[Sketching20] Sketching in Hardware 2020 Update #3

[Mike Kuniavsky]

Hi! Sketching is just a couple of days away. We're very excited to see all 
of you! Here's a big email summarizing the key logistics. We know it's 
long. Please read it anyway, since it links to many resources you'll 
probably need throughout the event. If you didn't get updates #1 and #2, 
please let us know.

CONTENTS
  - Schedule is live, and you're (probably) on it!
  - Welcome packet - many of your questions, answered.
  - Please make a Remo account before Friday
  - Please send us presentation topics
  - Where to share your presentation slides
  - Thursday evening pre-event virtual social gathering in YORB
  - Thank you to our sponsors: Arduino and ThingM
  - Thank you, friends: Greg, Tom, and Leah

EVENT SCHEDULE IS LIVE
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
You can find the event schedule here:

https://tinyurl.com/sketching20-schedule

The spreadsheet is editable by anyone, so a couple of requests:
  - Don't share this link
  - Don't move things to different times or change other people's titles or 
names.

However, feel free to change the title of your talk or how we spell your 
name. We'll also send Google Calendar invitations for the major blocks of 
content to everyone, so you get it in your time zone.

And yes, we will record presentations and share the link, but we hope you 
can attend as many of them live as is workable for you.


WELCOME PACKET
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Leah put together a welcome packet that should answer MOST of your 
questions about what, how, and when things will happen at Sketching this 
year. It's an evolving document, so we'll probably update it and announce 
changes in Slack.

Here's the link:

https://tinyurl.com/sketching20-welcome

PLEASE MAKE A REMO ACCOUNT
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The main event this year will take place in remo.co. Since this is a 
relatively new service, you'll probably have to make an account to use it.

Leah put together an instruction guide to Remo. It has instructions for 
how to create an account. Please read it and make an account in advance of 
the event:

https://tinyurl.com/sketching20-remo-howto

To prevent non-participants from crashing our event, we're authorizing the 
email address at which you're receiving this email. You'll get an 
invitation in email to that address. If you would like to use a different 
email address, please email us at rsvp at sketching-in-hardware.com


PRESENTATION TOPICS
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Everyone has to present for 15 minutes, unless we've made other 
arrangements. There are presentation guidelines in the Welcome Packet (see 
above) and you can add/update your presentation topic in the schedule 
(linked above). Please do so as soon as you can, so we can have a complete 
schedule by the start of the event. Also, if it turns out that you change 
your mind about your presentation at the last minute, that's fine, but 
please let us know.


SHARE PRESENTATION SLIDES
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
For posterity and for the visually impaired among us who may need to see 
your presentation slides directly, please upload your files to the dropbox 
link below whenever they're ready (we realize that if you're anything like 
me, they won't be ready to upload until after your presentation is over, 
but as share them as soon as you can):

https://tinyurl.com/sketching20-files

We'll make the directory available during the event. Please label them 
with your name and "Sketching 2020".

PRE-EVENT SOCIAL GATHERING, THURSDAY 6PM-7PM PT
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
There's a Sketching tradition of gathering socially and informally the 
night before the event. This year we are holding the gathering between 6PM 
and 7PM Pacific Time using YORB, a student project by Aidan Nelson and 
Shawn van Every at NYU's ITP. It's a spatial-audio-enabled boxy, 
lightweight, virtual world. Links and instructions are in the Welcome 
Packet.

THANK YOU YORB TEAM!

THANK YOU, SPONSORS: ARDUINO AND THINGM!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Organizing Sketching costs money. Usually we squeak by financially with a 
combination of registration fees and last-minute sponsorship (thanks to 
everyone who has helped us with that in years past!). This year, where we 
had to change plans midstream, we are especially grateful for our 
sponsors. THANK YOU, Arduino for your sponsorship of the charrette kits, 
and thank you Tod and ThingM for your ongoing support of Sketching in 
general. Without you this couldn't have happened at all this year.


THANK YOU, FRIENDS
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Also, a giant thank you to:
  - Greg Schomburg who, for the bajillionth year in a row, designed the 
Sketching identity (with ANOTHER custom typeface!) and built the website.
  -Tom Igoe, who has been a sounding board and collaborator throughout the 
planning process this year (and many years past), and who is providing the 
key enabling technologies and ideas for the charrette.
  - Leah McKibbin and Sans Souci (http://sanssoucigroup.com/). She, Janie 
Coakley, and the rest of San Souci do 99% of the logistics (which means 
99% of the work) to make Sketching possible every year. If you have a 
small business or a big project, and you need someone to organize the heck 
out of it, they will do that.

Also, I bet I'm forgetting someone to thank. Please remind me and I'll not 
let it happen again.

-- 
Mike Kuniavsky
mikek at sketching-in-hardware.com