[[!sidebar content=""]]
This file is automatically exported from [/2025/organizers-notebook/index.org](/2025/organizers-notebook/index.org). You might prefer to navigate this as an Org file instead. To do so, [clone the wiki repository](https://emacsconf.org/edit/).
You might also like the [general organizers' notebook](/organizers-notebook) and [the organizers' notebook from 2024](/2024/organizers-notebook).
# Table of Contents
- [Timeline](#timeline)
- [About this document](#about-this-doc)
- [Communications plan](#comms)
- [Good/better/best](#good-better-best)
- [Phases](#phases)
- [Set up organizers notebook](#orgde0d29b)
- [Draft CFP](#cfp)
- [Draft schedule](#draft-schedule)
- [Review rescheduled talks](#orgff99913)
- [While speakers are working on their videos](#org26a8620)
- [While volunteers are working on captions](#orgb754ae6)
- [After the conference](#orga46a5dd)
- [Confirm shifts](#shifts)
- [Check EmacsConf infrastructure](#check-emacsconf-infrastructure):project:
- [BigBlueButton](#check-emacsconf-infrastructure-bigbluebutton)
- [IRC web client](#check-emacsconf-infrastructure-irc-web-client)
- [IRC announcements](#check-emacsconf-infrastructure-irc-announcements)
- [Media](#check-emacsconf-infrastructure-media)
- [Publishing resources to the wiki](#check-emacsconf-infrastructure-publishing-resources-to-the-wiki)
- [Publishing videos to the media server](#check-emacsconf-infrastructure-publishing-videos-to-the-media-server)
- [Playing videos, switching to windows](#check-emacsconf-infrastructure-playing-videos-switching-to-windows)
- [Etherpad](#check-emacsconf-infrastructure-etherpad)
- [Do a dry run](#check-emacsconf-infrastructure-do-a-dry-run)
- [Resizing](#check-emacsconf-infrastructure-resizing)
- [Processes and notes](#processes-and-notes)
- [Hosting](#processes-and-notes-hosting)
- [ERC](#processes-and-notes-erc)
- [Uploading videos](#org9f7b814)
- [Decisions](#decisions)
- [Support code](#support-code)
# TODO Timeline
Days since previous milestone
CFP
CFP deadline
84
Speaker notifications
Publish schedule
Video submission deadline
42
EmacsConf
36
We like to have at least a month to work on audio
normalization and transcription, and we want
speakers to have at least a month to work on their
videos (considering early submissions will already
have gotten started on processing).
# About this document
Tags:
- `conforg`: Requires access to private conf.org repository
# Communications plan
Objectives:
- keep everyone in the loop without them feeling like they’re overloaded
Everyone:
- [ ] Call for participation (speakers and volunteers)
- [ ] Reminder about CFP
- [ ] Last call
Speakers:
- [ ] Send all speakers backstage access and upload instructions
- [ ] Send all speakers check-in instructions
Volunteers:
- [ ] Send captioning volunteers the backstage info
- [ ] Send past captioning volunteers an invitation to participate - ask when there’s a lot of load
- [ ] Ask for help with audio processing
# Good/better/best
This table makes it easier to move the slider depending on who wants
to volunteer and how much we can get done. At some point, we’ll figure
out how to track our current status so we know what we need to
scramble to do in order to get the conference off the ground. **bold**
is our current goal. Feel free to volunteer for anything that
interests you!
Good
Better
Best
Streaming
Regular stream
+ alternate streams on PeerTube
+ alternate streams on YouTube
480p
Same on live
Separate node
Ansible setup
Audio normalization
Core org handling it
Other volunteer
Multiple volunteers
Video resolution
Usual reminders
Extra reminders
Everyone remembering to use a large font size
Intros
Standard, recorded
Reviewed by speakers
More details/context
Pad
v1.9.7
v2.x
# Phases
## DONE Set up organizers notebook
## DONE Draft CFP
#### Draft linked pages
- [X] cfp
- [X] submit page
- [X] year index
#### DONE Check with other organizers
#### DONE Update dates in emacsconf.el
#### DONE Update conf topic
[Update the IRC topic](file:///home/sacha/proj/emacsconf/wiki/organizers-notebook/index.md)
#### DONE Remove draft marker
- [ ] cfp
- [ ] submit
#### DONE Post CFP in the usual places
- [ ] emacsconf-discuss
- [ ] reddit.com/r/emacs
- [ ] Emacs News
- [ ] emacs-tangents or info-gnu-emacs
- [ ] Mastodon
- [ ] Bluesky
- [ ] X
## DONE Draft schedule
Legend:
- light blue: constraint is <= a time
- peach: constraint is >= a time
- solid line: Q&A will be through BigBlueButton web conference
- dashed line: Q&A will be IRC/Etherpad during the event or e-mail after the event
Notes:
- cancelled [bibliography](https://emacsconf.org/2025/talks/bibliography "An enhanced bibliography in org-mode for scientific research and self-directed learning"), moved [zettelkasten](https://emacsconf.org/2025/talks/zettelkasten "Zettelkasten for regular Emacs hackers") to Saturday
- moved [gnus](https://emacsconf.org/2025/talks/gnus "Reading and writing emails in GNU Emacs with Gnus") to Sat morning; added time to talks to accommodate actual video length
- cancelled [languages](https://emacsconf.org/2025/talks/languages "Studying foreign languages with Emacs, Org Mode and gptel")
- cancelled [authoring](https://emacsconf.org/2025/talks/authoring "How Emacs became my authoring playground—no Lisp required")
- uncancelled [weights](https://emacsconf.org/2025/talks/weights "Weightlifting tracking with Emacs on Android")
- [weights](https://emacsconf.org/2025/talks/weights "Weightlifting tracking with Emacs on Android") and [claude-code](https://emacsconf.org/2025/talks/claude-code "emacs-claude-code: Intelligent Claude Integration for Emacs") cancelled, moved [gnus](https://emacsconf.org/2025/talks/gnus "Reading and writing emails in GNU Emacs with Gnus") and [gardening](https://emacsconf.org/2025/talks/gardening "Gardening in Emacs: A Windows user's tale of tending, tweaking, and triumph") earlier for a lighter, earlier close. They’re both async. Added [graphics](https://emacsconf.org/2025/talks/graphics "Modern Emacs/Elisp hardware/software accelerated graphics")
- [n-angulator](https://emacsconf.org/2025/talks/n-angulator "Org-mode GTD vs N-angulator GTD") cancelled
- [life](https://emacsconf.org/2025/talks/life "From FRDCSA to FLP2: Building AI-Powered Life Planning Systems in Emacs - A Journey from Research to Real-World Impact") cancelled
- [writing](https://emacsconf.org/2025/talks/writing "A writing day in the life with Org-Mode") cancelled
- AI dev afternoon: [llm](https://emacsconf.org/2025/talks/llm "Emacs, editors, and LLM driven workflows"), [claude-code](https://emacsconf.org/2025/talks/claude-code "emacs-claude-code: Intelligent Claude Integration for Emacs"), [private-ai](https://emacsconf.org/2025/talks/private-ai "Emacs and private AI: a great match") feels like a good progression
- I kinda like this spread-out combo of [zettelkasten](https://emacsconf.org/2025/talks/zettelkasten "Zettelkasten for regular Emacs hackers"), [gardening](https://emacsconf.org/2025/talks/gardening "Gardening in Emacs: A Windows user's tale of tending, tweaking, and triumph"), [writing](https://emacsconf.org/2025/talks/writing "A writing day in the life with Org-Mode"), and [bookclub-tapas](https://emacsconf.org/2025/talks/bookclub-tapas "Bookclub tapas") on Sunday afternoon
- I spread [reference](https://emacsconf.org/2025/talks/reference "Emacs as a fully-fledged reference manager"), [latex](https://emacsconf.org/2025/talks/latex "LaTeX export in org-mode: the overhaul"), [bibliography](https://emacsconf.org/2025/talks/bibliography "An enhanced bibliography in org-mode for scientific research and self-directed learning"), [authoring](https://emacsconf.org/2025/talks/authoring "How Emacs became my authoring playground—no Lisp required"), and [blee-lcnt](https://emacsconf.org/2025/talks/blee-lcnt "Blee-LCNT: An Emacs-centered content production and self-publication framework") in case people want to hang out in each other’s Q&A sessions
- I wanted to generally have live Q&A in between talks that don’t have live Q&A.
- It’s okay to have a shorter day, since this is easier for people who are in Europe.
- [hyperboleqa](https://emacsconf.org/2025/talks/hyperboleqa "Questions and answers to help you fly with Hyperbole") is all Q&A.
- We could have an open mic session or a panel before [sat-close](https://emacsconf.org/2025/talks/sat-close "Saturday closing remarks / open session")
- Sunday morning in 2023 had some packet loss issues at around 9:30
## Review rescheduled talks
(mapcar (lambda (o)
(list (plist-get o :slug)
(plist-get o :scheduled)
(plist-get o :emailed-schedule)
(emacsconf-schedule-difference-from-emailed o)))
(emacsconf-mail-rescheduled-talks))
For big changes, use emacsconf-mail-schedule-updates
schemacs
2025-12-06 Sat 09:30-09:45
0
reference
2025-12-06 Sat 09:30-09:50
0
gmail
2025-12-06 Sat 10:10-10:30
-5
juicemacs
2025-12-06 Sat 10:05-10:25
-10
python
2025-12-06 Sat 11:05-11:25
-15
latex
2025-12-06 Sat 11:10-11:30
-15
llm
2025-12-06 Sat 13:00-13:20
0
calc
2025-12-06 Sat 13:40-13:50
0
private-ai
2025-12-06 Sat 13:40-14:00
-5
blee-lcnt
2025-12-06 Sat 14:00-14:20
-15
commonlisp
2025-12-06 Sat 14:20-14:40
-5
graphics
2025-12-06 Sat 14:50-15:10
-5
greader
2025-12-06 Sat 14:40-14:50
-35
completion
2025-12-07 Sun 11:20-11:40
20
zettelkasten
2025-12-07 Sun 13:00-13:20
0
hyperboleqa
2025-12-07 Sun 13:40-14:10
-5
bookclub-tapas
2025-12-07 Sun 14:30-14:50
-15
## While speakers are working on their videos
### DONE Send draft schedule :email:
### DONE Send backstage and upload instructions :email:
### TODO Record pronunciations
### DONE Post the schedule publicly
## While volunteers are working on captions
### DONE E-mail speakers asking them to confirm the pronunciations :email:
### Record intros and opening remarks
#### TODO Record sat-open remarks :emacsconf:record:
Welcome to EmacsConf 2025, where we have fun
exploring how much we can do with a text editor.
It’s hard to give a general overview
of all the cool talks today and tomorrow,
so you can flip through the talks
and see what sparks your interests.
Don’t feel limited to one track or another.
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.
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.
Some talks will have the Q&A after the event,
so you can add your questions to their Etherpad
or ask on IRC.
We’ll e-mail the speakers afterwards
and update the talk pages when they answer.
The schedule pages and track 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/2025 , which is linked on each pad.
You can also use this as a general 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.
Of course, you can join any of these channels
with your favourite IRC client.
You can connect to irc.libera.chat
port 6697 with TLS.
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
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,
They basically boil down to: please be nice.
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 month or so.
If you’d like to get an update, you can subscribe to
the emacsconf-discuss mailing list.
All right, let’s get going.
Leo is hosting the general track,
and Corwin hosting the development track.
The other volunteers and 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.
Thanks for coming to EmacsConf 2025.
#### TODO Record sun-open remarks
Welcome to the second day of EmacsConf 2025.
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 the stream 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.
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.
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.
Please ask your questions in the recommended places
so that the speakers can easily see them.
Some talks will have the Q&A after the event,
so you can add your questions to their Etherpad.
We’ll e-mail the speakers afterwards
and update the talk pages when they answer.
We’re going to start Sunday morning
with more IRC/Etherpad Q&A
to try to get around
some of the bandwidth issues
that we noticed last year.
The schedule pages and track 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/2025 , which is linked on each pad.
You can also use this as a general 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.
Most discussions will be in
\#emacsconf-gen for the General 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.
Of course, you can join any of these channels
with your favourite IRC client.
You can connect to irc.libera.chat
port 6697 with TLS.
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
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,
They basically boil down to: please be nice.
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 month or so.
If you’d like to get an update, you can subscribe to
the emacsconf-discuss mailing list.
All right, let’s get going.
Leo Vivier is hosting the general track again today.
The other volunteers and 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 even possible.
Thanks for coming to EmacsConf 2025.
### TODO Generate assets
### TODO Send check-in details :email:
### DONE Ask libera.chat to increase IRC limit
## After the conference
### TODO Send thanks and follow-up questions :email:
## DONE Confirm shifts
AM: 9-12 PM EST, PM: 1-5 PM EST (plus a little extra for setup/transition)
Saturday Dec 6 2025
Backups:
- dev host/streamer:
- gen host/streamer:
- checkin, IRC, pad:
Interested in a shift? Please e-mail and we’ll help you figure out what you need to learn.
`(setq emacsconf-shifts
(list
,@(apply #'append
(mapcar
(lambda (day)
(let ((headers
(mapcar
(lambda (field)
(intern
(concat
":"
(downcase
(if (string-match org-link-bracket-re field)
(match-string 2 field)
field)))))
(seq-drop (car (cadr day)) 3))))
(mapcar
(lambda (row)
(apply #'append
(list 'list :id
(when (string-match "^\\([^ ]+\\) \\(AM\\|PM\\)" (car row))
(format "%s-%s-%s"
(car day)
(downcase (match-string 2 (car row)))
(downcase (match-string 1 (car row)))))
:track
(if (string-match "^Gen" (car row)) "General" "Development")
:start
(format "%sT%s:00%s"
(elt day 2)
(elt row 1)
emacsconf-timezone-offset)
:end
(format "%sT%s:00%s"
(elt day 2)
(elt row 2)
emacsconf-timezone-offset))
(seq-map-indexed
(lambda (value index)
(unless (string= value "")
(list (elt headers index) value)))
(seq-drop row 3))))
(cdr (cadr day)))
))
(list
(list "sat" sat "2025-12-06")
(list "sun" sun "2025-12-07"))))))
# TODO Check EmacsConf infrastructure :project:
- [ ] IRC
- [ ] Streaming assets
- [ ] Publishing to the wiki
- [ ] Web conference
- [ ] OBS
- [ ] Publishing to the media server
- [ ] Etherpad
- [ ] Streaming
- [ ] Toobnix
- [ ] YouTube
- [ ] Mumble: Can join from my phone, can speak on stream
## TODO BigBlueButton
- Plan: Scale up the bbb.emacsverse.org on Sacha’s Linode account
- [Installation notes from last year](https://emacsconf.org/2024/organizers-notebook/#check-emacsconf-infrastructure-bigbluebutton)
### DONE Create meeting rooms for each speaker
[Creating talk BBB rooms](file:///home/sacha/proj/emacsconf/wiki/organizers-notebook/index.md)
### TODO Back up after the conference
[Backing up BBB](file:///home/sacha/proj/emacsconf/wiki/organizers-notebook/index.md)
### DONE Set up moderator access codes for all the meeting rooms, and make it so people can start the meeting
[Setting up moderator access codes](file:///home/sacha/proj/emacsconf/wiki/organizers-notebook/index.md)
### DONE Check BBB audio from my phone
### Customize BigBlueButton branding
#### TODO Change background presentation
#### TODO Modify landing page
/var/www/bigbluebutton-default/assets/index.html
keep backup copy as it will be overwritten when bbb-conf is called
#### TODO Change default welcome message
#### TODO Change html5 title
/usr/share/bigbluebutton/html5-client/private/config/settings.yml
TARGET=/usr/share/bigbluebutton/html5-client/private/config/settings.yml
yq e -i “.public.app.clientTitle = \\”EmacsConf\\“” $TARGET
#### TODO Try live captions
#### TODO Explore meeting layout? Default to custom, hosts will need to drag people’s webcam over if there’s a share
## IRC web client
On front0:
cd ~thelounge; sudo -u thelounge nohup node /usr/bin/thelounge start
### DONE Ask libera.chat to increase connections allowed from chat.emacsconf.org on Dec 6 and 7
[IRC web client](file:///home/sacha/proj/emacsconf/wiki/organizers-notebook/index.md)
## IRC announcements
### TODO Confirm manual IRC announcements
### TODO Confirm automated IRC announcements from res
## Media
### DONE Switch public media to unprotected root before the conference
1. Clear public media directory.
2. Set `media_protect_root` to false in Ansible `group_vars/all.yml`.
3. `ansible-playbook -i inventory.yml prod-playbook.yml --tags media`
You can generate the index with `emacsconf-publish-update-media`.
## DONE Publishing resources to the wiki
ansible-playbook -i inventory.yml prod-playbook.yml –tags publish
## TODO Publishing videos to the media server
## Playing videos, switching to windows
### DONE Generate test videos for everything
emacsconf-stream-generate-test-videos
### TODO Document how to get that set up again
## Etherpad
### STARTED Try upgrading to 2.x
roles/pad/tasks/main.yml
nodemon -e yml -w ../../roles/pad/tasks/main.yml -x “vagrant up –provision”
Progress:
works
works now that I passthrough .js
### Generate pads for all the talks
### TODO Generate the main index
## TODO Do a dry run
### TODO Generate all the test assets
### DONE Test connecting to VNC and streaming via OBS :emacsconf:
## Resizing
live0: 64GB
front0: 32GB
meet: 64GB
### TODO Resize nodes before production
live0: 64GB
front0: 32GB
meet: 64GB
### TODO Resize nodes after production
live0: nanode
front0: nanode
### TODO Resize meet after production
meet: nanode
# Processes and notes
## Hosting
### TODO Finalize host for dev track
## ERC
Some convenient commands are defined in emacsconf-erc.el.