Maximising your online event experience

With just one week to go before the Jisc11 conference in Liverpool, the final preparations are in full swing. We are working hard to ensure those of you planning to follow the conference online have as full and interactive an experience as possible.

For someone choosing to follow a conference remotely, it is rarely now a one-way communication channel. With the benefit of more sophisticated technology and social media, taking part in many conferences online can now be an immensely beneficial and interactive experience.

To help you get the most out of following Jisc11 online, I have put together a list of suggestions. We realise we won’t be able to have your full attention for the whole day, with your workload and emails undoubtedly being a major cause of distraction! Nonetheless, I hope this list will help you ensure the time you do spend online with us next week is time well spent.

1. If you are tweeting, blogging or sharing photos/videos/slides/other materials related to this event, make sure that you use the event hash tag: #jisc11. Following the conference hashtag is a good way of finding and connecting with other people that are either attending in Liverpool or following online.

2. Sign up on to the Jisc11 Lanyrd group – you can see who else is actually attending or tracking the conference. Another good way of finding new like-minded people to follow on Twitter.

3. Join the Jisc11 LinkedIn group. It is an open group so anyone can join. This is a good way to find people that are also intending on going to the conference, make new professional connections and take part or start discussions. Try introducing yourself, your work and what you are hoping to get out of Jisc11.

4. Follow the @JiscEvents Twitter account for updates and announcements live from the conference.

5. You can get to know other participants in advance of the event by following @JiscEvents/delegates, @JiscEvents/remote and @JiscEvents/speakers. Please send a tweet to @JiscEvents to tell us if you are planning to attend in person or follow the event remotely so we can add you to the relevant list.

6. Follow the @Jisc Twitter account to make sure you don’t miss any official conference announcements in the run up to the conference.

7. Familiarise yourself with the live streaming interface provided by Mediasite. See how to submit questions and take part in live polls.

8. Don’t suffer in silence - we actively encourage you to let us know directly if there is something we can do to help such as turning the volume up on the live stream or retweeting a useful link.

9. There will be an Online Engagement Team (@JiscEvents) who amongst other responsibilities, will be acting as your voice at the physical conference. We want you to take part in audience Q&A too, so use your voice!

10. Tell us about your experience of following the conference online so that we can continue to make it better in the future.  Sign up to take part in post-conference feedback interviews.

If you are using different platforms to those described above to discuss this event, please let us know so that we can share links where appropriate and ensure that your views are represented.  If you have other tips or suggestions we would love to hear from hear from you. The Jisc11 conference is your conference so get involved!

For a full amplification guide for Jisc11 participants go to: Amplification Guidance for Participants