To the community,
As you may be aware, over the past few months we've been working hard to figure out how to get SFF Network to Computex 2017 as a press entity. Our attendance of the conference would enable us to provide you, the reader, with up-close and personal coverage of all the SFF goodness we can find, at one of the most consequential events there are in the world of small form factor systems. It would also act as an opportunity to twist a few arms, and remind the big players in the market that SFF is (in fact) a thing, and that we're a small-but-rapidly-expanding bunch of passionate people who aren't afraid to voice our opinions.
What has made this goal challenging is one of bridging two gaps - namely, mindshare and funding. To even attend Computex as press, there are requirements and readership targets that online publications must hit and then prove to the conference, in order to gain admittance. Furthermore, once you have press passes in hand, you must cover the significant expenses associated with bringing staff from around the world to Taipei for the week.
Although SFF Network has surpassed those traffic benchmarks a while ago, finding enough funding to get us to Taiwan has remained elusive. We've been continuing to rely on forum donations as well as our novel, reader-friendly sponsorships in order to accumulate some funds to make this trip possible. We've also run a swag sale to collect an additional burst of donations - and we've had conversations with multiple vendors and creators in order to shore up the sorts of partnerships that can support our work, while also supporting the projects and vendors who have contributed positively to the community through their own development.
Well, it's been an effortful few months, but at just a few weeks before Computex kicks off, we can now reveal that we have reached our funding goals. And in every respect, we have our readers, community members, and partners to thank for that!
So what does this mean? The three J's - Joshua, James and John, will all meet up (finally...) in Taiwan and cover the biggest IT event of the year, in person. We have also organised a few community members to come along with us and support our operations at the event. As such, SFF Network will be at Computex 2017 from day one, with multiple crews darting around the show floor in order to cover everything we possibly can.
What kind of content will you see throughout the event? We're aiming to provide the usual written news articles, video (!) coverage of the event, as well as a few random snippets of shenanigans outside of show hours. We will also produce a live video podcast on the Friday (Thursday USA time, exact timing TBD) of the conference, where we will answer your questions, and (naturally) shoot the breeze with the whole team.
We'll also have some teaser articles going live over the next two weeks as Computex approaches, where we'll share expected announcements, rumors, and updates from the team. We'll also have more to share on the fantastic sponsors we've lined up for Computex, as well as ways for our readers and the community to get involved with our on-the-ground teams and follow updates in real time across the web (social media included).
Until then? Our sincere thanks to you, our community, as well as to our sponsors, for making Computex 2017 a real thing for Small Form Factor Network! We can't wait to hit the show floor and are proud to be able to represent the SFF community in a big way.
As you may be aware, over the past few months we've been working hard to figure out how to get SFF Network to Computex 2017 as a press entity. Our attendance of the conference would enable us to provide you, the reader, with up-close and personal coverage of all the SFF goodness we can find, at one of the most consequential events there are in the world of small form factor systems. It would also act as an opportunity to twist a few arms, and remind the big players in the market that SFF is (in fact) a thing, and that we're a small-but-rapidly-expanding bunch of passionate people who aren't afraid to voice our opinions.
What has made this goal challenging is one of bridging two gaps - namely, mindshare and funding. To even attend Computex as press, there are requirements and readership targets that online publications must hit and then prove to the conference, in order to gain admittance. Furthermore, once you have press passes in hand, you must cover the significant expenses associated with bringing staff from around the world to Taipei for the week.
Although SFF Network has surpassed those traffic benchmarks a while ago, finding enough funding to get us to Taiwan has remained elusive. We've been continuing to rely on forum donations as well as our novel, reader-friendly sponsorships in order to accumulate some funds to make this trip possible. We've also run a swag sale to collect an additional burst of donations - and we've had conversations with multiple vendors and creators in order to shore up the sorts of partnerships that can support our work, while also supporting the projects and vendors who have contributed positively to the community through their own development.
Well, it's been an effortful few months, but at just a few weeks before Computex kicks off, we can now reveal that we have reached our funding goals. And in every respect, we have our readers, community members, and partners to thank for that!
So what does this mean? The three J's - Joshua, James and John, will all meet up (finally...) in Taiwan and cover the biggest IT event of the year, in person. We have also organised a few community members to come along with us and support our operations at the event. As such, SFF Network will be at Computex 2017 from day one, with multiple crews darting around the show floor in order to cover everything we possibly can.
What kind of content will you see throughout the event? We're aiming to provide the usual written news articles, video (!) coverage of the event, as well as a few random snippets of shenanigans outside of show hours. We will also produce a live video podcast on the Friday (Thursday USA time, exact timing TBD) of the conference, where we will answer your questions, and (naturally) shoot the breeze with the whole team.
We'll also have some teaser articles going live over the next two weeks as Computex approaches, where we'll share expected announcements, rumors, and updates from the team. We'll also have more to share on the fantastic sponsors we've lined up for Computex, as well as ways for our readers and the community to get involved with our on-the-ground teams and follow updates in real time across the web (social media included).
Until then? Our sincere thanks to you, our community, as well as to our sponsors, for making Computex 2017 a real thing for Small Form Factor Network! We can't wait to hit the show floor and are proud to be able to represent the SFF community in a big way.
