Google cancels physical I/O 2020 conference | Hacker News Reader

Google cancels physical I/O 2020 conference

theverge.com

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Kudos to Google for taking this responsible step. There's no way to categorize these sorts of conferences as anything other than "extremely non-essential, optional gathering." Postponing such gatherings is an obvious first step in reducing the spread of an epidemic that we cannot prevent, but can mitigate.

It’s interesting on so many levels. On the one hand, it seems like the right thing to do. Air-travel and gatherings are like Petri dishes. On the other, all these adjustments are going to have an economic impact.

There’s a part of me that wonders if this “crisis” has been created by news coverage. The flu kills thousands every year. The early articles seemed to say that Corona virus was no worse that the flu. https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-death-age-older-... This businessinsider article says that 15% of people 80yrs+ die.

https://time.com/5610878/2018-2019-flu-season/ But Time say 61,200 died a year ago from the flu.

Course then I wonder when the US will get serious about doing some basic things to limit the spread of disease like: - require airlines to allow passengers to change their flight plans without penalty so sick passengers don’t have to fly - educate people to cough into their shirts instead of their hands - require public bathrooms provide paper towels instead of those damn hearing-wrecking air blowers. - step up vaccination efforts - for those of us forced to travel: don’t tell us what doesn’t work, tell us what does. If masks don’t work, should I wear a full hazmat suit? I’m willing to avoid getting another flu like I had last year...

> There’s a part of me that wonders if this “crisis” has been created by news coverage. The flu kills thousands every year. The early articles seemed to say that Corona virus was no worse that the flu. https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-death-age-older-.... This businessinsider article says that 15% of people 80yrs+ die.

I was thinking like that but I don't think so anymore. There is one important difference between COVID-19 and the regular flu: COVID-19 seems to infect a lot more people than the flu. Even if COVID-19 has an overall fatality rate that is much lower than regular flu, the fact that it spreads fast means it can overwhelm health services so that those few severe cases can't get the health they need, when with regular flu they would get that help. That can make it much more dangerous in practice even if, in theory, it's not.

Now with containment having failed the only course of action is to do everything we can to slow its progression to avoid overwhelming services.

Meanwhile Miami Ultra Music Festival is still on:

> Amid growing concerns of the virus and large crowds, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said Monday the upcoming Ultra Music Festival and Calle Ocho Festival will go on as scheduled.

> More than 100,000 electronic music fans from more than 100 countries will descend on Miami in two weeks for the festival, March 20-22 at Bayfront Park.

Just look at this picture: https://weraveyou.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Ultra-Music...

Well, that's one way to test the virus transmission/warm weather theory.

In addition to "safety of the people", there is a business reason for cancelling these massive events at a huge loss - they're avoiding a PR shitstorm that would explode if 8,000 people caught Coronavirus at their conference.

After working in many fortune 500 companies (manufacturing), I've become so intensely jaded and cynical of any "safety" things most of these companies do. If you peel the layers, its a glorified CYA. For e.g., no company really gives a shit if you develop a carpel tunnel syndrome. They are covering their ass to make sure there is enough documentation that employees were properly trained in the event of a lawsuit. That Ergonomics training you did or any safety web-training was forced upon you - sure it improves safety but that's a side benefit.

I think "do the right thing" and "make it look like you're doing the right thing" will always go hand in hand. I'll take it.

As someone headed to SF later this spring, is there a single case of coronavirus in the Valley at this exact moment? With all the companies announcing conferences and employee travel cancelled you'd think that Silicon Valley was the epicenter.

Yes, there is

https://www.ktvu.com/news/coronavirus-5-new-bay-area-cases-a...

Yes, 9 cases in Santa Clara county have been confirmed

And keep in mind that they aren't testing everyone who presents with symptoms, typically only the most severe symptoms. So those 9 cases are likely representative of many more people who haven't been tested.

This site seems to stay up to date, and it says there are currently 8 in Santa Clara and 2 in San Mateo.

https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.h...

There have been several confirmed cases, and more are expected as testing ramps up: https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/03/02/coronavirus-case-coun...

Not too many yet, but the writing is on the wall.

Thanks, maybe I need to look into travel insurance which is something I've never remotely ever considered purchasing. We have zero cases in Michigan at present.

https://www.michigan.gov/mdhhs/0,5885,7-339-71550_5104_97675...

The issue with conferences is not where they are held, but that people come from afar to visit them.

I wonder about the professional sport leagues, NBA and NHL for example currently. 10-20k people every night in closed stadiums. In multiple major US cities. They gotta do something. MLS also started this week and the new MLB season also upon us

The NHL (I don't follow the NBA) are paying close attention to it. They're not acting yet, but likely the pre-season games in China (like they've played for the last 2 out of 3 years) won't go ahead. They've got several plans in case it impacts the tail-end of the season or the playoffs (including playing in empty arenas).

The IIHF just cancelled a few international tournaments, and while not actually linked to the NHL, would have undoubtably had an impact on how the NHL is assessing its situation.

In Italy they suspended the football season last week, as it was legally impossible to host games in the most-affected Northern areas. Sure enough, they are already talking about resuming next Monday, less than a day after the current ban on gatherings will expire.

It's screwed up, and hugely unpopular, but I think we should just give up all these large events until April-May and then reassess. Zero chances it will happen though, too much money rides on sports these days. So people will die so that someone else can watch 22 overpaid athletes kick a ball.

Overwatch League (esports, but still crowded stadiums) canceled all China matches on Jan 29th. Then they canceled Korean matches on Feb 23rd. US, Canadian, and European matches are not yet canceled.

And yet, HIMSS is going forward while pretending nothing is wrong...

For anyone previously unfamiliar, as I was: HIMSS = Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society

And people laughed at me a few weeks ago when I suggested WWDC and i/o might not happen this year (when MWC got cancelled).

So... is Apple's WWDC next?

It’s the responsible thing to do. We are nowhere near taking control of this virus.

It shouldn't be a surprise, after the Facebook F8 cancellation, Google Cloud Next, Microsoft MVP Summit, dotPy, dotGo, the MWC, etc.

It'd be nice if this ended up turning into it being more common for tech conferences to be attended remotely, would be a good step for environmental friendliness to reduce all the flying around the world for tech events

FWIW I'm wondering about LibrePlanet in a couple weeks. I likely won't go regardless at this point.

They just posted about it:

https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/update-on-covid-19-and-l...

And now all in-person events are canceled: https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/libreplanet-2020-in-pers...

Microsoft BUILD has to be next, its scheduled for a week after IO

It was at Shoreline? that place is a dump...

I wonder when ngConf will be cancelled

So do we think the NCAA March Madness is still a good idea?

Don't forget to cancel the supermarket, post office, Chipotle, gym, planes/trains/buses, movies/theater/sporting events, the sidewalk, etc.

It's primarily about delaying spread in order to prevent healthcare systems from being overwhelmed.

What you're describing is a quarantine, which may happen.

I disagree with your analogy.

Conferences, by their very nature, and ones with large well-known companies sponsoring them strongly implies international guests, and that translates to higher risks.

Serious difference between an international conference and your local shops.

China did that in Wuhan, and the number of new infections is dropping, after only a few thousand deaths.

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