Conference Organizers
You are the linchpin for change.
Your conference can be more accessible and eliminate significant carbon emissions—and be fun!
We can work with you to host a successful and clean virtual conference.
Our team will help you:
Clarify your purpose
Purpose is often confused with format.
Planners often think, "I'm organizing a conference, so that means there will be plenaries and concurrent sessions and evening events." But different groups gather for different reasons—knowledge sharing, community building, problem solving, activism, sales.
We’ve learned to start with a clear purpose and then design the gathering to meet those goals.
Select the right platform
Choosing your platform requires thinking about features, cost, and look-and-feel, which all stem from your purpose.
Spatial video conferencing platforms—where attendees move “themselves” (i.e., a live video image) around in a virtual space, seeing and hearing the people nearest to them—is one promising approach for enhancing networking and participation.
Design networking activities
Powerful activities drive participation.
We will help you create activity structures with planned transitions, comfortable beginnings, enjoyable interactions, and meaningful conversations.
We understand that attendees may be reluctant to activate audio and video after experiencing passive virtual conferences. We help you overcome learned passivity as well as distractions in their home or office space.
Set social norms
We help you and your facilitators set out social norms to create comfort, encourage participation, and streamline interactions.
We can suggest social norms and offer guidance on how to join a group conversation, for example: “While deciding whether to join in, position yourself just outside the group’s circle. When ready to join, enter the circle, and someone will acknowledge you by name.” Facilitators can also ask the group to generate social norms that work for them.
