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RDA's 20th Plenary - Instructions for Session Chairs

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04 March 2023 194 reads

Back to 20th Plenary

The full version of the RDA Hybrid Plenaries Guidance for session Chairs.v2. (P20) is available here.

Registration for P20

All co-chairs/speakers must register beforehand for the RDA's 20th Plenary Meeting. If you haven’t yet done so, please register as soon as possible at the dedicated P20 registration page. If you register immediately prior to the event or during the event, it could take up to a few hours for your account to activate, so we urge you to register at your earliest convenience. 

Accessing Whova (the virtual event platform for Plenary 20)

The RDA Plenary 20 is a hybrid event. All P20 sessions will be livestreamed to virtual participants via the virtual event platform Whova. By now many of you will already be familiar with it from previous Plenary Meetings. If you haven’t visited Whova yet, we recommend that you do so ahead of time to ensure you can access your account. 

To access Whova, follow the steps below:

  1. Go to https://rdap20.events.whova.com and log in using the email address you used when registering for the Plenary. 
  2. When signing up to Whova, choose a strong password, or sign up using a social media account. 
  3. Once you have registered your account, you will receive password information via Whova. Please make sure to check your spam and junk folders.
  4. Once you're signed up, you should be taken directly to the RDA P20 page!

At any time you can reset your password by clicking on ‘forgot password’ on the log-in page in order to re-issue your credentials.

If you continue to have issues logging in, please email secretariat@rda-foundation.com. 

For more information about the Whova platform, please view the Whova Guide. 

Accessing your Session(s)

All P20 sessions will be held in hybrid format, and they will be livestreamed to virtual participants via Whova, the virtual event platform. Please note that no repeat sessions will be held. 

To locate your RDA P20 session(s), please navigate to the “Agenda” section in Whova. All sessions will use the Zoom meeting technology, which is integrated within Whova.

All sessions will take place at the Lindholmen Conference centre's rooms. Technical on-site staff will be present at the venue to provide support with equipment and set-up (cameras, microphones, laptops, etc.). Please refer to the on-site staff support contact details at the end of this page.

Process for chairing a session:

  • Ensure that you are present in your meeting room (on-site, and logged in on Whova) at least 15-20 minutes prior to the start of the session to familarise yourself and check your setup. 
  • Engage with the volunteer technical support who will be in the room to assist you with setting up AV equipment. You will be made Zoom host, and you will be in control of your session for the duration. 

  • Although a laptop to login into the Zoom session will be provided in the room, and you will be able to use it to share your screen and presentation. Therefore, you and/or your co-chairs moderating the session will need to bring their own laptop for connecting to Whova and monitoring questions in the Zoom session chat. Whova chat will be disabled. 

  • Advise attendees that questions can be asked using the Zoom session chat window

  • Please remember to start the recording when you are ready to start the session. 

  • Be patient with people who are joining the session online as they may be customising their own settings.
  • For meetings with multiple speakers both online and on-site, ensure each has equal speaking times and rotate often to maintain the attention of attendees.

To ensure the smoothest possible presentation in the hybrid event, please consolidate your group’s presentations (for both in-person or virtually joining co-chairs) into a single slide deck to be shared by the in-person co-chair/s on the in-room laptop. Slides should be added to the accessible Google Drive by Sunday, 19 March 11:59 UTC.

Collaborative Notes

You have multiple options for note-taking during your session(s). As in previous plenaries, a shared collaborative notes Google Drive folder was created by the RDA Secretariat and now available for your use. It is also accessible via your session page on the RDA website (accessible via the P20 programme). 

Post-P20 Webinar

The virtual post-Plenary webinar organised by Technical Advisory Board (TAB) is scheduled to take place on 20th April 07:30 and 17:00 UTC. The webinar will be available to the whole RDA community and will take place online (details to be confirmed). You will notice that this year we incorporated the session summary that you will need to provide within the collaborative notes. Please complete the summary table at the top of the collaborative session notes no later than Friday, 31st March close of business. The information provided will be used to present your outcomes during the webinar.

Session Best Practices for Chairs/Speakers

We ask that during your session(s), you be as interactive with your audience where possible and appropriate. Prioritising discussion time will make for a better session. It is also important to remember that there may be newcomers in attendance, so please welcome them and provide background information about your Group. Regardless of whether your attendees join virtually or in-person, please make an effort to engage with both groups equally.

Useful contact details

  • RDA Plenary 20 questions and concerns: secretariat@rda-foundation.org or

  • Whova Event platform - Community Board ‘Ask Organisers Anything’ 

  • Onsite: Please contact a member of the RDA Secretariat.