We had 206 responses to the Linux Plumbers survey in 2022, which, given the total number of in person conference participants of 401, and virtual participants of 320, has provided high confidence in the feedback.   Overall there were about 89% of those registered, either showed up as in person or virtual.   As this was the first time we’ve tried to do this type of hybrid event, the feedback has been essential as we start planning for something similar in 2023.  One piece of input, we’ll definitely be incorporating for next year is to have separate surveys for in person and virtual attendees!  So a heartfelt “thank you” to everyone who participated in this survey and waded through the non relevant questions to share their experience!   

Overall: 91.8% of respondents were positive about the event, with 6.3% as neutral and 1.9% were dissatisfied. 80.1% indicated that the discussions they participated in helped resolve problems.  The BOF track was popular and we’re looking to include it again in 2023.   Due to the fact we were having our first in person since the pandemic started, we did this event as a hybrid event with reduced in person registration compared to prior years, as we were unsure how many would be willing to travel and our venue’s capacity.   The conference sold out of regular tickets very quickly after opening up registration though, so we set up a waiting list.  With some the travel conditions and cancelations, we were able to work through the daunting waiting list, and offer spots to all of those on the list by the conference date.  Venue capacity is something we’re looking closely at for next year and will outline the plan when the CFP opens early this year.

Based on feedback from prior years, we videotaped all of the sessions, and the videos are now posted. There are 195 videos from the conference! The committee has also linked them to the detailed schedule and clicking on the video link in the presentation materials section of any given talk or discussion. 72% of respondents plan to watch them to clarify points and another 10% are planning to watch them to catch up on sessions that they were not able to attend. 

Venue: In general, 45.6% of respondents considered the venue size to be a good match, but a significant portion would have preferred it to be bigger (47%) as well. The room size was considered effective for participation by 78.6% of the respondents.

Content: In terms of track feedback, Linux Plumbers Refereed track and Kernel Summit track were indicated as very relevant by almost all respondents who attended. The BOFs track was positively received and will continue.   The hallway track continues to be regarded as most relevant, and appreciated. We will continue to evaluate options for making private meeting and hack rooms available for groups who need to meet onsite.

Communication:  The emails from the committee continue to be positively received.  We were able to incorporate some of the suggestions from prior surveys, and are continuing to look for options to make the hybrid event communications between in person and virtual attendees work better.  

Events: Our evening events are feeling the pressure from the number of attendees especially with the other factors from the pandemic.   The first night event had more issues than the closing event and we appreciate the constructive suggestions in the write-in comments.  The survey was still positive about the events overall,   so we’ll see what we can do make this part of the “hallway track” more effective for everyone next year.

There were lots of great suggestions to the “what one thing would you like to see changed” question, and the program committee has met to discuss them. Once a venue is secured, we’ll be reviewing them again to see what is possible to implement this coming year.

Thank you again to the participants for their input and help on improving the Linux Plumbers Conference.   The conference is planned to be in North America in the October/November timeframe for 2023.  As soon as we secure a venue, dates and location information will be posted in a blog by the committee chair,  Christian Brauner.