I don't know if there is an equivalent. The beauty of conferences are the unscripted, chance encounters with other attendees. I gave a talk at last year's PyBay

I don't know if there is an equivalent. The beauty of conferences are the unscripted, chance encounters with other attendees. I gave a talk at last year's PyBay (bay area python conference) and the magic of it was in the side conversations leading up to the talk and then after it. Heck, I even nailed $20k worth of consulting work from hanging out at a random table. This cannot happen in a virtual setting. I run the SF Django Meetup and we're hosting a nationwide virtual meetup this upcoming Wednesday. We have over 350 people RSVP'd and though I'm excited about bringing so many people together, it's not lost on me that those magical serendipitous moments aren't going to happen.