DConf Online '22 is this weekend, December 17 & 18. The livestream links and links to all the videos I've uploaded are published at https://dconf.org/2022/online/index.html. A couple of the talks aren't ready and have no links yet, but the rest are there. The remainder will be ready to go by Saturday.

Overview of how to participate

I had intended to publish a video on how to participate in DConf Online '22, but circumstances conspired against me. I'll try to make time for it tomorrow, but in the meantime, here's a text description.

• The Q & A livestream turns on at 13:45 UTC on Saturday and Sunday. I'll be in around 13:50 to kick things off.
• Each speaker will join me in the livestream 5 minutes before their talk starts. So the first speaker will be there by 13:55, the second by 15:10, etc.
• During each talk, I'll have a conversation with the speaker in the livestream. I'll be recording it for publishing as a separate Q & A video after the conference. Viewers are encouraged to leave the livestream and watch the speaker's talk. Our conversation will be full of pauses and gaps as I tweet, answer emails, and do other things. The edited version after the conference will be more interesting.
• Also during each talk, the speaker will answer any questions posed in the talk's chat box, first by typing a short answer in the chat box, and second by verbalizing that answer in the livestream and possibly verbally elaborating with more details. Again, I'm talking about the chat box on the pre-recorded video, not the livestream chat. Any question in the livestream chat will be answered verbally.
• After each talk, viewers will automatically be redirected back to the livestream for the Q & A session. Any viewer whose question gets answered in the post-talk Q & A will be eligible for prizes.
• We'll end the Q & A session at an appropriate point (when the there are no more questions, when we have less than 20 minutes before the next talk, etc) and the livestream will go quiet until 5 minutes before the next talk.

Special sessions

There are three special sessions this year that won't follow the above pattern:

• The AUA with Walter and Atila takes place entirely in the livestream. It's like a post-talk Q & A without the talk.
• Adam Ruppe's livecoding session is in a separate livestream. We'll have a break after the Day One Q & A livestream ends, during which time Adam and I will set up his livestream. We'll start broadcasting it at 20:15 UTC on Saturday. He's told me he'll go at least an hour-and-a-half, but I don't know yet what he's coding this year.
• Brian Callahan's workshop at 20:15 UTC on Sunday is a pre-recorded video, but it's taking place after the Day Two Q & A Livestream ends. He has a talk at 19:00, the last regular talk of the conference, that is the same as other talks: he'll be in the livestream at 18:55, we'll chat during his talk, and we'll have a Q & A at the end. After that talk, we'll wrap up the livestream sometime by 20:00. Brian's workshop video will premiere at 20:15. He'll be available to answer questions in the video's chat box, but there will be no livestream at that point.

The Q & A sessions

There are two problems that have come up in the past editions of DConf Online with the freeform livechat Q & A sessions we've had.

First, questioners had to stick around until the end of each talk to know if they won that session's prize, until the end of each day to know if they won the daily prize, and until the end of the second day to know if they won the grand prize. Then they had to email me and take an extra step to verify that they own the YouTube handle that won the prize.

Second, in the AUA last year the livestream chat was so busy, we couldn't keep up with the questions. Razvan and I both were scrolling and squinting to see the questions people were telling us we missed, and things got further crowded with all the chatter about missed questions.

This year, I've set up an email address for the Q & A sessions: qna@dlang.org. We'll still take questions from the livestream, but anyone who wants to be eligible for a prize will need to email their question to that address. It works like this:

• You only need to email your first question for each talk's Q & A session (the AUA is an exception; see below) and only if you want to be eligible for a prize.
• Additional questions from the same person, or any questions from anyone who doesn't care about the prize, can be asked in the livestream chat, but should be prefixed with "QNA:" so that they stand out.
• For the AUA, to avoid a repeat of the crowded chat from last year, we will only take questions via email.

Emails should have the following format:

Subject: Name of the question's target (e.g., Walter)
Body: The question, followed by either a) the name you wish to be addressed by in the chat if we announce you as the winner of a prize (your real name, a nickname, your YouTube handle, or even "anonymous"; whatever works for you), or b) an indication you don't want to be considered for the prize.

After the conference, I'll email each prize winner directly to describe how to claim their prizes. So if you want to use a throwaway email address, that's perfectly fine. Just be aware that if I receive no reply by the 26th, or if the email bounces, I'll select a new prize winner.

Prizes for each talk's Q & A session will be an item from the DLang Swag Emporium.

Participating questioners on each day (those who email their questions and provide a handle to call them by) will be eligible for the daily prize of a $50 Amazon eGift Card at the end of each day.

Participating questioners during the entire conference will be eligible to win a $100 Amazon eGift Card at the end of the conference.

Again, you can only be entered once in each prize drawing. So e.g., someone emailing at least one question during three talks on Saturday and one talk on Sunday would be eligible for four talk prizes, both daily prizes, and the grand prize, while someone asking at least question in at least one talk for the entire conference would be eligible for one talk prize, one daily prize, and the grand prize.

I'll post all of this on the web site tomorrow.

The video & slide links

In addition to posting all the links on the web site, I'll post the livestream links to here in the forums and on our Twitter feed each day. I'll post each talk link in the livestream chat before the talk starts, and will also tweet it unless I forget.

I'll publish all of the slide links the whole day's talks on the website before each day's livestream begins. I'll also post each slide link in the chat box for the corresponding talk (the talk's chat box, not the livestream chat) once it premieres.

See you there!

I look forward to hanging out with all of the speakers in the livestreams this weekend. I expect Walter will do what he's done in the past two editions and hang out with me for most of the conference (though he hasn't yet confirmed it).

Also, don't forget about BeerConf! It starts the day before the conference and runs all weekend. Folks usually jump in during the break after the post-talk Q & A sessions. Some people keep it open the whole time, multitasking between BeerConf, the livestream, and the talks.

However you participate, I hope you enjoy it!