Essentials for All Hybrid Session Participants
Here are the key things to know about accessing virtual content during this year’s Annual Meeting.
If you’re presenting virtually, you should also see Information for Presenters, especially General Principles for Virtual Presentations.
Program
You can view the program on the Annual Meeting Hub.
The 2022 AFS Annual Meeting is a full-scale, in-person gathering in Tulsa, but a limited number of sessions and special events will be accessible to those who can’t attend in person.
A number of virtual presentations were accepted and scheduled in hybrid sessions, so that some panelists will present virtually, via Zoom, to the audience in Tulsa. Additionally, some keynote and plenary content will be livestreamed for a virtual audience.
Registrants will be able to access recordings of the livestreamed and hybrid content on the meeting hub after the conference.
About the Annual Meeting Hub
Virtual content can be accessed on the Annual Meeting Hub that provides the program, a virtual exhibit gallery, and a portal to Zoom, the communication platform for all live sessions and events.
Anyone can see the meeting hub, but only registered participants can access live Zoom sessions for key plenary lectures and events, view presenter contact information, and eventually watch recordings from the annual meeting after it is over.
See Using the Meeting Hub for more information.
Accessing Live Sessions
Registered attendees can sign in, then simply click a link to go straight from the description of a session in the schedule to its live Zoom meeting. The Zoom sessions can only be accessed from the online platform, which is scalable to any device; no call-in information will be provided.
- You must Log In to see the links to “join session” on the session details page, which will appear there on the day of the session. If you can’t see the link that day, you probably haven’t logged in.
- “Join session” links will not be functional until 30 minutes before the scheduled start.
- All participants will be placed in a waiting room until the session’s Zoom host admits them.
- Presenters may use the 30-minute lead time to prepare; audience members will be admitted by the session host at the scheduled start time.
- Since hybrid sessions will be recorded and available for asynchronous access afterwards, our limited tech support staff will prioritize aiding hybrid presenters. If you are a viewer and cannot log in, we invite you to contact us, but we may not be able to assist you in time to attend the live session.
Recordings
Because most live sessions will be recorded, registered attendees will have the chance to see anything they missed at any time through the end of the year. Allow about a day for recordings to be added to session descriptions in the schedule after live sessions.
Meeting in Zoom
Hybrid sessions and events will make use of Zoom using the Meeting format. See our Help with Zoom for guidelines and best practices, as well as technical help. This detailed guide covers settings for presenters as well as for attendees.
Policies
Please review our Annual Meeting Policies before registering, which includes information related to cancellation, social media use, and other important matters.
AFS strives to ensure that all meeting participants have equal opportunities to engage in and contribute to its Annual Meeting. Chairs and presenters should review our guidelines for accessible presentations. Attendees should contact us at [email protected] six weeks before the meeting to request other accommodations that may be necessary to facilitate their participation.
Expectations during the Session
It is important to familiarize yourself with “netiquette,” or general norms and expectations for communicating online. Try an online search on “netiquette” for some important general principles if this is new to you.
For this meeting specifically:
- Test your equipment before the conference, including your microphone and video. All presenters and chairs should have a stable web connection to avoid technical issues. See “System Requirements” in Help with Zoom.
- In general, mute your microphone when you are not speaking in order to reduce background noise.
- While individual circumstances may influence your choice about whether or not to keep your video on, we recommend that you do, whenever possible, to allow attendees to see each other even in a virtual space. Depending on your device capacity and Zoom software version, you may have options for creating a neutral background if you would prefer for participants to not see the place where you are sitting.
- Zoom Chat can be a great way to engage with other attendees during virtual sessions, and we encourage friendly and constructive comments, even during presentations. If you find the chat distracting, you can hide it from view, then review or even download the chat text near the end of the session to see if you missed any substantive suggestions.
- If you plan to move between sessions, keep your audio and video off while you move from panel to panel to minimize disruption.
- Follow instructions from chairs and moderators to ensure a smooth virtual session, especially concerning how to ask questions.
- As with any meeting, be courteous and forgiving. Allow chairs and moderators to handle disruptions.
Privacy
By default, most events and sessions conducted in Zoom will be recorded to make that content accessible to those who can’t attend the live virtual sessions. Social events and discussion sessions will not be recorded. These recordings will be available at least until the end of the calendar year for registered attendees to watch on-demand.
As an attendee, if you do not want to be recorded in a session, please do not attend the session. The program will indicate which sessions are not recorded so that you know ahead of time which ones are viable options for you. Chairs and presenters, please contact us at [email protected] if you do not wish to be recorded.
AFS collected permission from presenters concerning sharing email addresses. The email addresses that we were given permission to publish can be found by logged-in, registered attendees in the index of presenters on the conference platform.
For more specific information, see: