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[v1.34] Release Comms Subteam Cycle Progress #2790

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[v1.34] Release Comms Subteam Cycle Progress#2790
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@aibarbetta
aibarbetta
opened on May 26, 2025

Note

This ticket follows the Release Team Lead Cycle Progress ticket, and is curated for Comms specific actions and plans. More of release information can be found in /releases/release-1.34/README.md.

This ticket is based on the previous issue used in v1.33, and it is planned to be updated along during the whole release cycle.

Overview

Latest Update

As of Friday, 20th June (week 5)

  • Instructions on how to reach out to KEP authors for Feature Blog opt-in have been sent to shadows
  • First opt-in outreach is in progress
  • Process around gathering major changes and noteworthy deliverables for Mid-Cycle Blog is not completely clear

Currently Tracked Goals

  • Feature Blogs
    • Opt-in Outreach
  • Mid Cycle Sneak Peek Blog
    • Internal write-up
    • Official PR
  • Release Announcements
    • Release Highlights
    • Internal write-up
    • Official PR
  • Webinar and Press
    • Schedule with CNCF
    • Coordinate interview setup with press
    • Hold webinar

Useful Links

Schedule and Details

Week 1, 2, 3: Onboarding and planning

Comms work tend to focus more towards the latter half of the release schedule, and thus this is the time to prepare for the team setup.

For Lead

For Shadows

Tip

Although many actions need to be handled by the shadows themselves, it is important for the lead to guide to the right information and material for proceeding with them.

Status Summary / Note for Reference

  • Mandatory shadow orientation / general onboarding spilled to week 4
  • Tracking board was copied from previous cycle by Enhancements lead.

Week 4, 5, 6, 7: Tracking

Tracking starts as the enhancement freeze comes into play. For v1.34, the Enhancements Freeze takes place on week 5 (21:00 UTC Friday 20th June 2025 / 14:00 PST Friday 20th June 2025).

For Lead

  • Have a clear picture of what to expect with Release Lead and other Subteam Leads
    • List all major changes to be included in this release with the Release Lead and Enhancements Lead
    • List most noteworthy deliverables post-Enhancements freeze with Enhancements and Docs Leads
  • Work with the Release Team and decide if the release warrants a Mid Cycle Blog
  • Prepare for Feature Blog opt-in reach-out
    • Send shadows instructions on how to reach out to KEP authors for Feature Blog opt-in
    • Prepare the Comms board with Feature Blog opt-in reach-out assignees
  • With Enhancement freeze in effect (in week 5 21:00 UTC Friday 20th June 2025 / 14:00 PST Friday 20th June 2025), prepare for Release Highlights
    • Create a GitHub Discussion: (TBC)
      • This can be used to collect the Release Highlights from various SIGs and KEP owners
      • Template
      • Example: v1.26, v1.32, v1.33
    • Create a GitHub Issue: (TBC)

For Lead and Shadows

  • Start reaching out for Feature Blog opt-in for each KEP
    • Complete the first round of reach-out
    • Complete the second round of reach-out
  • Reach out to all SIGs for their input on Release Highlights
    • The deadline would be much later, and we should mark the initial reach-out

Status Summary / Note for Reference

  • TBC

Week 8: Feature Blog opt-in Deadline + Mid Cycle Blog

For v1.34, the Feature Blog freeze takes place on week 8 (02:00 UTC Friday 11th July 2025 / 19:00 PST Thursday 10th July 2025). Also, the Mid Cycle Sneak Peek blog is set to be published on week 11, and thus we would need to start the sneak peek blog draft early enough. The week 8 is a good target to start the draft for the Mid Cycle Sneak Peek blog since major changes and noteworthy deliverables should be known by this point.

For Lead

  • Start drafting the mid cycle sneak peek blog

For Lead and Shadows

  • Update and finalise the Feature Blog status in the Project Board
  • Work on the mid cycle sneak peek blog draft

Status Summary / Note for Reference

  • TBC

Week 9: Focus on Mid Cycle Blog

As the mid cycle blog needs to be reviewed by the SIG Docs Blog team, the target is to get the blog ready for review this week, getting ready for the publish target of early week 11 for v1.34.

For Lead

  • Create the mid cycle sneak peek blog PR
  • Collaborate with sig-docs-blog to establish review expectations and publication strategy
  • Notify sig-docs-blog about the review of the mid cycle sneak peek blog
  • Assign Feature Blogs to each member and clarify in the "Comms Editor" column

For Lead and Shadows

  • Send another reminder to SIGs about Release Highlights

Status Summary / Note for Reference

  • TBC

Week 10: Mid Cycle Blog Review, Release Blog Draft & Mid Way Retro

For v1.34, the code freeze takes place this week. The deadline of Release Highlights is week after (week 11), and thus we start preparing for the Release Announcements write-up

For Lead

  • Start drafting the Release Announcement blog

For Lead and Shadows

A bit of slow time other than the mid cycle blog to be finalised.

  • Address review comments on the mid cycle sneak peek blog
  • Send final reminder about the Release Highlights (the deadline is on Tuesday 29th July 2025)
  • Join retrospective for sharing anything you learned from the cycle so far

Status Summary / Note for Reference

  • TBC

Week 11: Mid Cycle Blog Published

The mid cycle blog goes out, and Release Highlight deadline is on this week. With the code freeze done in the previous week, we should be ready for getting more contents in place for the Release Announcement.

For Lead

  • Publish the mid cycle sneak peek blog (Monday 28th July 2025)
  • Make sure Release Highlights details are shared in the discussion ticket
    • This is to ensure transparency for all the Release teams
  • Review Feature Blog assignment following the code freeze, and re-assign as necessary
  • Start drafting the Release Announcement blog
  • Run down the Release Announcement details for the team
  • Schedule the release Live Webinar with CNCF by emailing [email protected]. You may be referred to Calendly. The webinar is typically scheduled for 3-4 weeks after the release.
  • Schedule press and analyst pre-briefings and interviews for the release lead with CNCF by emailing [email protected]
  • Schedule release blog and press embargo with the CNCF
  • Discuss the Release Highlights status with the Release Lead, Enhancements Lead, and Docs Lead (during the RT meeting)
  • Establish Feature Blog publication schedule, typically 2-3 posts per week, at least starting a day after the release blog.
  • Establish a regular cadence status check-in with the #sig-docs-blog team and maintain the publication schedule post in Slack to keep everyone synced
  • Choose the next Comms Lead

For Lead and Shadows

  • Join burndown meetings
    • Lead or shadows will be asked to provide the RAG (Red Amber Green) status
  • Send a reminder to Feature Blog authors (ready-to-review deadline on week 12)
    • Once the write-up is ready for review, we need to ensure we have the right parties engaged in the review (sig-docs-blog, associated SIGs, etc.).
  • Prepare Feature Blog publication schedule internally
    • Once finalised, the schedule needs to be shared in #sig-docs-blog
  • Start writing up Release Announcement blog draft
    • Each member should have a handful of sections to work on
    • Ensure each of the Release Highlights gets a one-to-two paragraph summary, following updates from SIGs

Status Summary / Note for Reference

  • TBC

Week 12: Feature Blogs ready-to-review + Start of burndown Meetings

Many of the actions have started on week 11, any work should continue in this week, especially around the Release Announcement write-up which takes quite some time.

For Lead and Shadows

  • Continue to work on the Release Announcement blog draft
  • Final reminder to Feature Blog authors to get their write-ups ready for review
    • The deadline is on Friday 8th August 2025

Status Summary / Note for Reference

  • TBC

Week 13: Release Announcement ready-to-review deadline

For v1.34, the Release Announcement ready-to-review deadline is on week 13 (02:00 UTC Friday 15th August 2025 / 19:00 PDT Thursday 14th August 2025). Also, Feature Blog reviews start taking place from week 13.

For Lead

  • Check status with Docs lead on content for the Known Issues section of the release blog
  • Continue to partner with #sig-docs-blog for editorial review, work with shadows to ensure tech reviews are moving forward from SIGs
  • Connect with Release Lead to ensure theme and release logo will be ready for release blog (not required for draft)
  • Finalize Release Announcement blog draft and start review cycle, ensure it's ready for Docs Lead to publish on release day
  • Share the Release Announcement blog PR in #chairs-and-techleads channel to get technical reviews
  • Send release blog draft to CNCF (week 13)
  • Ensure first few Feature Blogs are ready to publish and that review and merge plans are in place for any still outstanding.

For Lead and Shadows

  • Continue to work on the Release Announcement blog draft

Status Summary / Note for Reference

  • TBC

Week 14: Getting Ready for Release

As the release coming up so near, we should be done with most of the actions by the end of week 14.

For Lead

  • Ensure the Release Announcement blog PR main write-up is merged
  • Continue to facilitate publication of remaining feature blogs, until all PRs are merged with the right publication date

For Lead and Shadows

  • TBC

Status Summary / Note for Reference

  • TBC

Week 15: Release + Post Release Actions

For v1.34, the release is planned on Wednesday 27th August 2025. At this point, there shouldn't be too much that we need to handle other than last minute juggling...

For Lead

  • Update the Release Announcement blog with the logo and release name!
  • Update the Comms handbook with what you've learnt as leader (example PR: here)
  • Organize the slides for the CNCF release webinar, and send to the CNCF for review at least one week ahead of the scheduled date. (see example slides here)
  • Close all the outstanding tickets
    • This ticket for tracking Comms progress
    • Release Highlight discussion
    • Post-release handbook / template update PRs
    • ... and any other tickets that was created

For Lead and Shadows

  • Participate in release retro
  • Continue to facilitate publication of remaining Feature Blogs, until all PRs are merged with the right publication date

Status Summary / Note for Reference

  • TBC

Old Updates

  • TBC

As of Friday, 13th June (week 4)

  • New shadows attended the general onboarding
  • 1 Feature Blog opted-in early

As of Friday, 6th June (week 3)

  • Release Comms shadow onboarding is done
  • Subscriptions and org membership for shadows is done

As of Friday, 30th May (week 2)

  • Release Team contact sheet was updated
  • Subscriptions and org membership for shadows is in progress

As of Friday, 23th May (week 1)

  • Comms shadows were selected and notified

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