Contributor Relations Webinar 2025

Contributor Relations and Logistics Teams

AGENDA

• SC25/SCinet25
• 2025 Leadership Team
• About Contributor Relations and Logistics
• Benefits of being a contributor
• Additional Contributor Opportunities
• Requirements/Recognition Tiers
• Key Deliverables
• Shipping Processes
• Key Dates
• Resources
• Questions

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SC25/SCINET 2025

St Louis, MO

Nov 16-21

SC’s 2nd Time in St Louis

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SC25/SCINET 2025 LEADERSHIP

• Conference General Chair
• Lori Diachin (Lawrence Livermore National Labs)
• SCinet Chair
• Nathaniel Mendoza (Texas Advanced Computing Center)
• SCinet 2026 Chair
• Dylan Jacobs (ESnet)
• ~20 Total SCinet Teams
• Typically about 200+ total SCinet participants
• Contributors tend to work primarily with WAN, Routing, and NetSec
• New/expanded this year: Automation and Cluster

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CR/LOGISTICS TEAM

CR Team Members: Brian Smith (ORNL), Gizella Kapus (ESnet), Katrina Trujillo (LLNL), Matthew Chung (UC Riverside)

Email: contributor-relations@scinet.supercomputing.org

Wiki: https://scinet.supercomputing.org/contributor-relations

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Logistics Team Members: Patrick Finnegan (Purdue), Andrew Sydelko (Purdue)

Email: logistics@scinet.supercomputing.org

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Management Support: Jason Zurawski (ESnet)

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WHY CONTRIBUTE TO SCINET?

• SCinet is the world’s fastest and most powerful temporary network
• “1 year to plan, 1 month to build, 1 week to run, 1 day to teardown”
• Access and exposure to the largest HPC (and growing AI) audience
• Almost 19000 attendees at SC24, a significant record
• Opportunities to demonstrate new equipment in a production-like environment
• Stress test new equipment in a less stressful environment
• Opportunities for demonstrating interoperability
• Enhance your image by sharing innovative implementations through our communications channels
• Connect with decision makers from academia, government, and industry
• Brand awareness through logo placement and speaking opportunities
• Participate in the Research Expo and Network Research Exhibition

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BENEFITS

• SCinet NOC/DNOC Posters
• Logo placement on SCinet rotating banner
• SCinet Partner Highlights
• SCinet Contributor Web Page
• Discounted exhibit floor network connection
• Press release coordination
• Recognition via SCinet Displays
• Exhibit Floor Admission(s)
• Exhibitor Forum

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DIAMOND/PLATINUM BENEFITS

• Logo and mention by SC25 General Chair during Keynote (Diamond)
• Premium/prominent logo placement on NOC and banner
• Extra Exhibitor Badges
• Additional free/discounted wired booth network connection
• See Contributor Guide for full list

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OTHER MARKETING OPPORTUNITIES

• General media inquiries for SCinet - contact the Contributor Relations team first
• Contributor Relations will also work with SCinet Contributors to identify areas of interest for future stories
• Content should highlight:
• Contributor technology provided to SCinet
• SCinet volunteers making use of the technology
• Challenges being addressed and impact for the HPC community
• SC Communications committee maintains:
• Blog and Newsletter - https://sc25.supercomputing.org/media/blog/
• 1st Friday of the Month
• Social Media
• Instagram, YouTube, Facebook LinkedIn, Twitter
• Ongoing Content Series
• Highlight the people and diverse backgrounds in the HPC community

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RESEARCH EXPO AND NETWORK RESEARCH EXHIBITION

• SC Research Expo is a theater style booth on the show floor intended to provide a platform for short presentations relevant to SCinet and SC.
• Contributors welcome to propose sessions for inclusion in the schedule.
• Content must be focused on technologies as opposed to product specific sales pitch
• Can tie into products utilizing the technology and how it provides a SCinet solution.
• contributor-relations@scinet.supercomputing.org
• Network Research Exhibition (NRE)
• Live experiments and demos that are run on the show floor utilizing SCinet’s high performance research network for both internal and external connectivity.
• Requires a host booth on the show floor for the demonstration
• https://sc25.supercomputing.org/scinet/network-research-exhibition/

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RECOGNITION TIER CHANGES FROM 2024

• Recognition system was changed in 2024.
• Contributor tiers and point values seemed to work well, so no significant changes for 2025.
• Points based system
• Simplification of process for Tiers
• Recognize the large people time commitment SCinet is and decrease in travel funding by many organizations
• Points awarded for hardware, software, and volunteers
• Donations of equipment will get a multiplier and be valid for multiple years

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Points Process (HW, SW, BW)

• Points are issued based on dollar value of loaned equipment, software, and services (e.g. bandwidth)
• Insured value of hardware (not MSRP) will be used for loaned hardware
• If MSRP is provided, SCinet will use 30% of the value for evaluation
• The cost of software licensing (prorated to the months of use, defaulting to 1)
• The cost of services such as bandwidth will be prorated to the months of use, defaulting to 1).
• Dollar amounts divided by $50,000 (rounded up) provide base point value

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SCinet Timelines (for People points)

• Planning - Now through Staging
• Designing the network
• Staging - October 22 - October 31
• Inventory equipment, unboxing, racking, start configuration and fiber patching
• Setup - November 10-15
• Final configuration, testing, prepare to go live
• Show - November 16-20
• The Big Deal
• Teardown - Thursday afternoon Nov 20/All day Friday Nov 21
• Counts as “Show” for people points
• Semi-controlled chaos unracking, repacking, organizing for return shipment
• Equipment departing - Saturday November 22
• All gear has left the building

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Points Process - People

Team Lead - 10 points

Design and Planning Participation (Jan-Aug) - 5 points

Staging (Late October) - 5 points

Setup - (Week before show) 3 points

Show - 1 point

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Points Process - Contributor Example 1

Network Services Provider

Provides gear with replacement value of $600,000. 12 points

Provides services prorated at $500,000. 10 points

3 Engineers on SCinet teams for Design and Planning - 3*5=15 points

5 people at Staging - 5*5=25 points

2 people at Setup - 2*3 = 6 points

2 people at show - 2 points

Total: 70, Platinum

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Points Process - Contributor Example 2

Network Gear Provider

Provides gear with $1.5m replacement value - 30 points

Provides 1 person at setup - 3 points

Provides 5 people at show - 5 points

Total: 38, Gold

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Points Process - Contributor Example 3

(Small) Network Equipment Provider

Provides gear worth $75000 - 2 points

2 employees as SCinet team leads - 20 points

2 people for Design and Planning - 10 points

2 people at staging - 10 points

2 people for setup - 4 points

2 people at show - 2 points

Total: 48, Gold

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EXTRA MILE ITEMS

In addition to loaned/donated equipment and personnel time, contributors can provide “Extra Mile” items. “Extra Mile” help will increase the contributor’s benefit tier by 1 level (e.g. Silver->Gold)

Opportunities:

• SCinet Co-Branded Apparel
• Travel assistance funds
• Direct financial support to help with travel expenses for SCinet volunteers

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Note: “Extra mile” items cannot bump a contributor from Platinum to Diamond

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KEY DELIVERABLES/DATES

• Intent to Contribute Form - May 30
• Provides executive and technical contact emails for CR/Logistics
• Bill of Materials (BOM)
• Initial BOM Due June 27
• Updated BOM Due August 8
• Final BOM Due September 5
• Liability Waiver (only for hardware providers)
• Due with initial BOM
• Logos - Due September 12
• Logos need to be a scalable graphics format so they can be printed at very large sizes - typically EPS/PS/PDF, AI, or SVG
• Product or example photos
• Gear - Freeman’s warehouse in Nashville by Weds Oct 15

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BILL OF MATERIALS (BOM)

• The BOM provides an accounting of a contributor’s intended contributions.
• Used to help determine the contributor’s tier
• Hardware - Used for Insurance purposes
• Tracking equipment in and out of the conference spaces.
• The initial BOM is a best-guess based on early work with teams.
• It should have the key “big-ticket” items.
• Determines initial contributor tier
• Middle BOM should refine big-ticket items and have a good guess of e.g. optics counts or “modules” in a big-ticket item
• Determines final contributor tier (along with extra mile contributions)
• Final BOM should reflect everything shipped to the conference.
• This is the list that will be submitted to IEEE/ACM for final insurance purposes.
• BOL/Inventory will override BOMs but please provide updated BOMs as gear ships

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BILL OF MATERIALS (BOM) (cont)

• New for 2025: No need to provide 1gb or 10gb optics if your gear can use 3rd party optics
• SCinet owns enough 1gb and 10gb optics for our typical uses
• Work with teams to ensure we have enough form factors
• If you must use branded 1gb or 10gb optics please make sure Contributor Relations and Logistics know to expect those optics

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• New for 2025: Updated BOM form (next slide) highlighting optics or gear that should have special handling at inventory/check-in

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• Link: https://tinyurl.com/SC2025-BOM (from Contributor Relations Wiki)

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BOM Changes for 2025

New Column

INBOUND SHIPPING

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• Receiving handled by Freeman
• Provided shipping labels must be on every item (at least one per box and one per side on pallets)
• Labels are available on the CR WIki
• NOTE: Gear will be shipped to a Nashville Freeman Warehouse, then trucked to St Louis
• All shipments are strongly encouraged to provide tracking information to CR/Logistics but shipments with Optics MUST provide tracking information
• Inventoried gear list will supercede the final BOM for insurance purposes
• Differences between the Inventory list and BOM require a signature by a representative of the contributor or destination SCinet team lead.

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Shipping Label

OUTBOUND SHIPPING

• Preference is to ship via Freeman
• Shipping via other carries require you to hand carry the equipment out of convention center or arrange pickup
• Current plan of record is outbound shipping via Freeman will be covered by SCinet

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• CR/Logistics will apply shipping labels on all equipment boxes
• Verify outbound equipment with the checkin inventory list
• Hand carried equipment requires a signature which releases all responsibility to the signatory.

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• More details from Logistics closer to the conference

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• Outbound shipping information due before show starts

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KEY DATES

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• Contributor Intent to Participate Due Friday, May 30
• Initial Bill of Materials Friday, June 27
• Liability Waivers due Friday, June 27
• Updated Bill of Materials Due Friday, August 8
• Final Bill of Materials Due (used for insurance) Friday, September 5
• Outbound Shipper Paperwork Submitted Friday, September 5
• Loaned Equipment Received Wednesday, October 15
• “Extra Mile” Contribution Declaration Friday, August 29
• Contributor Logos submitted Friday, September 12
• SCinet Panel Artwork submitted Friday, September 12
• Request complimentary exhibitor badges Friday, September 26
• Network connection transfer request submitted Friday, September 26
• Co-branded Apparel Shipment Received Wednesday, October 15
• Confirmation of Initial Benefit Level Achieved Friday, August 11
• Apparel Sizes and Quantities Released Friday, August 15
• Final Valuation Change Deadline Friday, September 5
• Confirmation of Final Benefit Level Achieved Friday, September 12
• Freeman Outbound Shipping Date Saturday, November 22

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RESOURCES

• External Contributor Relations Wiki:
• https://scinet.supercomputing.org/contributor-relations
• Forms, shipping labels, these slides, this video, CR Guidebook
• Contributor Relations Email:
• contributor-relations@scinet.supercomputing.org

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Questions?