[diversity] Tips from SIGPLAN report: reducing (climate) costs of conferences, increasing diversities

Dear all,

here is an interesting example from a different-but-similar community: 
ACM’s Special Interest Group on Programming Languages (SIGPLAN), and 
their report on "reducing the costs of its conference-focused approach 
to promoting exchange of ideas."

While their initial reason for looking into this was to reduce the 
impact on climate change & global warming, the conclusions are very much 
aligned with the practical tips for increasing various diversities - and 
I think we can use this in the RIPE conferences too.

Below are some short quotes, and a link to the whole report.

I hope you will find it relevant and interesting.

Regards,
Vesna

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VLIjocofEzDkjFBvHj3i7YeW9h14weWkG7DRw2e7f70/edit#

 > SIGPLAN is particularly invested in air-travel-intensive
 > international conferences. There is good reason for this, as
 > in-person communication is highly effective for sharing and
 > developing new ideas and carrying on collaborations.

 > SIGPLAN sponsors or co-sponsors 17 conferences.
 > Each of these events attracts between 300 and 600 attendees.

 > According to our own experience and conversations with peers, SIGPLAN
 > members often attend more than one conference per year, resulting in
 > multiple flights.

 > SIGPLAN has strong communities in both Europe and North America,
 > which means that major conferences require a significant number of
 > trans-Atlantic flights. As SIGPLAN has expanded in size in recent
 > years, it has sought to expand geographically as well, necessitating
 > flights to more far-flung places for those in the current core
 > communities. Expansion is a laudable goal: science benefits from a
 > diversity of views.


> clear responsibility to understand and explore ways of reducing the
> costs of its conference-focused approach to promoting exchange of
> ideas. This conversation is also timely in view of other emerging
> concerns about travel, as well, including restrictions on visa rules,
> infectious disease outbreaks, and questions about fair access for
> computer scientists from less wealthy regions.

> We could, for instance, merge two or more existing conferences into
> larger mega-conferences — in the limit, perhaps even colocating all
> SIGPLAN conferences. Or, conversely, we could encourage smaller,
> regional conferences. We could hold a single conference
> simultaneously at two or more sites, with arrangements for
> live-streaming talks from one location to the other(s). In the longer
> run, we could consider creating entirely virtual conferences.