share, present, or ideas for formatting. 

Things are tough right now, and I know this news won’t make anyone’s day better or brighter. That being said, the events team, the Fedora Council, and I are all committed to creating an event that is engaging and fun for everyone to participate in. With the help of the community, we are going to Nest with Fedora in an excellent way this year!