Planning and Conducting an Online Conference at the time of COVID-19: Lessons Learned from EGREPA 2021

  1. Ellen Bentlage
  2. Luca Roekens
  3. Lennart Bußmann
  4. Michael Brach

Reviewed by

Read the full article

Listed in

Log in to save this article

Abstract

Background

This paper describes the realisation and evaluation of the EGREPA 2021 conference, in online format. As an example, and support for future conferences, the decision process to switch during the COVID-19 pandemic from onsite to online, the conception and tools, the experiences of the organisers and the feedback of the participants are described.

Methods

The CERN tool “Indico” served as the central conference management system including public homepage, submission and payment system, abstract review and decision platform, and conference material repository. Zoom, YouTube Live and Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) were utilised for keynotes and other presentation sessions, including livestreaming of pre-recorded presentations. Gather was implemented for poster sessions and individual meetings. An anonymous survey included Likert-type questions on acceptance and quality of the tools and instructions, open questions related to positive and negative issues, and ideas for the next online-conference.

Results

The event was evaluated well, with mostly fluently working technical solutions. A few participants indicated problems switching from YouTube to Zoom between presentations and discussions. Opinions on pre-recordings of talks were divided. Participants required more time for socialising. Guidelines and materials were mostly rated helpful.

Lessons Learned

Simplifying the livestreaming, presenter’s choice between pre-recording or presenting live, more time for socialising and breaks are discussed. Tools for conducting an online conference should be introduced to the participants in advance. Indico is rated as a very helpful tool for planning and conducting an online-conference.

Article activity feed

  1. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2021.09.19.460976: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Ethicsnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    No key resources detected.

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:
    Through the evaluation of the participants, it was possible to identify strengths and weaknesses, especially from the technical point of view. With these inputs and the open questions about possible improvements for the next online conference, different ideas for scaling-up could be extracted. Without very detailed technical expertise, but with user manuals of the different systems, the support of the local IT-Service and volunteering colleagues, it was possible to organise a scientifically high appreciated and technical mostly fluent international online conference. Indico, with its functionalities, offers great features for building either an onsite- or online-conference. This conference management system was not evaluated through the survey. However, the organisers experienced it as a flexible system, with various features, which is easy to handle. We received only a few questions and problems from user suede. We strongly recommend it for planning future conferences. The tools for realising the conference also mainly fulfilled their purpose. Only few technical issues with regard to using multiple platforms appeared. Which is an argument to use a single platform for next conferences. Knowing that some attendees did not check the video and handout instructions, before the conference started, we believe that if they did, a more success to use multiple platforms could have been approached. For instance, the instructions recommended, to keep both YouTube and Zoom continuously o...

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    Results from scite Reference Check: We found no unreliable references.

    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  2. Version published to 10.1101/2021.09.19.460976v1 on bioRxiv