Tips for attending a virtual conference

If this is your first time participating in a virtual conference, or if you have done this many times, the following are a few tips and recommendations to help make your experience a positive one!

  • Clear your schedule
    • Set your out of office message on your email so that you are not tempted to check your email and respond. Treat this virtual conference as you would a conference you would have attended face-to-face.
    • If you would have attended this conference in a face-to-face format, you would have cancelled appointments and finished projects before you came, make sure you do the same for a virtual conference in order to get the most from this experience.
  • Do some pre-work before the conference
    • Review the agenda so that you are familiar with when breaks will be throughout the day. Knowing what sessions are offered between the two different tracks will allow you to make sure you hear all of the speakers that you were intending to during the conference.
    • Download or print the proceedings so that you can reference this information throughout the conference and can follow along with the speaker while they are presenting.
  • Test out your equipment
    • Make sure that you run all of the updates on your computer in advance of the conference so your computer is not trying to update in the middle of a presentation.
    • Log in early to check your connection, camera, microphone and any other equipment that you will be using to make sure everything is working appropriately.
    • Have a back up plan, there are ways that you can call in on your cell phone if your computer is not working. Work with the conference organizer to get those phone numbers in advance.
  • Prepare to immerse yourself in the conference
    • You will get as much out of the conference that you put in, engage with the content, use the chat box to ask questions, or unmute yourself to ask questions at the end of the presentations.
    • Use the proceedings that were sent out in advance of the conference to take notes, highlight and formulate questions to make sure that you are getting the best experience possible.

If this is your first time participating in a virtual conference and you are still unsure of some the processes, please reach out to your Conference Coordinator and they will answer as many questions as you have in order to make you feel more comfortable with this set up.