The 2020 RISC OS London Show was originally scheduled for 24th October, but due to the ongoing pandemic, the decision was taken some time ago to cancel the physical event and instead take it online, using video conferencing software Zoom – so it’s still scheduled for that date, only now you don’t have to go to the show; the show can come to you.
There are two ways you can do this. The first, as with user group meetings that have been held via Zoom, is to send an email to zoom@riscoslondonshow.co.uk, and the day before the show you will receive an email with the necessary details. Then, on the Saturday, you can join the fun by feeding those details into a Zoom client on a suitable computer, and sit back in your favourite chair, with your snacks and drinks on hand.
Joining in using Zoom means you can be an active participant in the show – which I’ll explain below – but if you want to take a more passive approach, the second option is to just watch the event as a YouTube live stream. To do this, you simply have to visit Leo White’s YouTube channel on the day.
A normal physical show involves the various exhibitors setting up their wares on the tables allocated to them, with visitors wandering the hall and talking to those exhibitors as they choose – subject, of course, to others not talking to them already, or the exhibitor actually being at their stand and not wandering around taking pictures (ahem). Alongside that, there is usually a show theatre, with select exhibitors taking time out from the main show room to give a presentation to a seated audience.
This virtual event will forego the main exhibition room, and the format will instead be a day of theatre presentations; each exhibitor will have a a slot in which they can give a talk – like visitors, from the comfort of their own homes – with or without slides and demonstrations, and then take questions from the active audience – i.e. those attending via Zoom.
The first talk of the day will start at 11:00am, but to allow people to join the event in plenty of time, the Zoom meeting will be ‘open’ from 10:30am. Talks will then take place throughout the day, until 6:00pm – so slightly longer than a normal show, but it doesn’t even end there!
A normal show would see some exhibitors and visitors follow the event by socialising in the bar and enjoying a meal together – and after the 6:00pm end of the main show, the Zoom meeting will remain open for an after-show chat, carrying on ‘until late’, giving people the opportunity to engage in informal chats with those exhibitors still online.
Exhibitors who have so far signed up to the event include:
- The Cloverleaf Project
- Elesar Ltd
- R-Comp
- RISCOSbits
- RISC OS Developments
- RISC OS Open Ltd
- Steve Fryatt
And you can expect the list to be longer by the time the final schedule of talks is published – keep your eye on the show website (and of course RISCOSitory) for details when they become available.
See you there. And there. From here. Wherever!
