What do I need in order to participate/present/chair a session?
The platform we will be using for the workshop is Microsoft Teams.
You can access Teams using any device (as long as you have a fast and stable internet connection suitable for live streaming) but we recommend using a desktop computer, laptop, or a device with a large screen for a better visual experience.
You will need to ensure your device allows video and audio.
Additionally, for small group discussions we may use Slido and for social events an interaction tool like Spatial Chat or Gather Town (please see more below, in Social Events section).
Who will be in a session?
Each session will generally be populated with the following roles:
Chair and Chair Assistant
Presenters (presenters will present in the order in which they are listed in the programme)
Participants – except for during presentations, all participants are welcome to share their camera streaming
EESW21 Host – a member of the organising team that manages the technical side of the session
Preparation for presenters
Presentation videos: Please email your pre-recorded presentation by September 9th to eesw@enbes.org. This will act as a backup version in case there is any connection issue at the time of your presentation. It should be an mp4 file, and to generate it you can use the software of your choice (Zoom, Teams, WebEx, Google Slides, Powerpoint, etc.). It suffices to show your slides, with your voice over the presentation, but you may use more advanced approaches too if you so prefer.
Live presentation: While being introduced by the Chair, please unmute your microphone and turn on the camera. To present your slides, please have them ready opened beforehand, and then share your screen in Teams and switch to the presentation programme to make them visible to all the participants.
For both live presentation and the pre-recorded one, you will have up to 15 minutes for the presentation.
Practice for presenters
There will be two opportunities to practice using Teams and to test microphone, camera and share screen options, or to ask support questions.
The first opportunity will be on September 10th (the Friday before the workshop), for anyone wanting to ensure that their Teams app will work.
The second opportunity will be an invite to presenters 20 minutes before their session starts to ensure that all prerequisites work. It also provides an opportunity to address any final questions presenter may have. After this, the presenter will join the main session at least 10 mins beforehand. The Host will also be on hand throughout the live session if there are any issues.
Note: We do advise that any key questions or concerns around your presentation or using Teams are raised well in advance of the workshop by contacting eesw@enbes.org.
Role of the Chair
When the session starts all participants except the Chair must mute themselves and turn off their cameras.
The Chair will then introduce the session and the papers to be presented.
Questions will be addressed only at the end of each presentation but can be submitted throughout the presenter’s talk using the comments box in Teams.
The Chair acts as timekeeper. Each presenter will have up to 15 minutes for their presentation and 8 minutes for questions and discussion. The Chair will also inform each speaker when there is 5 minutes remaining for their presentation. The remaining 5 minutes of session time will be dedicated to general questions arising from the session topic.
The Chair with Chair Assistant will be responsible for moderating the Q&A session, selecting questions from those submitted or giving the word to those who have raised hand.
Social events
With social events we mean the social gathering at the end of day 1 as well as all (coffee) breaks. In order to recreate the interactive atmosphere of our earlier workshops, we intend to use an app like Spatial Chat, Gather Town or similar. These apps have features which set them apart from others in terms of mimicking physical social interaction.
However, as we are aware of at least one NSI that blocks Gather Town app in their network (which makes it not likely to be chosen), we need to ask every participant to please check their possibility to access and use the three mentioned tools/apps in the computer environment that you intend to use during the workshop days:
Microsoft Teams: we believe there ought to be no issues for any participant; a link (that we will supply) should suffice for joining the workshop, no login is required.
Spatial Chat: no login is required.
Slido: no login is required.
Please check whether you will be able to use these apps/tools from your intended computer environment, and please inform us if you encounter an obstacle with any of them.
Best practices
Connection – if possible, please ensure that you have a strong WiFi connection or a hard-wired internet connection. You can check the speed of the internet through https://www.speedtest.net (5mbps download / 2 mbps upload is a minimum requirement).
Camera – please ensure you use a device with a camera. The computer camera (only if possible) should be directly in front of you.
Background – we recommend sitting in front of a plain wall when possible, or an area with no movements in the background. You can also use the blurred-out background function with Teams.
Background noise – to limit background noise, we advise that you sit in a room on your own and mute your microphone whenever you are not using it.
We look forward to welcoming you to EESW21 and wish everyone a successful workshop.
EESW21 Organising and Programme committees