Hosting the Cloud Forum
Since its inception in 2015, the Cloud Forum was hosted by Cornell University. The model established by Sarah Christen and her team, while not sacred, is largely responsible for the deep appreciation of and affection for the event by all who attended. This document outlines the key components of the event that a host institution should provide. We encourage the host school, while providing the core components, to add to the event, making it their own and showcasing their institution.
The Basics
Schedule
In recent years the Cloud Forum has run 2.5 days, with the half-day being the last day in order to allow travel home that day. Respecting attendees’ requests to travel during the workweek, the event either runs Tues-Thur or Wed-Fri. There is a welcome reception the night before the opening.
Sample schedule
- Day 1
- 6-7pm Opening reception
- Dinner on your own
- Day 2
- 8-9am Registration check-in and breakfast
- 9am-12pm Sessions
- 12p-1pm Lunch
- 1-5pm Sessions/Workshop
- 6-9pm Reception and dinner
- Day 3
- 7:30-8:30am Registration check-in and breakfast
- 8:30-12pm Sessions
- 12p-1pm Lunch
- 1-5pm Unconference
- Dinner on your own
- Day 4
- 7:30-8:30am Registration check-in and breakfast
- 8:30-12:30pm Sessions
- 12:30-1pm wrap-up
- 1pm Boxed lunches and departure
Event Venue
Meeting room
A foundational element of the Cloud Forum is the ability for the entire group to meet as a single group. At Cornell, this was a 90-seat cohort tiered auditorium. The host institution should consider finding a single room to host the event to be a fundamental requirement.

A/V
Presentations are generally limited to the in-room audience, but in 2021 some were both delivered by remote presenters and watched by remote audiences. Such remote scenarios require adequate audio to capture in-room discussion for remote participants, but should be considered a “nice to have”.
Proximate facilities
The meeting room should have space nearby for event check-in, refreshment breaks, informal conversation, and for attendees to step out and attend to work matters with some degree of privacy. Attendees should not have to travel far for breakfast and lunch as the schedule is generally quite full.
Additional rooms
Unconference breakouts
In recent years the Cloud Forum has included an Unconference one of the afternoons. This includes small group breakouts which can be held in breakout rooms or informally in any spot where a group of 10-12 people can gather. Multiple small groups can typically be accommodated in the meeting venue itself.
Social gathering
In 2021 participants suggested organizing a board game night at the next Cloud Forum. It would be helpful to provide a space, formal or informal, for such group activities.
Lodging
At Cornell, the Cloud Forum was held in the campus hotel. A large majority of attendees stayed at the hotel in a discounted event room block. If the primary lodging is not within walking distance of the event venue, consideration should be given to group transportation and on-site parking.
Food Service
The meals compliment a tight Cloud Forum schedule and also provide a prized opportunity for informal networking. A high bar was set for the food by the Cornell hospitality school. Hosts are encouraged to step up to that challenge, but not at the expense of an affordable event.
The following describes how the meals have worked at the Cloud Forum in the past. The host school has license to change things as long as it works with the meeting schedule.
Breakfast
With such an early start and likely geographically-isolated venue, it is unrealistic to expect attendees to be able to find breakfast on their own each day. The schedule normally allows for 30-45 minutes prior to a day’s opening session for breakfast. Latecomers often bring their food with them into the session.
Lunch
The schedule allows for an hour for a sit-down lunch. This will include travel time from the meeting venue and back.
The final day ends just at or soon after lunch so that day has typically been a boxed lunch served just outside the meeting venue.
Dinner
The evening on the first full day of the event features a sit-down dinner with reception beforehand. This typically starts 30-60 minutes after the conclusion of the day’s sessions, giving the host a wider choice of venues. This is an opportunity for attendees to see more of campus than the tight schedule otherwise allows. Attendees find dinner on their own the other evenings.
Receptions
Welcome reception
The evening before the Cloud Forum begins there is a reception with an open bar. This event serves as a gathering point for Cloud Forum veterans and a welcoming point for new attendees.
Dinner reception
The Cloud Forum dinner is preceded by a reception with hors d’oeuvre and drinks. This provides some buffer to people gathering prior to opening dinner seating.
Budget
In recent years Cornell spent roughly $28K to host the Cloud Forum annually. Internet2 is proposing to fund the event with an expectation of some sweat equity by the host school. As each host school will have its own facilities and expense structures, the budget will have to be revisited each year to keep it affordable.
NOTE: It has happened that another school would sponsor the dinner or some other event element. Naturally, we welcome the host or another school pitching in to allow us to do more for attendees, but Internet2’s goal is to cover the basics.
Additional considerations
An exciting aspect of moving the Cloud Forum between schools is giving the host schools a chance to showcase their campus, community, and achievements. Possibilities include:
- Welcome by the host CIO
- Showcase research in the Cloud by a researcher from the host institution
- Campus tours
- Host the dinner at a special location to show off more of the school
- Recommendations of unique local (campus or area) interest
Host school roles and responsibilities
- Lead contact
- The face of the institution – Ideally this will be the institution’s cloud administrator. They will be the main point of contact for event coordination and working with the organizing committee.
- Local organizing lead – Active participant in the organizing committee and liaison with campus partners.
- The face of the event for communications – Save the date, call for proposals, registration and other community communications will be sent out under her/his name to reinforce with the community that the event is being presented by the host school
- Administrative help – the campus lead should not have to bear the local work alone. Ideally, there should be at least one person with strong administrative skills who will stay on top of the details of the local arrangements such as:
- Reserve space
- Coordinate meals
- Work with hotel, parking ops, campus events/tours, etc.
- Work with CF budget lead to coordinate the transfer of funds, particularly if there are multiple local partners.
- Print up name tags and tent cards, and track miscellaneous preparation need
- Role of reps from following year’s host:
- Campus lead – Ideally the lead contact from the following year’s host institution should be involved in the planning committee, perhaps even shadowing some of the work the current year’s host does.
- Additional staff – It is always helpful if more than one person from a hosting institution is able to attend the Cloud Forum so their collective experience assists with planning for the following year.
Internet2 roles and responsibilities
- NET+ program PoC – Typically this will be the PM of the Cloud Infrastructure and Platform Services program. S/he will be the main point of contact for Internet2. This person will schedule and chair the Cloud Forum organizing committee and marshal the internal resources as needed. S/he will work with the NET+ Director to secure funding and other support for the event.
- Internet2 events team – Experienced with hosting large events, the I2 events team can provide tooling and logistical support not limited to:
- Event website
- Graphics work
- Registration coordination
- Collection of payment (should that ever be necessary)
- Session proposal collection and management
- Communication and publicity
Interested in Hosting?
If you would like to discuss hosting the Cloud Forum at your institution, please reach out to Bob Flynn (bflynn@internet2.edu).