INSTRUCTIONS FOR SESSION CHAIRS

Access to the Virtual Congress Platform and to your session via Zoom

Participation to your session will be via zoom and our team will send you the zoom link for you to connect to your meeting room by August 27, 2021. We kindly ask you to be ready and join 15 minutes prior to your session on the day of your session. Once you connect to your meeting room, our technical team will test everyone’s connections, microphones and cameras for proper broadcasting. It is important to connect in advance to participate in this rehearsal. Once the session time comes, technical team will start the live stream to the platform. Please make sure to have a good internet connection, isolate yourself in a quiet room with no background noise, sit in a place with a clean background where people can clearly see your face and use headsets for smooth broadcast.

IMPORTANT: Please note as a chair you should also make sure that you are logged in the virtual congress platform, because session chairs will have a “Moderator Panel” on their screen, where they will be able to see questions and to whom they are addressed to.

Chair Instructions

Different sessions types will have different durations; please be sure to review your program in advance. It is very important that each presentation is kept to time. In your “Moderator Panel”, there will be a timer so that you can set it up for each speaker. Main program speakers as well as Bright Sparks Workshop presenters will present in real time. If a speaker decides to participate with a pre-recorded video, we will let you know in advance of your session. All workshop and best poster sessions will have pre-recorded talks with live discussions.  In general, 10–15-minute discussion time is calculated in the session duration for each session. We advise that you have the question and answers at the end of the session to use the time more efficiently. Session chairs will have a “Moderator Panel” where they will be able to see questions and to whom they are addressed to. Audience can ask questions at any time during the presentation. 

Your main role as a chair is to:

• Ensure each speaker is aware of his or her time allocation and indicate that this must be adhered to because it is absolutely essential that each session finishes on time.
• Use any reasonable means to stop a speaker who has exceeded the allotted time. 
• Familiarise yourself with the material to be presented and please be prepared to give a very brief introduction to the session.

Encourage questions from the audience through the “Ask a question” module in the virtual platform, and also be prepared to ask questions yourself in case audience discussion is slow.