I managed to get to many more events this year because of the pandemic and them being remote/online. Which meant not having to take extra time off to travel to them and have all the expenses of travel, hotel, food, etc.
It worked out for me, deciding not to attend CSUN this year. It’s an accessibility conference in Los Angles. As it was scheduled at the beginning of everything, closing up related to the pandemic.
Luckily many conferences had time to switch to remote events. I used my vacation to attend more of them.
Used Vacation to Attend Some Events
A good part of my vacation had been saved by not traveling to any of these events.
In 2020 I attended many remote events. From four or five conferences, a few workshops, a few couple hour-long food classes/demos, some meetups, remote field trips, etc.
I even attended an accessibility camp in Australia because it started at the end of my workday. Which allowed me to participate for a few hours at least before heading to bed.
Events I Attended
Below is the list of events I was able to attend in 2020, with dates listed if possible. I might have missed one or two, but these are most of them.
- 2020 Fall Southern Foodways Symposium: Future of the South – Saturday, October 3, 10, 17, and 24, 2020 9 a.m. – Noon CT
- A11Y Bytes (Australia) – May 21st
- A11yNYC – Accessibility New York City
- a11yTO Camp (Toronto Accessibility Camp) – May 23rd
- a11yTO Conference – October 21st – 24th
- Creative Mornings Field Trips which I took classes about art, writing (?), spicing up your food, and how to make both corn and wheat tortillas in two separate events.
- Knowbility’s John Slatin Virtual AccessU 2020 – which was two days a week for two weeks on May 13 and 14 and May 19 and 20
- Marcy’s Sutton’s “Front-End Accessibility Masterclass” – June 16th – June 30th for two hours for two days a week (Tuesday and Wednesday) over three weeks for a total of 10 hours on five days put on by Smashing Magazine.
- Philly Bar Camp – December 5th
- Refresh DC
- Seattle Area Accessibility & Inclusive Design
Here’s to More Remote Events
So here is to these events having remote components in the future when the pandemic is over. Which will allow me and many others to attend that normally couldn’t.