We’ve received a lot of great feedback from the community regarding the KubeCon + CloudNativeCon co-located event strategy, including feedback on the overall length of the conference week/number of co-located event days, the registration policies/process, and the need for a transparent process on how to request a CNCF-hosted co-located event.
We heard you and are thrilled to share the following changes to our co-located event strategy and its impact on KubeCon + CloudNativeCon’s structure.
Overview of the changes:
- Four-Day Experience: CNCF-hosted co-located events will now only be held on one day, followed by three days of KubeCon + CloudNativeCon. The reduction from a five-day event week to a four-day event week is to reduce event fatigue and minimize weekend travel. Based on this change, the updated dates for KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe 2023 are as follows:
- Tuesday, 18 April: Pre-Event Programming (CNCF-hosted co-located events)
- Wednesday, 19 April – Friday, 21 April
- Day Pattern Shift: Based on only having one day of CNCF-hosted co-located events, in a further effort to reduce weekend travel for a larger group of participants, KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America 2023 will shift to a Tuesday – Thursday event with pre-event programming on Monday, as outlined below.
- KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America 2023
- Monday, November 6: Pre-Event Programming (CNCF-hosted co-located events)
- Tuesday, November 7 – Thursday, November 9
- Moving forward, we will prioritize a Tuesday-Thursday pattern for KubeCon + CloudNativeCon to reduce weekend travel, as venue availability allows.
- KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America 2023
- Two In-Person Registration Options
- In-person attendees will now have the option to register for an All-Access In-Person KubeCon + CloudNativeCon ticket that will include entry to all CNCF-hosted co-located events + KubeCon + CloudNativeCon or a KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Only ticket. There will no longer be attendee registration fees per CNCF-hosted co-located event. The virtual ticket includes access to KubeCon + CloudNativeCon only. CNCF-hosted co-located event content will be available on the CNCF YouTube channel 24-72 hours after the event.
- Reminder: Registration for KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe will open on Thursday, December 15.
- CNCF-hosted co-located event speakers: Accepted co-located event speakers will now receive a complimentary All-Access In-Person ticket, providing free access to all CNCF-hosted co-located events AND KubeCon + CloudNativeCon. Likewise, KubeCon + CloudNativeCon speakers will also receive the All-Access In-Person ticket.
- We will continue to allow accepted co-located event speakers to submit pre-recorded talks if they are not able to participate in person, and they will receive the KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Virtual ticket.
- We will continue to allow accepted co-located event speakers to submit pre-recorded talks if they are not able to participate in person, and they will receive the KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Virtual ticket.
- CNCF-hosted co-located event proposal process:Community members now have the opportunity to submit a formal request for a CNCF-hosted co-located event.
- In Europe, co-located events will take place Tuesday, 18 April, and will be either a half-day or full-day event. A proposal must be submitted for each co-located event for review and approval. Details on the submission process & FAQs can be found here.
- We encourage you to submit early as space is limited and may be allocated prior to the January 6 close date. Space for approved co-located events will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis.
- Note, while the form will no longer accept proposals for Europe co-located events after January 6 – it will stay open, accepting proposals for other co-located events throughout the remainder of 2023.
- Sponsor-Hosted Co-located Events: As our sponsors’ needs change, there has been more desire to customize their events. We want to encourage this, but are restricted by what we can provide onsite to meet this need. Thus, there will no longer be an option to purchase an onsite/CNCF-managed, sponsor-hosted co-located event package. Instead, sponsors will be able to plan and host their own events offsite, allowing them to customize as they see fit. The Cross-Promotion of Pre-Approved Community Events sponsorship opportunity will continue to be available so that sponsors can still promote these events to KubeCon + CloudNativeCon attendees.
- Sponsors will not be limited to hosting their co-located event to the day prior to KubeCon + CloudNativeCon. We will allow the Cross-Promotion sponsorship to be applied toward the Monday & Tuesday prior to KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe 2023 and the Monday prior and Friday after KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America 2023. Reach out to sponsor@cncf.io to learn more.
Thank you for your feedback, we are looking forward to implementing these changes as we continue to learn and grow as a community.
Next steps
If you have questions about the CNCF-hosted Co-located Events proposal process:
1. Please review the proposal process & FAQs
2. Join us for a 30-minute live Q+A Session:
Thursday, December 15, 10:30aPT/1:30pET | Register
Monday, December 19, 12:00pPT/3:00ET | Register
3. Or reach out to us at cncfcolocatedevents@linuxfoundation.org.
CNCF-hosted co-located events will launch by early January 2023. Bookmark the CNCF-hosted co-located events page for updates on CFPs, sponsorship opportunities and more.
We look forward to seeing you at a future co-located event!