[TYPES] global debriefing over our virtual experience of conferences

[Oleg]

Beside voicing my agreement with Gabriel and Jon and many others, I'd
like to mention a point that I have not seen raised before. 

I have not seen any data as to the primary motivation for submitting
to major conferences (and related symposia):
  -- submit to attend: people submit specifically to get a chance to
attend a conference (I know that some people, especially students,
won't get reimbursed if they don't present a paper). The people in
this category would be content if there was a way to participate in
formal and informal meetings without getting a paper accepted and
without too much of a cost;
  -- submit to publish: people submit to get a paper *swiftly and
competently* reviewed, and if successful, published in a well-read
venue (the prestige of the venue is also not to be discounted: I've
seen professors recommend to students, who are searching for a
suitable topic, to look at the recent ICFP and POPL and PLDI. No
journal and no `lesser' conference are recommended.) People in this
category would be content if they didn't have to physically or
virtually participate.

I know the second category is not empty: it includes at least
myself. What I (and probably other people in the same category, if
exist) would wish is something like TOPLAS Letters. It doesn't have to
be a shoddy venue: Physical Review Letters (which reviews and publishes
rapidly and so imposes tight limits on the submission) is (one of) the
most prestigious publications in Physics, probably more prestigious
than Physical Review itself. I don't mean to supplant the
workshops: just the other way around. A workshop would no longer need
a big PC and (sometimes, too stressful) reviewing period: PC chairs
merely select the appropriate papers already accepted for TOPLAS
Letters and contact the authors if they are interested in
presenting. At least the quality is already guaranteed, and so is the
selection and the choice of topics. PC would spend more time then
planning and promoting discussions and useful interactions.

        I have a more elaborate argumentation about the Letters. I'm
not sure where to present it though: it is not actually on topic 
neither for this list nor the Climate list...

        Cheers,
        Oleg