b) some people don't arrive due to flight cancellations, or they were a
close contact of a covid case or anything else and the volunteers who do
arrive have to do the work for everybody who is blocked from travel
There is actually a huge amount of work that volunteers do before any
event and this uncertainty is an extra burden for them.
If the volunteers are happy to accept those risks it is fine but I don't
think anybody can complain if they simply go with another online FOSDEM
Speaking as a devroom manager, I would happily sign up for extra volunteer shifts or register as a backup on days when my devroom isn't running if that is what helps FOSDEM run this year. I suspect there are more of us who would do the same.
-Seth