DevFest.cz in times of COVID-19
These times are hard for everyone, every family, every business, every community. Our GDG communities are not excluded. Since our government put some restrictive measures on our country, we need to change our plan for DevFest.cz this year and come up with a solution suitable for an event under coronavirus pandemic.
Please, read the disclaimer at the end of this article if you tend to take things too seriously. Thank you.
Venue
As we are not allowed to host a public (or private, as a matter of fact) event, all the suitable venues are closed and we cannot put more than two people next to each other at once, we have decided to move the event to a popular local supermarket. This is the only space which can accommodate a bigger number of people and is suitable for our needs.
You are only allowed to enter the premises with a face mask, hazmat suit, welly boots and protective gloves. Don’t forget to wear a nerdy t-shirt underneath, as we want to keep the festival spirit.
You will not receive a badge this year as it’s very difficult to keep them sterile for the whole day, because they dissolve after we disinfect them multiple times. Our colleagues at the Information stand (next to carts) will write your name on your forehead. Also, this is the place to purchase branded swag such as DF apparel (face masks, gloves etc.) or DF first aid kits.
Programme
We will have more tracks than ever — basically one for every isle. The speakers with live coding demo will have talks in the fruits & veggies and bakery department, as the listeners can spread and see the display more easily. Talks which don’t need slides will take place in canned foods and drinks isles, as the acoustics are absolutely wonderful.
Due to banned travel from other countries, we will play talks by foreign speakers via the shop radio system. Don’t worry, the headline speaker from Umbrella Corporation will be on site. Also, we have listened to your feedback asking for more advanced talks so we will stream in Morse code for the more demanding attendees.
Tickets & Partners
Every year, we try to keep the price of DF tickets to the minimum. In these times, we offer you to pay with a different currency than money — we accept rice, flour, pasta, canned tomatoes, and Lindt chocolate.
The same principle works for our dear partners. If your business is affected by the economic crisis and you don’t have the funds to join our event, you can become a partner simply by contributing with supplies of toilet paper, barrels of Purell or jerky.
Perks
We are happy to announce that the main partner — WHO — is giving out free respirators to every attendee alongside vouchers for two years’ worth of dried fruits. Don’t forget our classic festival game, this year, the person with the most original face mask will win the big prize!
We are really looking forward to your hidden socks!
Disclaimer — we are fully aware of the current serious situation and this is our April fools’ day prank for a little bit of laugh, which we all need right now. Hopefully, we will meet under normal circumstances in October :-)
