Welcome to EmacsConf, where we have fun
exploring just how much we can do with a text editor.
There's a General track and a Development track,
but really, you'll probably find
interesting things on both tracks
no matter what your level of experience is,
so don't feel limited to one or the other.
The best parts of EmacsConf are the conversations.
The wiki has a page on how to watch and participate,
and I'll give you a quick overview as well.
You can watch both streams at live.emacsconf.org
using free and open source software.
Using a streaming media player like mpv
seems to be the best way to watch in terms of performance
but there are also web-based players
just in case that's all you've got.
The schedule shows the General track on top
and the Development track on the bottom,
so you can see what else is going on.
As you're watching the talks,
you can refer to the schedule in another window.
Hover over the boxes to see the times and titles,
and click on the boxes in the schedule
to jump to the talk's page for more details.
You can also get the schedule as an iCalendar file
or as an Org file in different time zones.
The Org file has some links to talk resources
and might be handy as a starting point for your notes.
Many talks will be followed by
live Q&A web conferences with the speaker,
which will be done in BigBlueButton or BBB.
These are indicated with a solid border on the schedule
and by Q&A: BBB on the schedule page.
You can join the web conference room
by clicking on the BBB link
on the schedule page or the talk's webpage.
Then you can ask your questions yourself when the Q&A starts.
To improve performance, please keep your webcam off
and stay muted until it's your turn to talk.
If you don't like Javascript,
you can still ask questions via IRC
and the hosts can read them out for you.
We're probably going to automatically switch
between talks and Q&A sessions,
so the transitions on the stream might be a little sudden.
People in the BigBlueButton room
can continue the conversation
even after the talk moves off-stream,
and you can also reach out to the speakers
using the contact information on the talk page.
Other talks will have Q&A via Etherpad or IRC,
depending on what the speakers prefer.
This is indicated in the schedule with a dashed border
and on the schedule page as well.
The schedule pages have quick shortcuts so that you can
find out more about talks, open the Etherpads,
and join the Q&A sessions.
The watch page has more tips
on how to make the most of Q&A.
If you can, please add notes and ask questions
in the Etherpad for the talk.
That makes it easier
for everyone to share their notes,
and speakers and hosts can read the questions from there.
We'll copy the notes to the talk pages afterwards.
We have one pad for each talk,
so you can follow the links to get to the next one
or go back to the schedule and get the link from there.
If you have general feedback about
the conference itself, please put it in
pad.emacsconf.org/emacsconf.
You can also use this as a community message board
for things like Help Wanted.
Internet Relay Chat or IRC can be another great way
to be part of lots of conversations.
You can use chat.emacsconf.org to join the IRC channels
through your web browser.
The tabs on the left can help you
switch between the different channels.
There's #emacsconf-gen for the General track
and #emacsconf-dev for the Development track.
If you need to reach us, you can join #emacsconf-org
or e-mail emacsconf-org-private@gnu.org.
You can use #emacsconf for hallway conversations.
Once again, we're going to be streaming with open captions
for most of the talks this year, thanks to our speakers and
captioning volunteers.
The captioned talks are indicated on the schedule,
and with any luck, we'll be posting
videos and transcripts on talk pages
shortly after the talks start.
If you need additional accommodations, please let us know
in #emacsconf-org and we'll see
if we can make things happen.
If something goes down, we'll update status.emacsconf.org.
If it doesn't look like we've noticed yet,
please let us know in the #emacsconf-org IRC channel,
where we will be quietly panicking.
In all of these conversations, please keep in mind
our guidelines for conduct.
You can find them on the wiki,
and they basically boil down to: please be nice. Thank you!
If all goes well, the prerecorded talks and transcripts
should be available from the talk pages
shortly after they start playing,
and we'll post the recordings of live talks
and Q&A sessions within the next few weeks.
All right, let's get going.
You might see Leo Vivier, Corwin Brust,
and Amin Bandali hosting the various tracks.
I will run around mostly backstage,
and you'll probably meet us in the closing remarks.
That's also where we get to thank
all the people and organizations
who make EmacsConf possible.
Let's have fun at EmacsConf!