How should online conferences be scheduled?

The programme of an online conference should be planned separately as an individual whole, not copied directly from a previous conference held on location.

    Avoid scheduling long days. Instead, spread shorter sessions over several days.

    → Not many people are able or even willing to schedule a whole day for attending a virtual conference, as they may be at the workplace, concentrating on their regular duties.

How to take time differences into account in the case of international conferences

• Take time differences into account: if most attendees of an online conference are in North America, schedule the conference, within reason, according to their timetable.
• Some presentations can be stored or repeated so that as many as possible can take part.
• Keep the sessions sufficiently short and leave time for breaks.
• Schedule a 45-minute lunch break.

Entirely online or hybrid conferences?

 Hybrid conferences, or conferences where participation is possible both in person and online, are the most laborious option when organising a conference. If you decide to utilise that option, you should consider, among other things, the following:

• Does the hybrid solution add value to the event?
• How are both those participating in person and online taken into consideration so that their experience is, at least to a degree, equal?
• If online participation denotes the opportunity to watch a stream only, without the possibility of active participation, make sure the matter is clearly communicated.
• If both those on location and online participants have the opportunity to ask questions, you must ensure that they are able to hear one another’s questions.
• There are several hybrid solutions: if certain presentations will also be streamed online but the rest of the conference can be called traditional, this may not cause a lot of additional work. However, if the conference is organised in hybrid form, a great deal of effort must be put to the organisation so that some participants are not treated as a lesser group based on whether they are attending in person or online.

How many participants?

Basic Zoom meetings have the capacity of no more than 300 participants. If the estimated audience is larger than that, you should reserve one of the special Zoom licences provided to the University, with which the maximum number of participants is 500–1,000. Please send further enquiries on the matter to the Conference and Event services (helsinkiuniconferences@helsinki.fi). Further information on the special licences (Webinar and Large Meeting functions) is available also on the Helpdesk website on the page concerning Zoom’s special licences.

How many concurrent sessions are possible in an online conference?

Two to three concurrent sessions is a good number, with five as the absolute upper limit. → It is better to extend the conference over several days than hold a large number of concurrent sessions.

 How to enable encounters and informal discussions in an online conference?

• Is a virtual lobby or info desk the solution? One Zoom room can serve as a virtual lobby where a representative of the organisers is always on call. The room is dedicated to meeting other participants and asking for advice.
• Organise no more than a handful of social events: an opportunity to have lunch with others?
• A musical performance or something similar during the coffee break?
• Take a relaxing walk in the woods?
• Videos visitfinland.com and http://materialbank.myhelsinki.fi

Poster session in an online event?

Traditional poster sessions do not really work in an online conference. Instead of posters, could you maybe have a pitch talk session where the time of each presentation is limited to e.g. 5 minutes?

Zoom is a video communication service that allows all university staff and students to create meeting rooms and participate in meetings, seminars and conferences in real time through video and sound. Zoom is also suitable for remote teaching. The Zoom rooms created by university staff and students can hold a maximum of 300 people.

If the estimated audience is larger than that, you should reserve one of the special Zoom licences provided to the University, with which the maximum number of participants is 500–1,000.

Note!  You can not schedule more than one Zoom meeting at the same time.