KOTESOL2021 / Conference
How to Conference
In any other year, the above title would be something along the lines of 'How to get the most out of this conference', or perhaps 'How to maximize your conference experience.' As more and more conferences move online, however, just as with our classes, we've had to go right back to basics. Physical conference space is now virtual, and time is now a self-selected mixture of synchronous and asynchronous. It's enough to make a person properly disorientated! Here are some thoughts to help combat that, and to put you on track to have a positive, productive experience at KOTESOL 2021.
1. Take a walkabout.
In any other year, the above title would be something along the lines of 'How to get the most out of this conference', or perhaps 'How to maximize your conference experience.' As more and more conferences move online, however, just as with our classes, we've had to go right back to basics. Physical conference space is now virtual, and time is now a self-selected mixture of synchronous and asynchronous. It's enough to make a person properly disorientated! Here are some thoughts to help combat that, and to put you on track to have a positive, productive experience at KOTESOL 2021.
1. Take a walkabout.
You've obviously joined our space, now explore a bit.
- Click on stuff in the event space and see what happens (try doing this on the hearts, for instance). Try the search function.
- Join our Discord server.
- Take a look at a Padlet.
- Locate each session's location. These locations will become clickable links to the appropriate Zoom room or video starting 10 minutes prior to the scheduled start of each session. (Can't click on these locations? That means you don't have a ticket. You can purchase one through this event space for 75,000 KRW / 7500 JPY / 75 USD. If you registered through the KOTESOL website, we'll manually issue you a ticket; if you've been waiting for your paid ticket for a while and still don't have one here, contact our registration chair: registration@koreatesol.org.)
2. Make yourself into a real person.
Of course you're a real person; we know this! But everyone on Eventzilla starts as a robot without a story.
- Upload a picture
- Write a line or two about your teaching context / life.
- Do this before step 3 (or you'll forget).
3. Create a Schedule
This is the challenging bit, because there's a lot to see. There's also the double-edged sword of synchronous vs. asynchronous. Some presentations are better seen in real-time (plenaries and panels), while others can be enjoyed whenever you have the time (i.e., poster presentations). Here are our suggestions:
- Take a look at the overview schedules to see what's on offer at what time of day. (We've really tried to keep things consistent, please believe us.)
- Consider how these fit into your work / life schedule.
- Search for what you want. Note whether it is synchronous or asynchronous, and, if the former, whether it will be recorded.
(Research presentations, panels, and workshops with few/no breakout rooms are likely to be recorded and uploaded later; workshops with many breakout rooms are less likely to be recorded.) Note that recorded sessions will be available to attendees 24/7 in our YouTube playlist (currently accessible to ticketed participants only), including after the conference has ended. Some will eventually be made public, but not all.
4. Interact
Some people come to conferences, watch, listen, learn, and leave. If that's your style, that's fine! But a lot of people come to conferences to network, discuss issues, and talk about stuff. Interacting, and especially initiating interactions, is different than in a brick-and-mortar conference. So, what to do?
4. Interact
Some people come to conferences, watch, listen, learn, and leave. If that's your style, that's fine! But a lot of people come to conferences to network, discuss issues, and talk about stuff. Interacting, and especially initiating interactions, is different than in a brick-and-mortar conference. So, what to do?
- Go back to Step 2 and do it if you haven't already.
- Attend sessions and say hello to the room (Just a quick "My name's ____, and I'm from ____.")
- Ask questions to the presenter / other attendees. You can do this during an appropriate time in a session, make a post on a Padlet, or find the appropriate channel on Discord (see, especially, the channels dedicated to discussions about the keynote or plenaries as well as the #presentation-conversation-overflow channel, designed to host the conversations that are too big to be contained within the presentation time limits).
- If you get lost, and find yourself in the virtual 'dead end' hallway, just yell for help and we'll come find you.
Are we missing anything? Let us know!
Happy Conferencing!