Now Official: psconf.eu 2020 Moves To 2021
We were truly looking forward to meeting you all in June to have a great time together. While authorities are still unclear as to what the travel and conference bans will look like in June, we feel it is time to come to a verdict for good now. De facto it is impossible to have a relaxed and enjoyable time together in June anymore, regardless of how much goodness the next 6 weeks might bring.
Most companies won’t allow their employees to attend any kind of external events at this time anymore, and frankly many of us currently have more important things on their minds.
We want psconf.eu to be a happy event where we all can fully focus on sessions, socializing, and learning. Imagining a conference ruled by social distancing and dominated by hand sanitizers isn’t what we were aiming for. That’s why we decide to move the conference to next year.
June 1-4, 2021, HCC Hannover, Germany
Requesting Delegate Fee Refunds
First of all: a big thank you to everyone who registered and paid delegate fees, and kept fingers crossed along with us. Thank you for your support and being part of this conference.
Since we cannot conduct the conference this year, and since no virtualization technique is an adequate replacement for a physical come together, you are absolutely entitled to a full refund.
Which puts us in a challenging position. Organizing this conference produces costs and bills way in advance. We have ordered conference mugs, the venue wants cancellation fees (believe it or not: officially, there are no conference bans in June (yet) so when we cancel the event now, legally this is considered our private business, not force majeure), there are bank fees and tons of little things.
That’s why we leave it up to you whether you request a full refund, allow for a small handling charge, or turn your seat(s) into conference vouchers for psconf.eu 2021.
Whatever you choose, we are happy you are part of psconf.eu, and hope to see you in 2021 when we make it up and have a great time together!
To request a refund or convert your seats to vouchers, please fill out this form. Vouchers are not personalized and can be freely assigned.
We have already ordered and produced wonderful blue PowerShell mugs, and as a sign of appreciation to those who choose vouchers over refunds, we send you the official psconf.eu 2020 mug free of charge.
If you signed up for psconf.eu 2020 but did not pay your invoice yet, consider the invoice cancelled, and stop the payment.
psconf.eu 2020 Goes Virtual
We won’t let Corona take away everything. That’s why we are currently getting in touch with all of our speakers to deliver a substantial subset of all planned sessions via a virtualized event in June - directly to your home. This is not a replacement for the conference, and it is open to everyone and free, thanks to Microsoft who stepped in as a sponsor.
This event is going to be a mix of prerecorded sessions, and live interactions where you can talk to the speakers, have discussions, and ask questions.
Call for Action
So here is your personal call for action:
- As a registered delegate, make sure you let us know how you want us to refund your delegate fees.
- As a psconf.eu 2020 speaker, watch out for our emails and let’s together publish some radical sessions to the world.
- As a PowerShell professional, please come back often to learn more about our virtual event that we are currently setting up.
And if any questions remained unanswered, please do not hesitate to contact us!
March 20, 2020: Current Status
At this point in time, we kindly ask everyone to focus on handling the current challenges around you. Please support your community, neighbors, and friends in these crucial weeks so we all can return to a normal state as soon as possible, and minimize risks for health and economy as much as is feasible. This should be the top priority. It is ours.
Rest assured there is no need to be worried about paid delegate fees: should the conference be cancelled, you are entitled to full refunds. This conference is backed by the organizers’ full personal liability so there is positively no need for you to be concerned.
To minimize your risk in respect to other expenses such as travel and hotel, please see our recommendations below.
As some may know, I am originally a M.D. and as such, I am currently reactivated to prepare to help conduct Corona testing which illustrates that it is important at this point in time for everyone to focus on the immediate needs and be helpful where you and your capabilities can make a difference. Look after elderly or handicapped, leave some toilet paper to others, and otherwise stay at home if you can and go to work if it is necessary. Act responsibly, and don’t confuse or scare others with wild speculation. Simple little things that help us all get over this in the most reasonable and square way.
Of course, in parallel we continue to work on adjustment options for psconf.eu and are in close contact with iStream, sponsors, and other partners to evaluate good options for June. There is no benefit for anyone from rushing into decisions about the if’s and how’s of psconf.eu now.
We’ll update this page as new information becomes available, and thank you all for your understanding and patience. Please stay healthy, and do stick to social distancing at this time.
Everyone is investing tremendous effort in slowing down the spread, and this investment is lost when only a few don’t take it seriously and let Corona spread. Keep in mind that reported infection numbers are always representing the situation from 10 days ago as it takes time for symptoms to become evident, and especially the young can be infectious without feeling sick at all. Everyone can help make these huge investments work or fail. Just do the math:
Being careless now jeopardizes the entire effort next week. Stay at home if you can until the spread is stopped. Numbers from countries like China, Italy, South Korea all show the same patterns and responses to actions such as social distancing. There is no reason to assume Corona chooses to behave differently in different areas of the world. We all can benefit from these findings and use time wisely. Denial is not smart.
We are all looking forward to meeting you when it is safe.
What happens if psconf.eu in June needs to be cancelled?
Should the event be cancelled, all delegate fees will be reimbursed. Expenses beyond the delegate fee (i.e. travel, hotel) are not covered.
That’s why we suggest that you book hotels and flights that can be cancelled free of charge on short term. Most hotels and many airlines offer free cancellation when you book now. You may even consider cancelling existing bookings and re-book with the new cancellation policies in place, just to be safe.
When do we know for sure?
Safety is our primary concern, and we want psconf.eu to be a great place for everyone. This is why we are closely monitoring the situation and developing various fallback scenarios should they be necessary.
In order for everyone to plan ahead and travel safely, we decide up to six weeks before the start of the conference whether or not we should alter the plan already well under way, based on whether the situation has improved considerably by then or not. Bear in mind that government bodies can still have an impact on the conference beyond our control.