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WEBVTT captioned by sachac

NOTE Intro

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.839
Hi, I'm Sacha Chua. This presentation is a quick tour

00:00:04.840 --> 00:00:07.959
of some of the things we do to run EmacsConf.

00:00:07.960 --> 00:00:12.239
Since 2019, we've run it as an entirely online conference,

00:00:12.240 --> 00:00:14.699
and we do as much of the organization as possible

00:00:14.700 --> 00:00:16.579
within Emacs itself.

NOTE Reasons

00:00:16.580 --> 00:00:19.759
I have three reasons for making this presentation.

00:00:19.760 --> 00:00:22.759
The first is entirely selfish: I need to figure out

00:00:22.760 --> 00:00:25.359
all the stuff I built for last year's EmacsConf,

00:00:25.360 --> 00:00:28.079
since it was a bit of a crazy scramble.

00:00:28.080 --> 00:00:30.159
The second is that I want to show people

00:00:30.160 --> 00:00:33.239
the process of thinking about a complex project,

00:00:33.240 --> 00:00:35.879
looking for little things to automate in Emacs,

00:00:35.880 --> 00:00:38.439
and building things up from small pieces.

00:00:38.440 --> 00:00:39.799
Maybe you'll get some ideas

00:00:39.800 --> 00:00:42.759
and start building tools for yourself, too.

00:00:42.760 --> 00:00:47.039
The third is that you find any of these little tools interesting,

00:00:47.040 --> 00:00:49.439
I want to point you to blog posts and source code

00:00:49.440 --> 00:00:51.239
where you can find out more.

00:00:51.240 --> 00:00:52.559
That way, you don't need to try

00:00:52.560 --> 00:00:55.399
to read and understand everything quickly.

00:00:55.400 --> 00:00:57.719
You can find this presentation and other links

00:00:57.720 --> 00:01:04.439
on the talk page at emacsconf.org/2023/talks/emacsconf.

00:01:04.440 --> 00:01:06.319
There are a lot of different parts,

00:01:06.320 --> 00:01:09.399
so I'll try to use this map to help make sense of it all.

NOTE Information

00:01:09.400 --> 00:01:11.199
There's so much information to work with,

00:01:11.200 --> 00:01:14.919
so it probably doesn't surprise you that we use Org Mode a lot.

00:01:14.920 --> 00:01:17.999
Most of the conference coordination happens over e-mail,

00:01:18.000 --> 00:01:20.639
which I can quickly search with notmuch.

00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:22.359
Some of the information is private,

00:01:22.360 --> 00:01:24.519
like emergency contact numbers.

00:01:24.520 --> 00:01:28.079
We store the talk information in a private Org file.

00:01:28.080 --> 00:01:30.079
I try to put as much as possible

00:01:30.080 --> 00:01:32.319
into our public organizers' notebook

00:01:32.320 --> 00:01:35.359
so that processes and decisions are documented.

00:01:35.360 --> 00:01:36.919
We need a public website.

00:01:36.920 --> 00:01:39.039
We use Ikiwiki to make the webpages

00:01:39.040 --> 00:01:41.119
because we can work with plain text files

00:01:41.120 --> 00:01:42.599
in a Git repository.

00:01:42.600 --> 00:01:45.399
We also make a few static HTML pages

00:01:45.400 --> 00:01:48.119
for things where Ikiwiki is a little awkward.

00:01:48.120 --> 00:01:50.519
We post announcements to mailing lists.

00:01:50.520 --> 00:01:53.159
We also receive submissions in a private mailing list

00:01:53.160 --> 00:01:55.639
so that a number of people can review them.

00:01:55.640 --> 00:01:56.839
We have a backstage area

00:01:56.840 --> 00:01:59.959
for sharing files with volunteers and speakers.

00:01:59.960 --> 00:02:03.119
We share those files publicly when the talk goes live.

00:02:03.120 --> 00:02:06.319
And there's all the other stuff that goes into running EmacsConf,

00:02:06.320 --> 00:02:09.159
like shell scripts and configuration files.

NOTE Properties

00:02:09.160 --> 00:02:12.319
First, speakers propose a talk by sending an e-mail.

00:02:12.320 --> 00:02:15.799
We take the info from that e-mail and store it in Org properties

00:02:15.800 --> 00:02:18.199
so that we can work with it later.

00:02:18.200 --> 00:02:20.599
Every talk is identified with an ID,

00:02:20.600 --> 00:02:24.119
but since `:ID:` and `:CUSTOM_ID:` have special meanings for Org,

00:02:24.120 --> 00:02:25.399
I use `:SLUG:` as the keyword.

00:02:25.600 --> 00:02:27.759
Speakers' names go into the `:NAME:` property,

00:02:27.760 --> 00:02:29.799
and a short version goes into `:NAME_SHORT:`

00:02:29.800 --> 00:02:32.199
so that we can include that in a greeting.

00:02:32.200 --> 00:02:34.439
If people follow the template closely...

00:02:34.440 --> 00:02:38.039
...we can even automatically fill in the Org subtree for their talk.

00:02:38.040 --> 00:02:40.799
We can use regular expressions to recognize the text

00:02:40.800 --> 00:02:42.879
and extract the properties.

00:02:42.880 --> 00:02:45.359
Other properties need to be set by hand.

00:02:45.360 --> 00:02:47.559
I often mess things up when I retype them.

00:02:47.560 --> 00:02:51.039
To avoid typos, I have a function that sets a property

00:02:51.040 --> 00:02:56.039
based on the current region. I bind that to `C-c C-x p`.

00:02:56.040 --> 00:02:58.599
That makes it much easier to set properties

00:02:58.600 --> 00:03:00.639
that couldn't automatically be recognized.

00:03:00.640 --> 00:03:04.519
Sometimes it makes sense to dynamically generate a property

00:03:04.520 --> 00:03:07.679
and then edit it, like with filenames.

00:03:07.680 --> 00:03:10.399
We like to name all the talk files the same way,

00:03:10.400 --> 00:03:14.439
but sometimes special characters in talk titles or speaker names

00:03:14.440 --> 00:03:17.839
need a little tweaking. I'll put that in a `:FILE_PREFIX:` property

00:03:17.840 --> 00:03:19.439
so I can edit it.

00:03:19.440 --> 00:03:22.799
An Org property match can map over all the talk entries

00:03:22.800 --> 00:03:25.439
that don't have `:FILE_PREFIX:` defined.

00:03:25.440 --> 00:03:29.199
We can use that `:FILE_PREFIX:` to rename files from Emacs.

00:03:29.200 --> 00:03:32.639
With that property, we can then rename files using that prefix,

00:03:32.640 --> 00:03:35.639
some extra text, and the file extension.

00:03:35.640 --> 00:03:38.879
Sometimes it's easier to work with the data outside Emacs,

00:03:38.880 --> 00:03:42.119
like when I want to rename files with a shell script.

00:03:42.120 --> 00:03:45.319
If I export a subset of the data as JSON

00:03:45.320 --> 00:03:48.959
or JavaScript Object Notation, using `json-encode`...

00:03:48.960 --> 00:03:51.119
... then I can extract the data with `jq`

00:03:51.120 --> 00:03:53.119
and use it in shell scripts.

NOTE Timezones

00:03:53.120 --> 00:03:55.639
Another example of semi-structured information

00:03:55.640 --> 00:03:56.759
is speaker availability.

00:03:56.760 --> 00:03:59.319
We have speakers from all over the world,

00:03:59.320 --> 00:04:02.599
so we try to schedule live Q&A sessions when they're around.

00:04:02.600 --> 00:04:04.559
That means working with timezones.

00:04:04.560 --> 00:04:08.439
Completion makes it much easier to set the timezone property

00:04:08.440 --> 00:04:10.599
without worrying about typos.

00:04:10.600 --> 00:04:14.359
We can take advantage of the timezone list from the tzc package,

00:04:14.360 --> 00:04:16.679
which works with Unix timezone definitions.

00:04:16.680 --> 00:04:19.919
Then we can convert times using Emacs.

00:04:19.920 --> 00:04:22.639
Using a standard format to encode the availability

00:04:22.640 --> 00:04:24.399
makes it easier to parse.

00:04:24.400 --> 00:04:27.439
I can use those availability constraints to report errors

00:04:27.440 --> 00:04:29.119
when I'm experimenting with the schedule.

NOTE Scheduling

00:04:29.120 --> 00:04:30.759
Now that I have the availability information,

00:04:30.760 --> 00:04:31.919
I can think about scheduling.

00:04:34.480 --> 00:04:38.239
When we were planning EmacsConf 2022, the schedule was so full,

00:04:38.240 --> 00:04:40.839
I wanted to see if we could make it more manageable

00:04:40.840 --> 00:04:43.039
by splitting it up into two tracks.

00:04:43.040 --> 00:04:45.919
It was hard to think about times with just a table.

00:04:45.920 --> 00:04:48.199
I was able to turn the schedule information

00:04:48.200 --> 00:04:51.279
into an SVG to convince the other organizers

00:04:51.280 --> 00:04:53.359
to get on board with this crazy plan.

00:04:53.360 --> 00:04:54.959
And the nice thing about SVGs is that

00:04:54.960 --> 00:04:57.519
they can even be clickable on the wiki.

00:04:57.520 --> 00:05:00.639
Being able to quickly make SVGs of different schedules

00:05:00.640 --> 00:05:04.199
also helped me test scheduling ideas and think out loud.

00:05:04.200 --> 00:05:06.879
I could change the time between talks, the order of the talks,

00:05:06.880 --> 00:05:08.599
and even what tracks the talks were in.

00:05:08.600 --> 00:05:10.719
This was helpful when I needed to include

00:05:10.720 --> 00:05:13.239
some late submissions or availability changes

00:05:13.240 --> 00:05:15.599
and I wanted to ask speakers what they thought.

00:05:15.600 --> 00:05:18.799
They could see the different schedule options themselves.

00:05:18.800 --> 00:05:22.679
It's really nice to have Emacs Lisp support for working with SVGs.

00:05:22.680 --> 00:05:25.399
I also love how I can have an Emacs Lisp block

00:05:25.400 --> 00:05:28.599
in an Org Mode document that updates an SVG

00:05:28.600 --> 00:05:31.279
that I can view right there in my text editor.

00:05:31.280 --> 00:05:34.799
Setting the timezone lets me automatically translate times

00:05:34.800 --> 00:05:36.919
to the speaker's local timezone when I e-mail them.

00:05:36.920 --> 00:05:39.079
That's mostly a matter of using `format-time-string` with a timezone.

NOTE Templates

00:05:42.360 --> 00:05:43.159
There's also a lot of text to work with,

00:05:43.160 --> 00:05:45.119
which means templates are super handy.

00:05:45.120 --> 00:05:48.119
There are a number of templating functions for Emacs Lisp,

00:05:48.120 --> 00:05:52.959
like the built-in `tempo.el` or `s-lex-format` from `s.el`.

00:05:52.960 --> 00:05:54.439
I ended up writing something

00:05:54.440 --> 00:05:57.279
that works with property lists (plists) instead,

00:05:57.280 --> 00:06:02.199
since we use plists all over the emacsconf-el library.

00:06:02.200 --> 00:06:03.999
All it does is replace `${variable}`

00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:05.519
with the value from a property list.

00:06:05.520 --> 00:06:07.559
I use this mostly because I have a hard time

00:06:07.560 --> 00:06:11.079
keeping track of which `%s` is which when I use `format`,

00:06:11.080 --> 00:06:13.919
and it's hard to get an overall view if I just use `concat`.

00:06:13.920 --> 00:06:17.599
The code looks for the properties and replaces them with the values.

00:06:17.600 --> 00:06:20.919
I just find it a little easier to think about sometimes.

00:06:20.920 --> 00:06:24.079
Getting all the information is just a matter of going over

00:06:24.080 --> 00:06:26.999
all the talk entries using `org-map-entries`.

00:06:27.000 --> 00:06:30.319
This builds the talk info by running a bunch of functions.

00:06:30.320 --> 00:06:33.439
Some functions get the information from the Org file.

00:06:33.440 --> 00:06:36.359
Other functions use the info already collected.

00:06:36.360 --> 00:06:39.039
This can take a while to do again and again.

00:06:39.040 --> 00:06:41.479
It's useful to `memoize` this function

00:06:41.480 --> 00:06:43.239
when I know I'll be using it a lot,

00:06:43.240 --> 00:06:45.679
like when I export the organizers notebook.

00:06:45.680 --> 00:06:48.119
Memoize caches recent values.

NOTE Wiki

00:06:48.120 --> 00:06:50.239
We combine this templating function

00:06:50.240 --> 00:06:51.479
with the talk information

00:06:51.480 --> 00:06:53.119
to fill in the conference wiki,

00:06:53.120 --> 00:06:56.279
since that's a matter of writing templated strings to files.

00:06:56.280 --> 00:06:58.279
The talk pages are generated once

00:06:58.280 --> 00:07:00.279
and then left alone for manual editing,

00:07:00.280 --> 00:07:02.399
while the navigation is regenerated

00:07:02.400 --> 00:07:04.199
every time we change the details.

00:07:04.200 --> 00:07:05.799
Here are some examples

00:07:05.800 --> 00:07:07.319
of how we fill in the conference wiki.

00:07:07.320 --> 00:07:10.959
We put in the format of the talk, how Q&A works,

00:07:10.960 --> 00:07:12.319
and what the status is.

00:07:12.320 --> 00:07:14.959
Once the talk is live, we include the video

00:07:14.960 --> 00:07:16.479
and the links to the files, too.

00:07:16.480 --> 00:07:18.719
The code is a little bit long,

00:07:18.720 --> 00:07:20.079
but the important part is that

00:07:20.080 --> 00:07:22.639
we fill in a plist with the values we calculate,

00:07:22.640 --> 00:07:26.159
and then we can use `emacsconf-replace-plist-in-string`

00:07:26.160 --> 00:07:27.719
to put that all together.

00:07:27.720 --> 00:07:30.079
The schedule is a little more complicated.

00:07:30.080 --> 00:07:32.079
I wrote an Ikiwiki directive

00:07:32.080 --> 00:07:33.839
so that the markup is more manageable,

00:07:33.840 --> 00:07:36.159
and the Emacs Lisp function uses that.

00:07:36.160 --> 00:07:40.399
The Ikiwiki directive takes all the data and turns it into HTML...

00:07:40.400 --> 00:07:42.959
...so we can use Emacs Lisp to iterate over

00:07:42.960 --> 00:07:44.679
a slightly smaller property list

00:07:44.680 --> 00:07:47.479
and put them into the format Ikiwiki expects.

00:07:47.480 --> 00:07:50.079
It's nice to be able to navigate between talks

00:07:50.080 --> 00:07:52.319
without going back to the schedule page each time.

00:07:52.320 --> 00:07:55.399
This is handled by keeping two extra copies of the list:

00:07:55.400 --> 00:07:57.319
one with the first talk popped off,

00:07:57.320 --> 00:08:00.159
and one with an extra element added to the beginning.

00:08:00.160 --> 00:08:02.439
Then we can use the heads of those lists

00:08:02.440 --> 00:08:03.959
for next/previous links.

NOTE Etherpad

00:08:03.960 --> 00:08:06.679
Links to the next talks are also handy

00:08:06.680 --> 00:08:08.639
on the collaborative Etherpad documents

00:08:08.640 --> 00:08:12.039
that we use for collecting questions, answers, and notes

00:08:12.040 --> 00:08:12.839
during each talk.

00:08:12.840 --> 00:08:14.679
Etherpad has an API...

00:08:14.680 --> 00:08:17.319
...so I can start the pads off with a template

00:08:17.320 --> 00:08:18.559
before the conference.

00:08:18.560 --> 00:08:21.239
I don't want to accidentally overwrite a pad

00:08:21.240 --> 00:08:22.679
that has been manually edited.

00:08:22.680 --> 00:08:25.719
We can save the timestamp of the last modification

00:08:25.720 --> 00:08:27.679
and then compare it before overwriting.

NOTE E-mail

00:08:27.680 --> 00:08:30.839
Templates are also very handy when it comes to e-mail.

00:08:30.840 --> 00:08:33.599
Sometimes we send e-mails one at a time,

00:08:33.600 --> 00:08:35.199
like when we let a speaker know

00:08:35.200 --> 00:08:36.599
that we've received their proposal.

00:08:36.600 --> 00:08:39.559
That's mostly a matter of plugging the talk's properties

00:08:39.560 --> 00:08:41.119
into the right places in the template.

00:08:41.120 --> 00:08:44.799
Sometimes we send e-mails to lots of speakers at the same time,

00:08:44.800 --> 00:08:47.999
like when we send them instructions for uploading their files.

00:08:48.000 --> 00:08:51.439
Instead of sending one e-mail and Bcc-ing everyone,

00:08:51.440 --> 00:08:53.479
or sending people multiple e-mails

00:08:53.480 --> 00:08:54.999
because they have multiple talks,

00:08:55.000 --> 00:08:57.559
I like to draft these as individual e-mails

00:08:57.560 --> 00:08:59.799
to each speaker (or group of speakers,

00:08:59.800 --> 00:09:02.599
if more than one person is associated with a talk).

00:09:02.600 --> 00:09:05.479
That gives me an opportunity to personalize it further.

NOTE BigBlueButton web conferences

00:09:05.480 --> 00:09:08.119
Many speakers answer questions live

00:09:08.120 --> 00:09:10.039
in BigBlueButton web conference rooms.

00:09:10.040 --> 00:09:12.639
Setting up one room per group of speakers

00:09:12.640 --> 00:09:15.199
makes it easy to give the speakers the details

00:09:15.200 --> 00:09:18.519
and associate the recorded video with the talk afterwards.

00:09:18.520 --> 00:09:20.599
For EmacsConf 2023,

00:09:20.600 --> 00:09:24.839
I used Spookfox to control Mozilla Firefox from Emacs

00:09:24.840 --> 00:09:27.479
so that I could automate creating the rooms

00:09:27.480 --> 00:09:30.919
and adding the URLs to the talk properties in my Org file.

00:09:30.920 --> 00:09:33.959
Then I can use mail merge to send each speaker

00:09:33.960 --> 00:09:36.399
the check-in instructions for their specific room.

00:09:36.400 --> 00:09:38.679
Some speakers will take questions by e-mail

00:09:38.680 --> 00:09:41.399
after the conference instead of attending live,

00:09:41.400 --> 00:09:43.359
so we send them shorter instructions

00:09:43.360 --> 00:09:45.119
just in case they want to drop by.

00:09:45.120 --> 00:09:46.479
Live Q&A sessions start off

00:09:46.480 --> 00:09:46.919
with just the speaker and the host.

00:09:46.920 --> 00:09:48.119
After the first rush of questions,

00:09:48.120 --> 00:09:49.959
we can open it up for other people to join.

00:09:49.960 --> 00:09:52.759
This is handled by changing the public page

00:09:52.760 --> 00:09:55.119
from one that just refreshes in a loop

00:09:55.120 --> 00:09:58.119
to one that redirects to the actual web conference room.

00:09:58.120 --> 00:10:00.079
Just in case, we also

00:10:00.080 --> 00:10:02.159
generate static copies of those redirects

00:10:02.160 --> 00:10:04.039
so that we can copy them if needed.

00:10:04.040 --> 00:10:06.679
That way, I don't have to count on Emacs being able to

00:10:06.680 --> 00:10:07.759
publish them over TRAMP.

NOTE Shortcuts

00:10:07.760 --> 00:10:11.239
During the conference, I'm often jumping from talk to talk.

00:10:11.240 --> 00:10:13.199
Instead of going to the Org file

00:10:13.200 --> 00:10:14.519
and then searching for the talk,

00:10:14.520 --> 00:10:17.239
I've made a little Hydra with keyboard shortcuts.

00:10:17.240 --> 00:10:19.079
One of these shortcuts lets me

00:10:19.080 --> 00:10:20.799
jump to a talk with completion

00:10:20.800 --> 00:10:23.999
so that I can just type in part of the talk ID,

00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:25.679
title, or speaker name.

00:10:25.680 --> 00:10:28.679
I've also defined some Embark actions

00:10:28.680 --> 00:10:31.719
so that I can act on a talk right from the completion menu.

00:10:31.720 --> 00:10:34.719
For example, I might want to jump to the wiki page

00:10:34.720 --> 00:10:36.199
or e-mail the speaker.

NOTE Logbook

00:10:36.200 --> 00:10:39.839
I can also add notes to a talk while looking at an email,

00:10:39.840 --> 00:10:41.639
like when a speaker lets me know

00:10:41.640 --> 00:10:42.839
that their video will be late.

00:10:42.840 --> 00:10:45.799
Making it easy to add a note turns Emacs into

00:10:45.800 --> 00:10:49.439
a very basic contact relationship management system, or CRM.

00:10:49.440 --> 00:10:52.439
The way this works is that we have a function

00:10:52.440 --> 00:10:55.159
that lists all the email addresses associated with a talk.

00:10:55.160 --> 00:10:57.919
We can then map that over the list of talks,

00:10:57.920 --> 00:10:59.959
look up the author of the current email,

00:10:59.960 --> 00:11:03.319
prompt the user for the talk to add the note to, and add the note.

NOTE Captions

00:11:03.320 --> 00:11:04.679
On to captions.

00:11:04.680 --> 00:11:07.239
We've been doing captions for the last couple of years,

00:11:07.240 --> 00:11:09.959
and now we have a small army of volunteer captioners.

00:11:09.960 --> 00:11:12.679
They get early access to the recorded talks

00:11:12.680 --> 00:11:16.159
and fix up misrecognized words, format keyboard shortcuts

00:11:16.160 --> 00:11:19.359
to follow Emacs conventions, spell names correctly,

00:11:19.360 --> 00:11:21.839
and do all sorts of other wonderful things.

00:11:21.840 --> 00:11:24.399
One of our evil plans with EmacsConf

00:11:24.400 --> 00:11:28.359
is to get cool stuff out of people's heads into videos

00:11:28.360 --> 00:11:31.799
and also make captions so that those videos can be searched.

00:11:31.800 --> 00:11:34.999
To make that possible, we first need a backstage area

00:11:35.000 --> 00:11:36.639
where volunteers can get the files.

00:11:36.640 --> 00:11:39.839
This is just a simple password-protected directory

00:11:39.840 --> 00:11:43.559
with a static HTML page that lists the talks by status

00:11:43.560 --> 00:11:46.119
and shows the files related to each talk.

00:11:46.120 --> 00:11:49.599
As a talk moves through the process, I update its TODO state

00:11:49.600 --> 00:11:51.359
and republish this index.

00:11:51.360 --> 00:11:54.519
Talks that are ready to be captioned show up in that section,

00:11:54.520 --> 00:11:57.679
and volunteers can call dibs on the talk they're interested in.

00:11:57.680 --> 00:12:00.799
That's all done with a function that formats the information

00:12:00.800 --> 00:12:03.839
and uses TRAMP to save the file directly to the server.

00:12:03.840 --> 00:12:06.679
You can find more details on our captioning process

00:12:06.680 --> 00:12:09.039
at emacsconf.org/captioning.

00:12:09.040 --> 00:12:12.519
I like using subed to edit subtitles within Emacs.

NOTE Crontabs and playing the talks

00:12:12.520 --> 00:12:15.399
Let's talk about actually playing the talks.

00:12:15.400 --> 00:12:19.559
For EmacsConf 2022, we tried using Emacs timers

00:12:19.560 --> 00:12:20.519
to run the talks.

00:12:20.520 --> 00:12:24.079
It turns out that you can't call TRAMP from a timer

00:12:24.080 --> 00:12:26.719
when you're already using TRAMP from another timer

00:12:26.720 --> 00:12:27.439
at the same time.

00:12:27.440 --> 00:12:29.719
I thought about just tweaking the schedule

00:12:29.720 --> 00:12:31.799
so that we always start things at different times,

00:12:31.800 --> 00:12:34.799
but I figured there's probably a more elegant way to do this.

00:12:34.800 --> 00:12:37.519
This year, I'm planning to experiment with using cron

00:12:37.520 --> 00:12:38.959
to start talks on autopilot.

00:12:38.960 --> 00:12:42.119
The shell scripts will take care of playing the videos...

00:12:42.120 --> 00:12:44.399
... figuring out the appropriate Q&A...

00:12:44.400 --> 00:12:47.119
... and joining the web conference if needed.

00:12:47.120 --> 00:12:49.599
We just need to format the information...

00:12:49.600 --> 00:12:51.759
...and install it as the track's crontab.

00:12:51.760 --> 00:12:54.079
It's useful to be able to switch tracks

00:12:54.080 --> 00:12:55.599
to manual mode independently,

00:12:55.600 --> 00:12:57.679
just in case things go haywire.

00:12:57.680 --> 00:12:59.719
Then we can start everything manually.

00:12:59.720 --> 00:13:02.359
I can also manually update a talk's status,

00:13:02.360 --> 00:13:05.919
like when the host tells me that it's okay to open up the Q&A.

00:13:05.920 --> 00:13:08.719
The shell scripts we run from the crontab

00:13:08.720 --> 00:13:10.839
can also update the talk status themselves.

NOTE Transitions

00:13:10.840 --> 00:13:14.319
Then a bunch of things happen automatically based on

00:13:14.320 --> 00:13:15.599
the talk status changes.

00:13:15.600 --> 00:13:18.959
This uses org-after-todo-state-change-hook.

00:13:18.960 --> 00:13:20.359
We get the talk information

00:13:20.360 --> 00:13:21.959
and pass it to a list of functions.

00:13:21.960 --> 00:13:26.279
Internet Relay Chat or IRC is an easy way for people

00:13:26.280 --> 00:13:28.719
to join the conversation around EmacsConf.

00:13:28.720 --> 00:13:31.239
We announce a talk whenever it changes state.

00:13:31.240 --> 00:13:33.599
For example, when a talk starts,

00:13:33.600 --> 00:13:36.039
we post the URLs to the talk webpage

00:13:36.040 --> 00:13:39.439
and the Etherpad for questions. We change the topic as well,

00:13:39.440 --> 00:13:41.879
so anyone can see the current talk's information

00:13:41.880 --> 00:13:43.039
even if they're a little late.

00:13:43.040 --> 00:13:45.799
This is easy to do with a little bit of Emacs Lisp

00:13:45.800 --> 00:13:48.519
because (of course!) Emacs has an IRC client.

00:13:48.520 --> 00:13:49.639
In fact, it has several.

NOTE Wrapping up

00:13:49.640 --> 00:13:52.799
It seems like a lot of automation and Emacs Lisp,

00:13:52.800 --> 00:13:56.439
but really, all of this was just built up little by little.

00:13:56.440 --> 00:13:59.279
And tinkering with this is *fun*, you know?

00:13:59.280 --> 00:14:00.679
It's like always being able to ask,

00:14:00.680 --> 00:14:02.159
"Hey, wouldn't it be cool if..."

00:14:02.160 --> 00:14:05.279
and then actually being able to go and do it.

00:14:05.280 --> 00:14:07.999
Sometimes it feels like EmacsConf is an excuse

00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:09.359
for me to play with Emacs.

00:14:09.360 --> 00:14:11.999
It's pretty amazing what you can do

00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:13.799
by combining a bunch of pieces.

00:14:13.800 --> 00:14:16.719
A way to store slightly-structured information.

00:14:16.720 --> 00:14:18.879
A way to get it out again. Templates.

00:14:18.880 --> 00:14:20.679
TRAMP, for working with remote files

00:14:20.680 --> 00:14:21.919
and running remote commands.

00:14:21.920 --> 00:14:23.839
A way to talk to a web browser.

00:14:23.840 --> 00:14:25.399
A way to work with SVGs.

00:14:25.400 --> 00:14:27.759
An email client. A chat client.

00:14:27.760 --> 00:14:29.639
You can smoosh them all together

00:14:29.640 --> 00:14:32.319
in a way that you couldn't if they were all separate things.

00:14:32.320 --> 00:14:35.879
The code is in the emacsconf-el repository.

00:14:35.880 --> 00:14:39.119
It's a bit of a tangle because it's accumulating organically

00:14:39.120 --> 00:14:40.879
and I haven't really had the brainspace

00:14:40.880 --> 00:14:42.359
to step back and clean it up.

00:14:42.360 --> 00:14:45.519
But if you spotted anything interesting in this presentation,

00:14:45.520 --> 00:14:48.279
you can go check it out and see what you can scavenge.

00:14:48.280 --> 00:14:50.999
The link and this presentation are available

00:14:51.000 --> 00:14:59.119
from this talk's webpage at emacsconf.org/2023/talks/emacsconf .

00:14:59.120 --> 00:15:05.200
Let's figure out how to make Emacsconf even awesomer next year!