I had problems with last year's event, where the IRC toolset just didn't give me parity with being there in person. I would type away in the tool (asking q's, mentioning ideas, etc.), and nobody noticed at the other end, and nothing of what I typed seemed to get onto the radar of the folks presenting or managing the conference. I did not feel the parity in attending as if I was there in person.
Look at the 2024 thread where I and others mentioned wanting a better remote conferencing tool, and we were even willing to pay for it, but it didn't seem to garner in support from the board, or even attention. No mention of what can, or could, be done for remote attending folks for this year ... so, no need to attend.
On the presentation side, Warpstock (corp) doesn't seem to drive interest in presentations and being there at the conference, either in person or remote ... the Warpstock site is woefully out of date, and there is no advertising of presentations.. I even get an "access denied" when trying to visit the current list of presentations (event pages link) ...
Perhaps for next year, start asking for ideas on day 1 after this year's conference (or, as the last session of this year), and constantly promote, advertise, and otherwise build an exciting list of presentations for the next event such that more folks are drawn in. Maybe there is even time enough to get it done for this year, with a tad less than two months.
To recap:
- If no better tool to access the conference than IRC, I can't get excited about attending this year's conference, remotely.
- If the presentations aren't better developed and promoted, I can't get excited about attending ...
OS/2 could be more (new ways to use it, alternatives to difficulties using it, problem-solving with it) ... Warpstock could be more (modern/updated website, relevant information, exciting event details, more articles) ...