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Dear MSML 2020 Conference Participants:

 

 

We are looking forward to the upcoming MSML 2020 Virtual Conference taking place July 20 – 24, 2020. 

 

Due to the COVID19 pandemic, we made the decision in early March to change our conference from its original concept, an in-person program at Princeton University, to a virtual format.

 

Since then, we have worked to design a virtual program with the intention to best deliver content, while retaining the authenticity of having live talks and encouraging interactivity between presenters and attendees.  The challenge in retaining a live-talk model is the risk for potential individual technological failure.  We aim to mitigate this risk by employing a 3-point redundancy model to all aspects of our planning.  This model will be applied to the access of the materials (papers, slides), to the recording of the talks, and to the processes we will have in place for the live facilitation of the event.

 

We will be using several platforms to help us achieve our goal.  The live talks will be hosted through Zoom Webinar.  The Q&A sessions will occur at the end of each day on the Zoom webinar.  The Conference Chair will act as moderator and will have the ability to mute and unmute participants or allow people to ask questions live to the presenters if so desired.  Additional Q&A will occur via the individual Slack channels set up for each talk.

 

The Zoom webinar will be live-streamed to the MSML2020 YouTube Channel for anyone who is unable to access Zoom.  All presentations will be recorded externally to two separate recorders and a final, post-edited version will be available later for viewing and sharing.  As mentioned previously, all pdfs of the papers and available presentation slides will be posted and available in three different ways:  as a download in advance, as a file within each Slack channel, and as a separate URL link, accessible with just one click. This gives participants a variety of options for how to access the materials based on individual technological limitations and preferences. (For example, someone who knows they may need to join via telephone and without the visual component of the Zoom webinar, can either download the materials in advance or click on individual links to bring up a copy of the paper and/or slide presentations.)

 

Our goal is to provide options so participants can join us in whichever way works best for their situation.

 

 

Thank you,

 

The MSML 2020 Conference Organizers