Everything that happens at in-person conferences outside of the regular (scientific) program tends to get lost when attending from home. Is it even possible to foster a sense of community when everyone is sitting alone in front of their screens, only getting up occasionally to refill their coffee mug? In practice, it actually works—but it requires a few brilliant ideas, which can be a bit of a challenge to come up with. We’ve taken a look at some virtual conferences for inspiration.
Getting to know each other
At the start of a conference, everyone—or at least most participants—are strangers to one another. There may have been a few individual encounters, but most people haven't really gotten to know the others yet. To change that, our virtual solution offers the option to easily connect with others who share the same interests through targeted contact suggestions. This same approach can be taken a step further in the supporting program with some less conventional icebreaker activities.
For example, you could hold introduction rounds where participants share a few lesser-known facts about themselves and their fields of study or research. This can be based on a pre-sent questionnaire that everyone uses for their introduction, which can be kept lighthearted and fun. Alternatively, you could ask participants to write down three things about themselves beforehand, only two of which are true. The task for the others is to figure out the lie. Especially in small, randomly assigned groups, this quickly provides a vivid picture of the people attending the conference and certainly helps lower the barrier to approaching people who were strangers until now, as one fact or another is bound to spark a deeper conversation.
Remote teamwork
The ideas of many experimental organizers who are keen to create connections outside of the technical sessions prove that a virtual conference doesn't have to be a lonely affair. In this case, forming small groups is not a bad thing, because when participants work together in teams to solve tasks, it creates valuable experiences that people will fondly remember later on.
Such activities are currently being tried out quite often at technical conferences. An interesting example is the virtual pub quiz organized by this year's IFCS-ISAF, a conference for ferroelectric applications. The teams had to answer questions about their field over several rounds. The team's own breakout room was used to agree on the correct answers internally, which were then submitted via a form. After each round, everyone gathered in a video meeting to review the answers.
An even greater challenge awaited participants at the hardwear.io Virtual Con, which hosted a Capture the Signal challenge for the hackers in attendance, requiring them to analyze several radio signals. The teams worked their way from one difficulty level to the next; however, the tricky part was that the next level could only be reached if everything was done correctly with the previous signal. The top three finishers were rewarded with some high-quality prizes at the end.
Staying engaged pays off
The Distance Teaching & Learning (DT&L) Conference in Wisconsin, for which the virtual format was likely a home game anyway, offered several very creative competitions: For one, there was a puzzle that also served as an incentive to attend as many sessions as possible, as a word was briefly displayed on screen during each one. Anyone who found all the words, put them in the right order, and formed the solution sentence by the end could claim a prize. This is how the organizers ensure that participants follow the content attentively and are rewarded for it at the end. Unlike other prize draws, no one was disappointed here, as all entrants received the prize—a pretty clever idea.
Those who wanted to win even more—though this required a bit of luck—could participate in conference bingo or the daily Twitter challenge. The latter encouraged participants to use the daily conference hashtag to post things like pictures of their pets or photos of themselves and their screens during the sessions.
Virtual conference dinner
Kein so unbedeutender Teil des Rahmenprogramms sind für gewöhnlich die gemeinsamen Mahlzeiten. Ganz so einfach lassen sich diese leider nicht online auslagern. Zwar gibt es mit Mok-Bang seit einigen Jahren ein koreanisches Internet-Phänomen, bei dem sich Menschen beim Essen filmen und damit auf erstaunlich hohe Resonanz stoßen, gerade im Kontext einer Konferenz dürfte so etwas jedoch in jeder Hinsicht eine Geschmacksfrage sein und wird nicht allen zusagen.
The organizers of the ICMS 2020 Congress on Mathematical Software, which would have normally taken place at TU Braunschweig, found two better suggestions. As an alternative to a joint dinner or lunch, there was the option of a guided cooking session following a recipe, as well as a cooking competition where participants share a photo of their finished dishes at the end. The pictures are then judged, and the person whose dish receives the most votes wins a prize in addition to their delicious home-cooked meal.
For hybrid conferences, the concept could even be adapted slightly so that, for example, different teams compete against each other, with each team cooking together on-site.
It works just as well with drinks: Because they couldn't welcome participants to Bamberg in person this year but still wanted to integrate the city into the program, the organizers of KI2020—a conference for artificial intelligence—chose a different path. In addition to a virtual city tour, a virtual beer tasting is on the agenda as a substitute for the conference dinner, which seems quite fitting given the region's high density of breweries. The corresponding package with local beers could be ordered to one's home in advance.
Instead of beer, the tasting works just as well with any other imaginable drink. It would also be nice to always have a non-alcoholic option to give everyone the opportunity to participate.
Staying active
A little exercise certainly doesn't hurt anyone. Those who, at most, move from one room to another at home need it even more than at a conference that takes place outside their own four walls.
Ein paar aktivitätsgeladene Pausen sind angesichts dessen vielleicht genau die richtige Methode, um sich für das noch folgende Programm fit zu machen. Ob letzten Endes Yoga, Pilates oder Meditationsübungen auf dem Plan stehen, ist grundsätzlich erst mal egal, solange es sich um einfache Anleitungen handelt, die Teilnehmende auch nach der Konferenz in ihren Tagesablauf einbauen können. Zusätzliche Motivation schafft passendes Equipment, das Sie in Form eines Goodie-Bags per Post verschicken können und das oft nicht wirklich sinnvolle Werbe- durch weitaus nützlichere und langlebigere Sportutensilien ersetzt.
High-intensity interval training, on the other hand, is best avoided at conferences if you don't want everyone needing an hour to recover or excluding those who aren't already fit. A more successful approach is to offer simple workouts that even beginners can follow at home.
https://twitter.com/janjongboom/status/1250375823615578113
A word of caution regarding the legal side: Katrin Taepke points out on her blog that GEMA royalties may apply if you play music during fitness sessions—so be sure to keep that in mind.
Virtual excursions
Exploring other places without leaving your home might seem hard to imagine, but it is entirely possible at conferences. For participants of the virtual MOBSTER Collaboration Conference, which focused on stars and magnetic fields, the organizers hosted an Antarctic excursion via Zoom outside the regular scientific program, where two astrophysicists shared their research at the South Pole and combined personal stories with scientific insights.
Special service for parents
The MOBSTER conference program included another interesting feature that was added on short notice. Before the event, it became clear that many participants had to look after their children at home, so the organizing team decided to offer something for them as well. Through various activities, the youngest attendees were able to expand their astronomical knowledge by solving small tasks and reading educational materials. In a presentation specifically designed for children, astronomer Saida Caballero-Nieves also shared numerous fascinating facts about the universe, allowing parents to focus on the adult sessions undisturbed.
Collaborative puzzle solving
Escape rooms are an entertaining way to combine logic and teamwork. Players must work together within a set time to solve puzzles and "escape" the room. Providers have now developed virtual versions where small groups collaborate via video meeting to find the right clues. This is an ideal change of pace and a great way to encourage networking, even if the themes differ from the typical conference content.
But that is exactly how it should be. Even though everyone signs up for the professional discussions, exchange works best when you get to know the people involved a little better and perhaps see a different side of them.
Conferences without a social program always feel a bit "unfinished"—especially virtual ones. Since they lack the typical chance encounters, organizers must find other ways to bridge the physical distance and foster a sense of community.
How important is an engaging social program to you personally? Do you have any other ideas that virtual conference organizers have come up with? We look forward to your comments.
