FAQ

Here you will find answers to frequently asked questions. If you have further questions, please contact the conference help desk.

General instructions

This year’s iDiv conference will take place on 8 and 9 October 2020. You will be able to access all of the sessions and meetings via the password-protected conference platform. The password has been shared with you after your registration (see confirmation e-mail).

Please find detailed instructions and information for presenters and conference attendees for the workshop sessions here. Note that we invite presenters to join the session via Zoom 15 minutes before the session starts to test your connection, microphone etc.

Abstracts and complementary material for the workshop sessions will be published on the conference platform. Please see the detailed conference programme.
 

General Member Assembly

The agenda of the General Member Assembly (open to all iDiv members) can be viewed here: View PDF


General questions

Where will the virtual event happen?

We will be running the event on a password-protect subpage of the iDiv webpage.

A password will be provided once you registered for the event. Any complementary material for workshop sessions as well as links to the individual Zoom meetings will be linked there. 

How will the virtual conference be run?

Links to all sessions and complementary material (abstracts, posters, links etc.) will be available on the conference platform to the registered participants at all time. The sessions will be run live according to the schedule. During the workshop sessions, participants will be able to ask questions via the Zoom chat box to the presenters and get involved in the discussion.

Which browser should I use?

You can use all common browsers, such as Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge or Apple Safari. Please check if you are running the latest version.

Which software will be used?

The only software that will be used for the conference is Zoom. We invite you to familiarise yourself with Zoom prior to the conference. We will be using a password-protected subpage on the iDiv website as the conference platform.

Do I need a Zoom account to participate in the conference?

As a participant you do not need to have a Zoom account to join the live sessions. Only volunteers and session chairs need a Zoom account. If you use Zoom to record your presentation, you will need an account.

Are there troubleshooting guidelines?

A speaker’s recording is not available in the Nextcloud folder
This means the speaker has not uploaded his/her video. If the speaker is present, she/he can do a live presentation. If it does not work, or if the presenter is not present, announce that the talk is cancelled. The session takes a break for the length of the talk + questions and resumes with the following talk at the time indicated in the agenda.

One of the speakers is not present during the session
This is unfortunate but the good news is that we should have the recording of the speaker’s presentation. You can invite the attendees to write questions for the speaker in the Zoom chat box and the absent speaker will be invited to address them afterwards. When the recording finishes, do not invite the next speaker immediately but wait until the time indicated in the agenda.

I am a volunteer and I lost my internet connection
Do not worry, this is why we did our best to have two volunteers per session. The other volunteers should inform the organisers. Join the session again when possible.

The chair(s) has/have lost her/his/their internet connection
In most cases, show must go on. Inform the organisers. Each session should have more than one chair and this will be one of the reasons why.

The conference platform is down
Chances are good that the organisers are aware of this and address the issue. But inform us anyway.

Some attendees cannot join the Zoom call
Our zoom licenses are limited to 100 participants for the regular sessions and 500 for the plenaries. It is very unlikely that they will be used completely but that may be the reason why some participants can no longer attend. The principle of “first come, first served” applies. For this reason, chairs, volunteers and presenters must log in to the Zoom session at least 15 minutes before the start of the session.

An attendee is making weird/innapropriate comments on the chat
Contact the organisers immediately and we will take it from there. Note that as host/co-host you can mute attendees at any time and make the chat visible only to the presenters (“panelists”).

A presenter is answering questions, but we cannot really hear her/him
In that case, politely interrupt the presenter and invite her/him to type the answers in the Zoom chat box instead.

My fellow volunteer has lost her/his internet connexion
For the time being, you will have to fly solo but do not worry, you know what to do. Do inform the organisers and we will try and send someone to replace the fellow volunteer.

Workshops

How will the workshop sessions be run?

All workshop sessions are run as parallel workshops with a flexible agenda. Workshops will normally have some presentations to kick-start the discussion. Any complementary material (abstracts, posters, links) will be available on the conference website. 

If you have been invited to give a presentation by the organisers of the workshop, please check directly with them if they want you to pre-record your talk or not.

Will sessions be recorded?

Some sessions may be recorded, depending on the preferences of the chair of the workshop. An information if a session will be recorded will be made available at the beginning of every session. Please note that you may always switch of your video or microphone.

How are the sessions managed?

The sessions are managed by the session chairs and volunteers assigned to each session. The latter will help the chairs facilitate the smooth running of the sessions (e.g., facilitate Q&A sessions by using the raise hands function and notify the session/meeting chair when attendees want to talk, moderate the Zoom chat box, make sure the microphones are muted during talks, start/end the recording of the sessions/meetings, etc.)

Each workshop session takes place during a 90min slot. We ask all chairs to respect this timeframe to allow smooth running of the conference.

What are options for interactive sessions, e.g. white boards etc.?

You can use a white board in Zoom (when you share your screen); Polling for webinars, or Using annotation tools on a shared screen or whiteboard to make your meeting more interactive.

Will Zoom sessions be open prior to the official start of a session?

Yes, Zoom sessions will be open 10-15 minutes prior to the actual start time of the session/meeting.

Can I join sessions I am not a member of?

Yes, absolutely. All sessions listed in the agenda are open to all participants.

Talks and presentations

Can talks be pre-recorded? If so, how?

Talks can be recorded with PowerPoint or Zoom. If you are using a Mac, we advise you to use Zoom instead of PowerPoint.

If you use Zoom:

  1. Install Zoom
  2. Host a meeting
  3. Make sure your audio (and video) is on
  4. Share your screen and open your PowerPoint presentation/poster
  5. Then start recording (recording starts immediately)
  6. Stop recording when you are done, then stop sharing screen (in this order!)
  7. Leave the meeting
  8. Recording is saved automatically as an MP4.

Please make sure that your recording is saved as a MP4 file if you use PowerPoint to record your talk. (Note: In PowerPoint, the audio may not be recorded properly when animations are played.)

Will my presentation be downloadable or only be viewable after the conference?

The recording of your presentation will only be viewable by the workshop participants, unless you decide to share it on the respecitive workshop subpage.

Posters

Will there be posters?

There will be no poster sessions like in previous years. However, workshop chair may choose to provide a poster either before the conference as additional material of their workshops or after the conference as a workshop summary. The posters will be available on the workshop subpage.

How can posters be presented?

Posters may be presented on the workshop subpages either as a PDF or JPG file.

Wrap-ups

What are the wrap-up sessions for?

We will use these sessions to wrap up the main activities and achievements of all previous workshop sessions. Those sessions are open to all participants, and some time will be reserved for Q&A at the end of the wrap-up.

Troubleshooting

The chair(s) has/have lost his/her/their internet connection

In most cases, the show must go on. Inform the organizers. Each session should have more than one chair and this will be one of the reasons why.

Some participants cannot join the Zoom call.

Our zoom licenses are limited to 300 participants per session. It is very unlikely but that may be the reason why some participants can no longer join. We operate on a ‘first come, first served’ basis – this is also why chairs, volunteers and presenters must enter the Zoom meeting at least 15 min. before the session starts.

A participant is making weird/inappropriate comments on the chat.

Contact the organisers immediately and we will take it from there. Note that as host/co-host, you can always mute participants, and make the chat only visible to the presenters (“panelists”).

A person is talking but we cannot really hear him/her.

In that case, politely interrupt the person, e.g. by raising your hand. If the person cannot solve the issue, invite him/her to use the chat box instead.

My camera is not working.

When you join a call, Zoom will prompt you with an option to Join with Video before entering the meeting. Always click this button, or else you will enter the call without your camera feed.

Make sure all other programs that use the webcam are closed and check your app permissions to make sure Zoom or your web browser can use your webcam.

I cannot share my screen properly in Zoom.

Check your settings and make sure you have a solid internet connection. Sharing your screen takes up a lot of bandwidth. If you’re already on a call and need to share your screen, try turning off your video by clicking the Stop Video button and then choosing the green Share screen button.

Zoom has crashed during a meeting.

If it doesn’t look like a general problem with Zoom, try the web version of Zoom instead of the app: As long as your internet connection is sufficient, the web version tends to be a bit more reliable.

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