[1.36] Release Comms Subteam Cycle Progress #2941
Description
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-1.36/README.md.
Overview
Latest Update
As of Monday, 19 January (week 1)
- Enhancements tracking has started, and the comms release team has been finalized.
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
- v1.36 Schedule and Information
- Templates for various reach-out / drafts
- Enhancement Tracking Board
- Mid Cycle Blog
- Release Highlight
- Release Highlights contact issue: (TBC)
- Release Highlights discussion: (TBC)
- Release Announcement
Comms Team Plan and Deadlines
Note
This plan may be subject to change over time. You can find the plan in the v1.36 Release Comms Calendar
- Release Enhancements Freeze (week 5 - 12/02/2026)
- Release Feature Blog First opt-in reach out
- start: week 5 - 12/02/2026
- ends: week 9 - 06/03/2026
- Release Feature Second opt-in reach out
- start: week 9 - 26/02/2026
- end: week 10 - 06/03/2026
- Feature Blog Freeze (week 8 - 06/03/2026)
- [OPTIONAL] Release Mid-Cycle Blog content scouting
- start: week 8 - 06/03/2026
- end: week 9 - 11/03/2026
- Release Highlights opening discussion and outreach
- start: week 12 - 30/03/2026 (a day before the deadline)
- end: week 12 - 31/03/2026
- Release Highlight planning issue (week 12 - 30/03/2026)
- [OPTIONAL] Mid-Cycle Blog draft (week 13 - 08/04/2026)
- [OPTIONAL] Mid-Cycle Blog confirmation deadline (week 13 - 09/04/2026)
- Release Highlights Deadline (week 12 - 31/03/2026)
- Release Feature Blog ready for review reminder
- start: week 13 - 04/04/2026
- end: week 13 - 05/04/2026
- Release Highlights second outreach / reminder
- start: week 12 - 23/03/2026
- end: week 12 - 25/03/2026
- [OPTIONAL] Mid-Cycle Blog Ready for Review (week 13 - 06/04/2026)
- Release Feature Blog ready for review deadline (week 13 - 06/04/2026)
- Release Feature Blog publication calendar ready (week 13 - 10/04/2026)
- Release Feature Blog Start Review (week 13 - 10/04/2026)
- [OPTIONAL] Mid-Cycle Blog Published (week 13 - 08/04/2026)
- Release Highlights Completion Deadline (week 15 - 22/04/2026)
- Release Announcement draft (week 13 - 09/04/2026)
- Release Feature Blog Start Scheduling (week 15 - 22/04/2026)
- Release Announcement Ready for review (week 15 - 23/04/2026)
Schedule and Details
Week 1, 2: Onboarding
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
- Onboard the shadows
- Select the shadows
- Prepare the onboarding presentation
- Run down Comms expectation in a meeting
- Provide all the relevant information for the action items for the shadows
- Update contact details for the shadows in the release contact sheet
- Update the
k/org's /config/kubernetes/sig-release/teams.yaml- This gives access to the Comms Project Board
- We need the lead and shadows to be listed as milestone maintainers
- Add the lead
- Add the shadows
- Comms Project Board
- "Comms - All" project board created and shadows GitHub usernames added as options for the
Comms Opt‑in Assignee - "Comms - Feature Blogs" project board created and shadows GitHub usernames added as options for the
Comms-Editor - Adjust the filter setup for "Comms - Feature Blogs" to ensure anyone can find the current progress with Feature Blog status
- "Comms - All" project board created and shadows GitHub usernames added as options for the
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.
- Create membership request issue in
k/org(if not already members) - Sign the CLA
- Subscribe to the Kubernetes release calendar
- Join the Slack channels related to Release Teams
- #sig-release
- #sig-docs
- #sig-docs-blog
- #release-comms
- Also, there are other Release related channels worth joining
- Schedule and attend the mandatory shadow orientation (general)
- Schedule and attend the Comms shadow onboarding
Status Summary / Note for Reference
- TBC
Week 3, 4, 5, 6, 7: Tracking
The main tracking starts as the enhancement freeze comes into play.
For v1.XX, the enhancement freeze takes place on week {{X}}.
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
- Prepare the Comms board with Feature Blog opt-in reach-out assignees
- With Enhancement freeze in effect (in week 5), prepare for Release Highlights
- Work with the Release Team and decide if the release warrants a Mid Cycle Blog
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 Deadline + Mid Cycle Blog
TBC
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
Status Summary / Note for Reference
- TBC
Week 9: Focus on Mid Cycle Blog
TBC
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: Release Blog Draft & Mid Way Retro
TBC
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.
- Join retrospective for sharing anything you learned from the cycle so far
Status Summary / Note for Reference
- TBC
Week 11: Mid Cycle Blog Published + Start of Burndown Meetings
TBC
For Lead
There are many items in week, and anything that couldn't get completed should be carried over in the week after (which is during KubeCon).
- Publish the mid cycle sneak peek blog (24th March, 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
- Run down the Release Announcement details for the team
- Schedule the release Live Webinar with CNCF by emailing
webinars@cncf.io. 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
pr@cncf.io - 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-blogteam and maintain the publication schedule post in Slack to keep everyone synced - Choose the next Comms Lead
For Lead and Shadows
- Send final reminder about the Release Highlights (the deadline is on Tuesday, 25th March, 2025)
- Join burndown meetings
- As of writing (22nd March), the burndown meeting is likely to take place asynchronously on Slack
- Lead or shadows will be asked to provide the RAG (Red Amber Green) status
- Send a reminder to Feature Blog authors (deadline on week 13)
- 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
- Once finalised, the schedule needs to be shared in
- 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: Placeholder (KubeCon)
TBC
Week 13: Crunch time
TBC
For Lead
- Check status with Docs lead on content for the Known Issues section of the release blog
- Continue to partner with
#sig-docs-blogfor 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
- TBC
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 v1.33, the release is planned on Wednesday 23rd April 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!
- Once the Release Announcement is published, post in #announcements
- Continue to facilitate publication of remaining Feature Blogs, until all PRs are merged with the right publication date
- 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
Status Summary / Note for Reference
- TBC
Other Follow-up Actions and Notes
- We should make clarification on when the Feature Blog opt-in reach-outs to happen (it was a bit vague)
- In the opt-in reach-out, we should consider whether Feature Blog write-up was done in the past
- We should remove the duplicated Project Board view, and adjust the column and field wording
- Make sure all the templates use the consistent KEP referencing of something like:
[KEP-4974: Deprecate v1.Endpoints](https://kep.k8s.io/4974) - Document the version should be "v" prefixed
- Update the blog status field to prefix with some numbers (the current "ready for review", "review in progress", "ready to publish" are all so similar and hard to see which one's which...)
- When getting the placeholder blog PRs for Feature Blogs, we will need to get the KEP authors to come back to us in the KEP. Additionally, monitor https://github.com/kubernetes/website/pulls between weeks 5 and 8 (Feature Blog opt-in period), check with the author and use labels
sig/releaseandarea/blogto keep track of any submissions not notified in the KEP thread.
Old Updates
As of XX Jan (week 1):
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