News

Herb Sutter live in person at CppCon 2022

Posted on by cppcon

[Updated 9/2 to refresh talk abstract]

We’re making our first 2022 plenary talk announcement: Herb Sutter will be in Aurora, live in person to deliver a brand-new talk about post-C++20 C++ language evolution. Here is his talk description:

Herb Sutter

C++ Simplicity, Safety, and Toolability (“Simplifying C++” #9 of N)

Since CppCon 2015, all of Herb’s talks have been about ways to evolve C++ to make it simpler, safer, and more toolable. Every release of ISO C++ has already been making regular incremental “10%” improvements in these areas. But what are the fundamental factors that limit our rate of improvement, and what would it take to make greater progress? Like every year, Herb’s talk will explore selected current pain points and describe experimental ideas to address them that might someday contribute toward C++’s long-term evolution.

Registration DeskRegistration is now open for what will certainly be one of the most memorable CppCons ever this September 11-16. Register today!

Tickets are now available for both online attendees and in-person attendees.

CppCon 2022 Call for Poster Submissions

Posted on by Bob Steagall

Update: The CppCon 2022 Poster Context has been cancelled.

Are you doing something cool with C++? Got a great new library, technique, or tool?

We want you to share it with the C++ community by creating a poster and presenting it at CppCon 2022!

The poster submissions deadline is Friday, July 22nd, with decisions sent by August 1st. For topic ideas, submission instructions, and advice on making the best possible submission, see the 2022 Poster Submissions page.

 

Announcing CppCon Academy 2022 Classes

Posted on by cppcon

class attendeesRegistration is open for almost twenty CppCon Academy classes that will be held in the days before or after CppCon 2022 in September.

Four classes are open to online attendees and the rest will be offered to onsite attendees at the Gaylord Rockies in Aurora.

Read about all the offered classes on the CppCon Academy 2022 page. This year we are offering classes that range from those that are focused on updating you to the latest versions of C++, to those focusing on better code, testing, or design skills. This year we are offering a class on computing in mixed CPU/GPU/FPGA environments, one on embedded programming, and one on performance and efficiency (well, okay, they are all about performance and efficiency ultimately).

class instructor with studentsOnline classes will be held either on the last three business days of the week before the conference, the two weekend days following the conference, or the first three business days of the week after the conference.

Onsite classes are held on the weekend days immediately before and after the conference.

class instructorMost of the classes feature two days (onsite) or three days (online) of class instruction. All classes feature hands-on opportunities to improve your programming skills. There is one four-day onsite class (pre- and post-conference) and one two-day online class (on the weekend after the conference).

CppCon instructors are selected from the best C++ instructors in the world. They feature rare combinations of deep technical knowledge, extensive development experience, and the ability to explain things in an approachable manner.

Reminder: Early Bird Registration ends in mid-July, so register now!

CppCon 2022 Registration is Open

Posted on by Greg Marr

Registration DeskRegistration is now open for CppCon 2022, including CppCon Academy Classes.

The US has recently rescinded testing requirements for entering the US and the conference has updated its Covid Safety Policy for CppCon 2022 to be less restrictive. Please review the Covid Safety Policy before registering for onsite attendance.

For CppCon 2022, we are continuing with our very successful hybrid format providing for top quality engagement for attendees in Aurora, Colorado and also providing the CppCon experience for those that attend remotely.

We are offering two new registration options for online access. For organizations with many C++ developers, we are offering discount packages for online attendance, starting as low as $2000. Please review the options on the Registration Page and contact Greg Marr, CppCon Registrar for details.

We are also offering a new On-Demand Session Access which provides access to both online and onsite (rough-cut) recordings of sessions from shortly after the session concludes, until its edited version is posted on the CppCon YouTube channel. This is included with many conference registrations (as last year), but this year we are offering it stand-alone, without a conference registration.

Registration details are available on our registration page, but the high points are:

  • Substantial savings are available for Early Bird registrations before the end of July 15th.
  • For those unable to attend in person, Online registration gives access to both online and onsite sessions as well as our Gather.town virtual venue for fun, games, puzzles, and engagement with other attendees including presenters and exhibitors.
  • Onsite attendees have the option of registering for both onsite and online access or for onsite-only. Why would an onsite attendee want to include online registration? Only online attendees have access to online sessions and the virtual venue.
  • We are offering four online classes and over a dozen onsite classes.
  • We are also offering an Economy registration that for onsite, doesn’t include the On-Demand access, “Meet the Presenters” Banquet, annual tee shirt, or souvenir that are included in Full registration and for online doesn’t include the On-Demand access included in the Online registration.
  • We have three options available for full-time students, Full, Economy, and Online, all of these include online and On-Demand access.

Visa application support for non-US attendees is available.

As always, we offer support for academics and employees of non-profits and, thanks to the support of the C++ Alliance, child care.

CppCon 2022 Call for Volunteers and Volunteer Grant Program

Posted on by cppcon

Be a part of making CppCon 2022 an exciting event.  Please join us as a volunteer.

Building on the success of last year’s hybrid conference, we’ll need both onsite and online-only volunteers.

Delivering some of our content online this year will require more training of online volunteers to understand the content delivery technologies that we’ll be using.

If you want more information about volunteering, contact us at volunteers@cppcon.org.

For more information about volunteering and the Volunteer Grant Program, please see our Volunteer page.

Join a great team and be a part of history making in the C++ community, please complete the CppCon 2022 Volunteer Application Form.  There will be other steps after completion, we will contact you to assist you with setup for the conference.

Thank you

Brett Searles

Please note that registration to be an onsite volunteer will be ending August 21st. The grant application deadline is July 31.

CppCon 2022 Call for Submissions

Posted on by Daisy Hollman

CppCon is the annual, week-long (September 11th-16th, 2022) face-to-face (and now also online) gathering for the entire C++ community. The conference Main Program consists of five days of several concurrent tracks of sixty-minute sessions.

This conference is organized by the C++ Community for the C++ Community. We want the whole community to be represented. We especially encourage those who identify as coming from an underrepresented community to apply to present and to be present. Presenting a talk is not limited to previous presenters or previous attendees.

We hope that everyone can join us onsite, but we know that some people cannot join us in Aurora this September. Leveraging our experience of serving the global C++ community online in the last two years and our many years of providing an unmatched in-person experience, this year’s CppCon will again be a hybrid conference with some presenters and attendees onsite in Aurora, Colorado, and some presenters and attendees online.

We are looking for presenters who can present in person and also for presenters who will be presenting remotely (presenter teams welcome). Submitters can apply for onsite, online or both. We understand that a submission is not a commitment and that situations may change. We are prepared to respond appropriately to changing situations that affect your availability. Our goal is always to present the best possible program to attendees, both onsite and online, and we look forward to working with you to achieve this.

Have you learned something interesting about C++, maybe a new technique possible in C++17/20/23? Or perhaps you have implemented something cool, maybe a new C++ library? Or perhaps have an idea for a future language or library feature that you want to advocate for? If so, consider sharing it with other C++ enthusiasts by giving a regular program talk at CppCon 2022.

The submissions deadline is June 24th, with decisions sent by July 31st.

To facilitate a double-blind review process, please avoid statements in your abstract that remove all uncertainty about who you are. See examples on the Submissions page.

In addition to the dedicated Back to Basics Track, Embedded Track, Scientific Computing Track, Software Design Track, and Tooling Track, we are looking for people with new ideas for tracks or specialities to better serve the C++ community.

For topic ideas, possible formats, submission instructions and valuable advice on how to make the best possible submission, see the Submissions page.

Note: Calls for Lightning Talks and Open Content sessions will be made later this summer. The deadline for these is the conference itself.

Diversity and Inclusion at CppCon 2022

Posted on by Daisy Hollman

One of the fundamental missions of the Standard C++ Foundation is to “support the C++ software developer community.” Support starts with ensuring that everyone feels welcome in our community, and as the leadership of the largest community gathering of the year, we take the opportunity to build a more diverse and inclusive community very seriously and try to expand it every year. Here are the new, expanded, and continuing initiatives currently planned, aimed at making everyone feel welcome at CppCon 2022.

  • (NEW) Double-blind review process: Creating a program that is as diverse as possible has always been a priority at CppCon. Each year, the Program Committee aims to create the best conference we can, and a big part of that process is obtaining the most comprehensive and accurate set of reviews for each talk submitted. Our goal is to reduce unconscious bias in the review process, and increase the diversity of submissions. Studies have shown that double-blind review processes have these effects, so this year the Program Committee will be reviewing the abstracts and outlines of submissions without the knowledge of the submitter’s names. To enable this, we will be asking presenters to take steps to anonymize their abstracts.
  • (EXPANDED) New tracks, new track chairs: Having more focused tracks, centered around more specific areas of expertise, is an important part of creating a diverse and inclusive conference. This may be counterintuitive, but focused tracks actually enable speaking opportunities for junior developers: They may not have enough experience with topics of broad appeal, but may still have the domain-specific expertise to submit talks that may be interesting to a significant subset of attendees. This year, in addition to the existing Embedded, Back to Basics, and Software Design tracks, we are adding Tooling and Scientific Computing tracks. If your talk is submitted to a track, your track chair will be happy to provide additional consultation on both your abstract and your talk. Reach out to them!
  • Supporting new speakers: CppCon offers mentoring for newer speakers. As part of the talk submissions process, we provide the option for one-on-one mentoring by experienced speakers. As mentioned above, part of the responsibility of track chairs is to provide subject-matter-specific mentoring to new speakers submitting to their tracks. If you are interested in this program, just mark it in your talk submission form.
  • (EXPANDED) Diversity dinner, now also a workshop: This year, CppCon’s diversity dinner will be expanded to include a workshop to discuss processes, experiences, and paths forward for improving diversity and inclusion in the C++ community. Attendees are encouraged to submit 10-20 minute talks on these topics through a separate submission process.
  • Women in C++ brunch: Building on the success of last year’s Women in C++ dinner, we’re hosting a women’s brunch for this year’s CppCon. Though we’ve always included women in general diversity initiatives at CppCon in the past, as more women have been attending CppCon we want to provide women with specific opportunities to network with others who face similar challenges. The brunch is intended to be an open, welcoming, casual environment for attendees to discuss diversity issues specific to women in C++.
  • Hybrid on-line and in-person conference: We recognize that not everyone’s life circumstances allow them to take a week out of their life to attend a conference in person. This year, CppCon will again facilitate on-line participation for speakers and attendees, with the goal of including those who can’t attend or speak in person. We’re employing a number of emerging technologies to engage with online participants, aimed at making them feel welcome as part of the community as much as possible.
  • Subsidized diversity tickets: CppCon sponsors a number of subsidized on-line and in-person attendance tickets for people from underrepresented groups in C++. More details about this year’s program, including how to apply, will be announced soon.
  • Code of Conduct: CppCon’s Code of Conduct (CoC) includes a dedicated CoC report handling team and CoC training for all conference volunteers before each event. CppCon publishes annual CoC transparency reports after each conference, starting with the CppCon 2021 CoC transparency report.
  • Professional live captioning for keynotes and large sessions: Professional-quality live captioning is expensive, but is important to us because it helps many attendees better follow the live program—not only attendees who are deaf or hard of hearing, but also the many non-native English speakers in the audience.
  • Gender neutral restrooms: Every year, at least one restroom at the venue gets designated as gender neutral to accommodate attendees who may not feel comfortable in either the men’s or the women’s restrooms.
  • Pronouns on name tags: While registering, attendees will be offered the option to add their preferred pronouns to their conference badge.
  • Accessible venue and stages: All talks are held at the conference hotel, which offers wheelchair accessible guest rooms, and wheelchair accessible seating and stage access in meeting rooms. See our accessibility section for more details.
  • Quiet room: We know that conferences and large gatherings can be stressful for some attendees, especially since the isolation caused by the pandemic. Being inclusive means making sure attendees have ways to manage that stress. We provide quiet room space for attendees to relax and recharge; see our quiet room section for more details.
  • Child care: Parenting responsibilities and attending a technical conference are a challenge to mix. CppCon wants to help attendees with children to be able to focus on the conference experience, secure in the knowledge that their children are in a safe and secure environment. See our child care section for more details.
  • (NEW) Feedback: We’ve set up a new email address, diversity@cppcon.org, to work on better understanding people’s reasons for being unable to attend CppCon in the past. We’re working on a survey process to learn more about how we can  make CppCon as diverse and inclusive as possible.

Diversity and inclusion are a priority at CppCon, and we are dedicated to deepening and expanding our support for a diverse and inclusive environment. We look forward to your feedback, and are excited to see many of you—either online or in person—in September at CppCon 2022!


Daisy Hollman, Program Chair
On behalf of the CppCon 2022 organizing committee

CppCon 2021 Code of Conduct Transparency Report

Posted on by cppcon

The following summary is intended to help the community understand what kind of Code of Conduct (CoC) incidents we received reports about in the year since previous conference, and how the CppCon organizers responded.

Note: This year we also handled an issue concerning a past serious crime that happened outside CppCon. See the transparency report published separately regarding this incident, which also announced that the board developed and published a set of priorities we will follow for such situations in the future, “Ensuring a Safe and Welcoming Learning Environment at CppCon.”

Overview

Again at CppCon 2021, staff and volunteers participated in CoC training prior to the conference.

At CppCon 2021, we received four reports of potential CoC violations, which were resolved during the conference. Another report was received after the conference ended, and was addressed within a few days of receipt.

Before CppCon 2021, CppCon organizers were notified of past misconduct outside CppCon by a CppCon organizer. This matter was addressed by restrictions imposed before the conference, and additional restrictions imposed for future conferences; see above.

Summary of reported incidents at CppCon

At CppCon 2021:

  • In two online sessions’ chats, an attendee anonymously posted provocative and unfriendly commentary. They were warned to use their full name, and to keep comments professional. Attendees were reminded before the start of the following day to show their full name on Zoom and Discord, otherwise access will be removed for the rest of the event. — For CppCon 2022, attendees will be reminded at registration time that they are expected to use their real names.
  • In an online session’s chat, an attendee typed a comment that appeared to be criticizing the session’s speaker. After reviewing the context, the team decided the comment was responding to a prior humorous chat comment, not the speaker. The team reassured the reporter with an explanation of the message. The reporter was reassured.
  • A speaker made a joke referring to Nazis. The speaker was notified that it made an audience member uncomfortable and was asked to take this into account in the future. — Upon post-conference review, the reference did not appear to be offensive/disrespectful. For CppCon 2022 the CoC will clarify that the CoC is not intended to try to control how people of diverse backgrounds express themselves unless clearly offensive/disrespectful. (Done on 2022-01-04)
  • A conference staff member introduced another staff member to speakers in a belittling manner. The team used this as an educational opportunity to talk to the staff member, who responded positively.
  • An attendee made a comment on another attendee’s appearance, and appeared to comment on different expectations for speakers who are women. They were informed that this is not appropriate. They acknowledged the error and apologized. The team agreed to relay the apology to the impacted person if the impacted person wished to receive it.

Call for Proposals for CppCon Academy 2022 Classes

Posted on by cppcon

CppCon Academy is asking for instructors to submit proposals for pre- and post-conferences classes and/or workshops to be taught in conjunction with this September’s CppCon 2022.

The Academy is interested in proposals for either onsite classes or online classes.

If you are interested in teaching such a class or workshop, please contact us at info@cppcon.org and we’ll send you an instructors’ prospectus and address any questions that you might have. The deadline for submitting proposals is January 31st, 2022.

CppCon 2021 Wrap-Up

Posted on by Jon Kalb

Hybrid Success

Our first adventure with a hybrid conference was a success! Although a our onsite attendee numbers were down (way down, see the photo of many of us), our online-only attendee count was up from last year (even with many of last year’s attendees attending onsite this year) and our total attendance grew (a bit) from our record in 2019.

Trip Reports

But don’t take my word for it, read what some of our attendees are saying. I’ll update this post as more trip reports are published.

Videos

JetBrains, a CppCon YouTube Channel sponsor, is providing early access to some of our conference videos. In addition to the Fireside Chat with the C++ Standards Committee, JetBrains has posted all of our onsite plenary sessions (from Bjarne Stroustrup, Herb Sutter, Lisa Lippincott, Michael Caisse, and Sean Parent).

In the next few weeks, we’ll be posting session videos to the CppCon YouTube Channel and slides to our repository.

CppCon 2022

CppCon 2022 will be held September 11 – 16 at the Gaylord Rockies, in Aurora, Colorado. Watch this page for more details.

Thanks

We all knew pretty early last year that 2020 was going to be a horrible year.

But many of us, certainly I, had great hopes for 2021. This year would be so good, due to “pent up demand,” that we’d forget all about 2020. Except that it didn’t turn out that way. 2021 turned out to be the year of disappointment following disappointment.

In addition to having to cut many familiar conference features due to lack of attendees, money, and planning time, the process of organizing a hybrid conference proved much more difficult that I’d imagined that it would be. We scrapped our program schedule twice before we came up with something that made us happy.

I confess to having low expectations for this year’s event. It wasn’t because we didn’t have a great team preparing for it.

The organizers, including our department heads, volunteers, and vendors did an amazing job of preparing for the event under terrible circumstances. Our Program Committee reviewed a near record number of submissions. The online volunteers had to master several different software platforms in order to answer questions and provide technical support for online presenters and other attendees. The onsite volunteers were very, very short-handed. They worked longer shifts than we’ve asked of them in years past and were also required to master new platforms for delivering hybrid session.

Our vendors, including, Bash Films, Digital Medium, Gaylord Rockies, Jonathan Phillips, Krueger Event Management, and LSAV Powerhouse, all went above and beyond to create a hybrid CppCon for the first time.

I was, of course, delighted by the way about team came together to see our challenges as an opportunity to succeed in a new way rather than as an excuse to fail at delivering the best possible CppCon experience.

I was happy for the support of our sponsors and both online and onsite exhibitors.

Still, I was very worried.

But there was part of the CppCon team that I’d not counted on. Our attendees! At every closing I thank the attendees because, I tell them, without attendees, we don’t have a conference.

This year I learned the deepest truth of that. CppCon 2021 was a success in the only way that really matters. Those attending were delighted that they were attending.

The attendees came through for us. In a year when we could have heard a lot of complaining (about no posters, no bookstore or author signings, no live-captioning, no Tool Time, reduced social events), instead we heard about how delighted everyone was to be able to see old friends, meet new friends, and engage with the some of the best minds in C++. We had great engagement during sessions, at lightning talks, and in the all-important “hallway track.”

2021 Onsite Group Photo

You are all my heroes.

I look forward to seeing you all next year.

Jon Kalb
Conference Chair