Fedora-Council/tickets ticket #426: Flock 2023: Finalize dates and venue for our next in-person contributor conference

No major updates here yet. We’re supposed to get bids back from Ireland this week. We put out for Cork, Ireland and Waterford, Ireland. I’ll update when I have more information.

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Prague? I can help! The ubuntu dev event was here last year :slight_smile:

Also Bulgaria is a good place. Bugedwise is excellent. I have organized more than 20 IT events there and I can help.

Any updates? I have summer travel planned and would like to start booking some things but I dont want to pick dates that clash.

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AFAIK still looking at bids.

Is it looking like Ireland? (I ask bc I was going to try for Ireland w my kiddo.)

Yeah, those are the ones currently being reviewed.

We’ve narrowed down a bid in Cork, but nothing final in our hand yet… I’m getting back up to speed after the last two weeks of travel and some time off. Hopefully will have more details by early next week.

Do you have dates? I need to block out my calendar.

We’re hesitant to commit to dates because the contract isn’t finalized and we might need to change. But it should be beginning-of-August.

A contract is under review and going through the final procurement stages.

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Are the dates finalized?

It was finalized over the weekend. I intend to write a blog post with more details soon, but I am attending a local conference today and tomorrow. I’ll get it done this week.

But if my memory serves me right, we have a signed contract done for August 1-4 2023 in Cork, Ireland. Stay tuned for more details soon.

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When will the application of the call for paper (CfP) start?

This is on the list, although I have been working through some legal delays with sponsorship.

CFP is up next, and we are exploring a new tool for this year’s CFP. If we cannot get it set up in time, we will fall back to the Pagure issue tracker as we have always done.

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Sorry folks, has the CFP opened yet? I saw other related posts, but can’t seem to find an announcement for the CFP.

@ankursinha From what I heard, I think that the CFP announcement will come out tomorrow/today.

Here’s a review/publish request for the announcement Review & Publish: "You're invited to the Fedora Linux 38 Release Party!"

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For those of us needing visas, I’m afraid the website says that it can take about 8 weeks for a decision (as opposed to the usual 2 weeks that Schengen visas take):

We process visa applications in the order we receive them. Processing times differ between application offices and application types. This may also vary during the year. For example, during holiday periods.

In general, you can expect a decision for a short stay visit (tourist) visa about 8 weeks after we receive your documents.

I need my passport to travel in July, so i can’t submit the application until I return around the 20th. So I’m not feeling very confident that I’ll make it to flock any more :frowning: :frowning:

What? You have to hand over your passport for an extended time for immigration to issue a visa? That sucks. I’m very sorry to hear that [1].

If there’s anything I can do regarding the presentation you submitted, let me know.


  1. How about travelling via Northern Ireland? There are no border controls on the island. I recently asked someone living in Belfast. UK now requires EU citizens to have a passport. I only have an ID-card. Sufficient for Ireland. But I plan on visiting someone in Belfast after Flock. ↩︎

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Ouch. :persevere: We chose Ireland in January because visa processing times then were around 10-20 days, but it appears that this summer, several countries have slower visa turnarounds due to high demand. It is putting a wrench into a lot of travel plans.

@ankursinha Do you think you would still attempt the visa or is it a lost cause?

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Yeh, it’s common practice for countries that still stamp visas on passports (UK/US/Ireland/Schengen etc.).

(I have thought about the alternative route, but I don’t know if I’ll use it)

I think it’s pretty much a lost cause at this point. I mean theoretically there’s a chance the visa may turn up, but if they’re saying 8 weeks, ~10 days seems very unlikely. The application also requires one to have all their travel + hotel bookings confirmed. So if the visa doesn’t come in time, one loses all that—or one pays for the more expensive cancellable tickets etc.

It’s my fault really, I should’ve already applied for the visa in advance. :frowning_face: