An online meeting is very similar to a face to face meeting. You register, you listen and you interact with faculty and peers. Conferences, whether in-person or online, may still be the only time you have direct access to industry thought leaders, experts, and other professionals. It's therefore important to make the most of your ICS 2021 Online experience.
1. Get Organised
Review the programme and check which live sessions are running during your preferred timezone. Book time off work and add the sessions to your calendar so that you don't miss that important session. Don't forget the vast library of On-Demand content that is also available to you at ICS 2021 so you will want time to sit and watch this content too.
TOP TIP: Put an "Out of Office" message so that you don't keep swapping between work and the conference.
2. Review the content, including how to access the session rooms
Just as you would before a in-person meeting read the session aims and objectives. You can now access all the abstracts to be presented live (and on demand) via the programme. Just click on the session and the details and faculty will appear. More information about how to access the platform will be available closer to the meeting so keep an eye out for our emails.
3. Network
Just because the meeting is online it does not mean that you cannot network. Believe it, or not, it is much easier to reach out to another participant or even experts in the online space because you don’t need to talk. For those who English is not their first language this is actually really useful. We have several ways in which you can interact with other delegates and industry members.
The "Chat Room" functionality within the meeting platform, where you can search for people and those with similar interests, and then start a conversation or arrange a 1-on-1 meeting. You can even create your own public or private chat room about a particular topic and reach out to people during the breaks.
Comments in sessions: In addition you can chat to people whilst watching a live session via the comments functionality.
ICS Live Lounge: New for this year this is a fun and relaxed way to directly approach people and open up a video chat with them. We intend to use this to continue the conversation with the faculty after their live session has finished. More details will be provided in the programme soon.
4. Rewind and Re-Watch
The great thing about being online is that you will have access to the content indefinitely. Therefore if you missed something or wanted to re-visit a topic you can watch back at another time or if live, pause, rewind and re-watch.
5. Extend the Reach of your Research
If you were lucky enough to have an abstract accepted at ICS 2021 Online then check out our recommendations to promote your research here!
6. Follow us on Social Media
Make sure you like/follow us on your favourite social media platform. We will be advertising all the sessions, showcasing highlights, plus there will be loads of fun stuff like competitions going on! You can get involved too, tell people your thoughts on the content and don’t forget to tag ICS into your posts @icsoffice and use the hashtag #ICSMeeting. ICS will share your posts with our followers – over 20,000 people worldwide!
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Linkedin
So grab your snacks and get comfy for a great ICS 2021 Online.