# Event Report: Creative Freedom Summit 2023 ## :eight_spoked_asterisk: Overview ![](https://i.imgur.com/uXzyccu.png) :small_blue_diamond:**Date:** January 17-19th, 2023 :small_blue_diamond:**Name:** Creative Freedom Summit :small_blue_diamond:**Type:** Virtual Conference :small_blue_diamond:**Host:** The Fedora Design Team :small_blue_diamond:**Organizers & Contributors:** Emma Kidney, Jess Chitas, Joseph Gayoso, Madeline Peck, Máirín Duffy, Marie Nordin, Nikita Tripathi, Ryan Gorley, Smera Goel ## :sparkle: Links :small_blue_diamond:**[Event Website](https://creativefreedomsummit.com/)** :small_blue_diamond:**[Schedule](https://creativefreedomsummit2023.sched.com/)** :small_blue_diamond:**[Peertube Channel](https://peertube.linuxrocks.online/c/creativefreedom/videos?s=1)** :small_blue_diamond:**[Element/Matrix Channel](https://matrix.to/#/#creativefreedom:fedora.im)** ## :diamond_shape_with_a_dot_inside: Event Summary The Creative Freedom Summit was a virtual conference dedicated solely to the features and benefits of Open Source creative tools. The aim of the event was to be inspired by fellow artists, designers, and makers, and learn how users can enjoy more creative freedom using free software. Interested members of the Fedora Design Team came together in October of 2022 to begin coordination of the Creative Freedom Summit. We set the following goals in order to work smarter, not harder, with the limited capacity we had to put together the event. With nine contributors, we were able to handily share the work needed to coordinate the event and reach our goals. ### Primary Goals: :small_blue_diamond: Promote Open Source creative tools :small_blue_diamond: Spreading knowledge of how to use them :small_blue_diamond: Connecting creatives across the FOSS ecosystem ### Secondary Goals: :small_blue_diamond: Promote the Fedora Design Team as a welcoming group :small_blue_diamond: Create a potential onboarding path for new design contributors :small_blue_diamond: Spread info on how to use creative Open Source tools in communities Beyond these goals, we set an internal team goal to garner 100 attendees in the event chat- being a totally new event we weren't too sure what to expect for turnout. We managed to gain 250+ attendees in the chat, who engaged with enthusiasm and gratitude for such an event to exist. This Summit shows evidence that there is still an interest and engagement for virtual events. We plan to continue to foster engagement in the channel and help grow it into a community by hosting interim social sessions related to creative free software. The team is meeting for retrospective sessions and we are already brainstorming for next year's event. We plan to run a Call for Proposals, further our promotional coverage, and work on improving attendee experience on the platform, including improvements on accessibility. ## :bookmark_tabs: Recap of the Event ### :chart_with_upwards_trend: Statistics :small_blue_diamond: **Attendees in the Element/Matrix Channel:** 265 :small_blue_diamond: **Unique Peertube Views (during the event):** 639 :small_blue_diamond: **Peertube Peak Concurrent Live Viewers:** 76 :small_blue_diamond: **Number of Countries that Accessed Peertube:** 54 :small_blue_diamond: **Number of [Fedora Badge](https://badges.fedoraproject.org/badge/creative-freedom-summit-2023) Claims:** 48 ### :globe_with_meridians: Platform We used a platform combination of Jitsi, Peertube, and Element/Matrix for the live pieces of the Creative Freedom Summit. For the website we used wpengine, with an embedded instance of Sched. In alignment with Red Hat's policies for virtual events we submitted and passed a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) for the event website, and the usage of Peertube and Element/Matrix. Overall, we were satisfied with the quality of the platform logistics. We have some improvements we plan to research and implement for the next instance of the event. :small_blue_diamond: We used the publically hosted and free [Jitsi instance](https://meet.jit.si/). :small_blue_diamond: We created a Peertube Fedora Design [Creative Freedom Summit sub-channel](https://peertube.linuxrocks.online/c/creativefreedom), which is maintained by Máirín Duffy and Madeline Peck. :small_blue_diamond: We created a [Creative Freedom Summit Channel](https://matrix.to/#/#creativefreedom:fedora.im) in the Fedora Project instance of Element/Matrix. :small_blue_diamond: We used [wpengine](https://wpengine.com/) to create the event website. :small_blue_diamond: We used [Sched](https://sched.com/) to host the schedule for the event, which we embedded on the event website. In order to connect the three platforms for the live event, Máirín put together a [Tech 101 Cheatsheet](https://hackmd.io/u8lfeZBzR2mm8yrkqcKexQ?view) and a [short video tutorial](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjbilDNpKto) for organizers to use. We found that we were able to use the same streaming URL throughout the entirety of the event, which made things a lot easier than we originally planned. ### :tv: Speakers & Topics The Creative Freedom Summit featured 19 speakers, some of whom also hosted Social Sessions. The speaker lineup for the Summit included folks from across the world including many experts in the creative free software space, Fedora Design Team members, interns, and Red Hatters. Topics ranged from demos of features, introductory skills, accessibility, development of software, open culture, and more. We are surveying our attendees to understand what people enjoyed, felt was useful, and what we might have missed. #### :loud_sound: Speakers :small_blue_diamond: Ashlyn Knox :small_blue_diamond: David Revoy :small_blue_diamond: Eduard Lucena :small_blue_diamond: Emma Kidney :small_blue_diamond: Jakub Steiner :small_blue_diamond: Jason van Gumster :small_blue_diamond: Jess Chitas :small_blue_diamond: Madeline Peck :small_blue_diamond: Máirín Duffy :small_blue_diamond: Marie Nordin :small_blue_diamond: Martin Owens :small_blue_diamond: Morgan Lemmer-Webber :small_blue_diamond: Pablo Ruiz-Múzquiz :small_blue_diamond: Pat David :small_blue_diamond: Paul Caggegi :small_blue_diamond: Ryan Gorley :small_blue_diamond: Saptak S :small_blue_diamond: Seth Kenlon :small_blue_diamond: Tuomas Kuosmanen #### :mag: Topics :small_blue_diamond: Penpot :small_blue_diamond: Krita :small_blue_diamond: Inkscape :small_blue_diamond: Kdenlive :small_blue_diamond: Blender :small_blue_diamond: GIMP :small_blue_diamond: Free Soft Wear :small_blue_diamond: Maker Processes :small_blue_diamond: Freelance :small_blue_diamond: Accessibility ### :writing_hand: Feedback We received a notable quantity of positive feedback about the event, the content, speakers, and platform. We also received constructive feedback about improving the experience for future events. We are organizing a post-event survey to gather more feedback about the event, including what people enjoyed as well as what could be improved. #### :raised_hands: Praise :small_blue_diamond: "I **LOVE** that this happened using Peertube, Jitsi, and Element - with etherpads, etc. Any technical issues were honestly minimal to paid platforms I've used as a participant, attendee, and/or running the event." :small_blue_diamond: "I like that during talks there were notes taken by Máirín." :small_blue_diamond: "Matrix widgets were amazing. Really nice to be able to view the stream right from Element." :small_blue_diamond: "Thank you to the organizers, presenters, and participants for making this event so memorable and engaging! This was such a great event! Looking forward to the next Creative Freedom Summit! I hope we can continue to use this group to keep in touch and continue talking about FOSS. Thank you to all!" :small_blue_diamond: "I’m so glad Máirín recorded a primer on inkscape automation. When I was using it last year-ish to generate some designs and certificates the documentation was a bit confusing and the video will help a great deal!" :small_blue_diamond: "Thanks so much for the conference! It was amazing!" :small_blue_diamond: "Keeping the chat or transitioning it to a hub for the community even after the event is a great idea – I see a lot of opportunities in it." :small_blue_diamond: "Finally I'll be able to watch some sessions live today. It's great that the presentations are already available on PeerTube to catch up, and running through the text summaries here in chat was also very useful! Thanks for making this whole event happen, and for this already super-interesting set of presentations on PeerTube! 🙌" :small_blue_diamond: "So much awesomeness in this conference all around." :small_blue_diamond: "Regardless of the technical difficulties, Day 1 of the Creative Freedom Summit was great! Can't wait for tomorrow!" :small_blue_diamond: "Such a cool summit. Thank you everyone for running and participating." :small_blue_diamond: "I really like the format of the event today. I guess it is easier for me having fedora matrix setup for a long time, but etherpad and video widgets and chat work nicely in my firefox window." :small_blue_diamond: "Waaaaait, so you mean all I need to attend this event is to be in this Matrix room, no "Yet Another Conferencing System account" required? 🤩 that's refreshing compared to gestures broadly every other conference under the sun making me sign up somewhere to eventually end up in a Big Blue Button (or Zoom...) instance." #### :zap: Issues :small_blue_diamond: The stream in Jitsi unexpectedly stopped a handful of times, which was disruptive. Fortunately, the hosts were able to re-start the stream quickly. :small_blue_diamond: The accessibility of the widgets in the Element/Matrix channel were different depending on how attendees were accessing the event. We were able to send anyone having issues with Element/Matrix to the PeerTube Channel live stream. We reworked the etherpad/hackmd widgets so we could provide links to attendees to access. :small_blue_diamond: The stream was not automatically set up with closed captioning, which was pointed out to us as an accessibility issue. We are investigating how to enable this for next years event. :small_blue_diamond: Accessing the stream and widgets from the mobile Matrix/Element app was confusing for some people. We directed them to the Peertube Stream. :small_blue_diamond: The stream quality was not poor at times, which is a bad experience for viewing live demos. ___ # Event Report: Creative Freedom Summit 2023 ## Overview - Date: January 17-19th, 2023 - Name: Creative Freedom Summit - Type: Virtual Conference - Host: The Fedora Design Team - Organizers & Contributors: Emma Kidney, Jess Chitas, Joseph Gayoso, Madeline Peck, Máirín Duffy, Marie Nordin, Nikita Tripathi, Ryan Gorley, Smera Goel ## Links - Event Website: https://creativefreedomsummit.com/ - Schedule: https://creativefreedomsummit2023.sched.com/ - Peertube Channel: https://peertube.linuxrocks.online/c/creativefreedom/ - Element/Matrix Channel: https://matrix.to/#/#creativefreedom:fedora.im ## Event Summary The Creative Freedom Summit was a virtual conference dedicated solely to the features and benefits of Open Source creative tools. The aim of the event was to be inspired by fellow artists, designers, and makers, and learn how users can enjoy more creative freedom using free software. Interested members of the Fedora Design Team came together in October of 2022 to begin coordination of the Creative Freedom Summit. We set the following goals in order to work smarter, not harder, with the limited capacity we had to put together the event. With nine contributors, we were able to handily share the work needed to coordinate the event and reach our goals. ### Primary Goals: - Promote Open Source creative tools - Spreading knowledge of how to use them - Connecting creatives across the FOSS ecosystem ### Secondary Goals: - Promote the Fedora Design Team as a welcoming group - Create a potential onboarding path for new design contributors - Spread info on how to use creative Open Source tools in communities Beyond these goals, we set an internal team goal to garner 100 attendees in the event chat- being a totally new event we weren't too sure what to expect for turnout. We managed to gain 250+ attendees in the chat, who engaged with enthusiasm and gratitude for such an event to exist. With 48 Fedora Badges claimed, we are assuming that the majority of the event attendees were folks not already associated with Fedora and the Fedora Design Team. The event ran for 3 days from about 8:30 AM ET through 3:00 PM ET, with active engagement and almost constant chatter in the Element/Matrix Channel. This Summit shows evidence that there is still an active interest for virtual events. Upon request and interest of attendees, we plan to continue to foster engagement in the channel and help grow it into a community by hosting interim social sessions related to creative free software. Replays are available on the Peertube Channel, and once we complete edits, we will also upload them to the Fedora YouTube Channel. The organizing team is meeting for retrospective sessions, running a post event survey, and we are already brainstorming for next year's event. We plan to run a Call for Proposals, further our promotional coverage, and work on improving attendee experience on the platform, including improvements to accessibility. ## Recap of the Event ### Statistics - Attendees in the Element/Matrix Channel: 265 - Unique Peertube Views (during the event): 639 - Peertube Peak Concurrent Live Viewers: 76 - Number of Countries that Accessed Peertube: 54 - Number of Fedora Badge Claims: 48 ### Platform We used a platform combination of Jitsi, Peertube, and Element/Matrix for the live pieces of the Creative Freedom Summit. For the website we used wpengine, with an embedded instance of Sched. In alignment with Red Hat's policies for virtual events we submitted and passed a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) for the event website, and the usage of Peertube and Element/Matrix. Overall, we were satisfied with the quality of the platform logistics. - We used the publicly hosted and free Jitsi instance. - We created a Peertube Fedora Design Creative Freedom Summit sub-channel. - We created a Creative Freedom Summit Channel in the Fedora Project instance of Element/Matrix. - We used wpengine to create the event website. - We used Sched to host the schedule for the event, which we embedded on the event website. In order to connect the three platforms for the live event, Máirín put together a Tech 101 Cheat Sheet and a short video tutorial for organizers to use. We found that we were able to use the same streaming URL throughout the entirety of the event, which made things a lot easier than we originally planned. Simultaneously running the stream through Peertube and Element/Matrix was mostly smooth. We found that Jitsi randomly cut the stream a couple of times, so we plan to investigate and resolve that for next year's event. The stream replays are automatically uploaded to the Peertube channel in a relatively quick amount of time. While these are unedited videos, it was still a feature many attendees appreciated. ### Speakers & Topics The Creative Freedom Summit had 19 speakers, some of whom also hosted Social Sessions. The speaker lineup for the Summit featured folks from across the world including experts in the creative free software/open culture spaces, Fedora Design Team members, interns, and Red Hatters. Topics for the Summit included demos of features, introductory skills, accessibility, development of software, and open culture. The creative free software that was highlighted was Inkscape, Krita, GIMP, Blender, Kdenlive, and PenPot. We are surveying our attendees to understand what sessions people enjoyed, felt were useful, and what we might have missed. ## Feedback We received a notable quantity of positive feedback about the event, the content, speakers, and platform. We also received constructive feedback about improving the experience for future events. We are running a post-event survey to gather more insights about the event. ### Praise - "I **LOVE** that this happened using Peertube, Jitsi, and Element - with etherpads, etc. Any technical issues were honestly minimal to paid platforms I've used as a participant, attendee, and/or running the event." - "I like that during talks there were notes taken by Máirín." - "Matrix widgets were amazing. Really nice to be able to view the stream right from Element." - "Thank you to the organizers, presenters, and participants for making this event so memorable and engaging! This was such a great event! Looking forward to the next Creative Freedom Summit! I hope we can continue to use this group to keep in touch and continue talking about FOSS. Thank you to all!" - "I’m so glad Máirín recorded a primer on inkscape automation. When I was using it last year-ish to generate some designs and certificates the documentation was a bit confusing and the video will help a great deal!" - "Thanks so much for the conference! It was amazing!" - "Keeping the chat or transitioning it to a hub for the community even after the event is a great idea – I see a lot of opportunities in it." - "Finally I'll be able to watch some sessions live today. It's great that the presentations are already available on PeerTube to catch up, and running through the text summaries here in chat was also very useful! Thanks for making this whole event happen, and for this already super-interesting set of presentations on PeerTube! " - "So much awesomeness in this conference all around." - "Regardless of the technical difficulties, Day 1 of the Creative Freedom Summit was great! Can't wait for tomorrow!" - "Such a cool summit. Thank you everyone for running and participating." - "I really like the format of the event today. I guess it is easier for me to have fedora matrix setup for a long time, but etherpad and video widgets and chat work nicely in my firefox window." - "Waaaaait, so you mean all I need to attend this event is to be in this Matrix room, no "Yet Another Conferencing System account" required? that's refreshing compared to gestures broadly every other conference under the sun, making me sign up somewhere to eventually end up in a Big Blue Button (or Zoom...) instance." ### Issues - The stream in Jitsi unexpectedly stopped a handful of times, which was disruptive. Fortunately, the hosts were able to re-start the stream quickly. - The accessibility of the widgets in the Element/Matrix channel were different depending on how attendees were accessing the event. We were able to send anyone having issues with Element/Matrix to the PeerTube Channel live stream. We reworked the etherpad/hackmd widgets so we could provide links to attendees to access. - The stream was not automatically set up with closed captioning, which was pointed out to us as an accessibility issue. We are investigating how to enable this for next year's event. - Accessing the stream and widgets from the mobile Matrix/Element app was confusing for some people. We directed them to the Peertube Stream. - The stream quality was poor at times, which is a bad experience for viewing anything, but especially for live demos.