Announcing CarpentryCon @ Home in 2022

It has been almost 20 months since the COVID-19 pandemic hit our communities. This resulted in significant changes to our personal and professional lives and, even now, impact how we manage our day to day activities. The Carpentries was not immune to these changes, especially in how we support our workshops and events. It was announced in April 2020 that our bi-ennial, in-person CarpentryCon event, which was to be held in Madison, Wisconsin, had been cancelled. It was not until May 2020 that the organisation decided to move forward with a virtual event that we named CarpentryCon @Home. It was the first 100% virtual conference hosted by our organisation, and we made significant efforts to ensure the event was inclusive and accessible to any community member who wanted to participate.

Unfortunately, the future of the COVID-19 pandemic remains uncertain and many are still unable to travel due to local restrictions. For this reason, The Carpentries Core Team has decided to move forward with another fully virtual CarpentryCon for 2022. We understand that this may result in some disappointment, as many of our community members have been looking forward to opportunities to engage with their colleagues in person. However, we feel this is the best way for us to ensure your safety and to not have our Core Team members and volunteers put a lot of time and effort into an in-person event that could potentially be cancelled if the pandemic continues throughout next year.

Planning is already underway, and we are currently seeking individuals who would be interested in joining the task force. Task force members work closely with Core Team members to ensure the event meets the needs of our broader community and is inclusive and accessible.

Subcommittees

Below is a list of subcommittees available to task force members:

• Accessibility -> develop an accessibility plan and support its implementation
• Budget and Sponsorships -> work with The Carpentries Business Team to develop an event budget, identify sponsors, and track expenses
• Communications, Marketing and Outreach -> develop a communications plan and support its implementation
• Program and Schedule -> develop a theme, list of conference tracks and relevant content (call for abstracts, etc.)
• Website -> develop and maintain the conference website

If you are interested in serving on one or more of these subcommittees, please let us know by completing this form by end of day, anywhere on Earth, October 22. We hope to start onboarding new task force members in early November. With your support, we are looking forward to another successful CarpentryCon @Home in 2022!