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As part of its package of measures to address the coronavirus pandemic, the German government has decided to temporarily reduce value-added tax (VAT). From July until the end of the year, there will be a reduced VAT rate of 16% and 5%, respectively. What does this mean for conferences, and how should organizers implement these regulations?

The image is stuttering, the audio is poor, connections keep dropping, and any real exchange has ceased. Is this a realistic description of a virtual scientific conference? Perhaps—but if so, the fault lies with the organizers. Virtual conferences can absolutely keep pace with in-person events and, in some respects, are even better.

Last month, we published an article about the coronavirus. Unfortunately, some of the statements in it have aged poorly in light of the current situation—even though we relied on reputable sources that have since learned more and corrected their own findings. The danger was generally underestimated at the beginning, especially regarding conferences. It is time for a timely update and a decision-making aid for conference organizers.

The current uncertainty regarding the facts is unsettling for many conference organizers. Is it better to cancel a planned event entirely?

Registering for a conference online almost always requires creating a user account first. Given the sheer number of passwords we are already asked for in our daily lives, hardly anyone is happy about having to come up with yet another one. Fortunately, this is no longer necessary for scientific conferences—thanks to Shibboleth.

At the end of 2018, LinkedIn announced it was working on a new events feature. It then took almost another full year before it launched. Although equipped with some practical features, the result at the end of the long wait is far from universally met with enthusiasm.