During the pandemic we moved online out of necessity, as did many other conferences. One positive side effect of that move was that we realised our events could reach people who might not otherwise be able to attend - for all sorts of reasons. So as we started meeting in person again, many events - C++ on Sea included - attempted various hybrid formats. Due to limitations in the internet infrastructure at our venue we weren't able to live stream sessions, so in 2022 we tried a staggered approach. We held a full in-person event one week. Then the following week we held an online event with a mixture of content recorded the week before (with the speakers live in the chat and Q&A), some speakers returning to redeliver the same talks online, and some entirely new live content online.
This was a qualified success. Running the event a week later turned out to be a significant overhead and not really sustainable. But we don't want to give up on this idea!
So we have decided to split this online component out into its on event. We're calling it: C++ Online.
While we may include some pre-recorded content, again, the majority of the sessions will be fully live. We'll be able to hear from some speakers who have still not been able to resume travelling (or would prefer not to) but - perhaps even more importantly - also reach a whole range of people who are not served by a physical event.
We learnt a lot about running online events during the pandemic - and we're still learning, still iterating. Let's use that to put on the best online event we can and reach all parts of our community.
C++ Online will run from 7th-9th February 2024, with a workshops day on the 6th 29th February - 2nd March 2024, with workshops days on the 28th Feb and 4th and 14th March. Early bird tickets will open soon. In the meantime the Call for Speakers is now open and will run until the end of October.
Don't worry, if you prefer in-person events, C++ on Sea is not going away. We'll be back next July. We'll announce those dates, and open the Call for Speakers for that in the next few weeks.
Whatever type of event works for you, we hope to see you there!