If you're wondering how a Fusion Online conference works, here's a brief overview to familiarise yourself with our platform. It has been designed and built by us, tailored specifically to meet the needs of academic conferences.
Key Features
Poster sessions with interactive rooms for each poster presenter, allowing participants and poster presenters to interact in real time on video, enabling in-depth discussions.
Dedicated live Q&A following each talk, with the speaker and questioner both on video.
Meet the speaker opportunity at the end of each day where speakers host their own interactive room and participants can connect with them on video for extended questions and networking.
Daily networking events to maximise free discussion and face to face interactions via video.
All content will be accessible on a live basis, not on demand, to maximise audience participation and engagement.
Registration
Simply register via our website in order to secure your place at a virtual Fusion conference. Once registered, you can create your virtual profile and acess all the information and guidance needed to navigate our platform and maximise your participation. If you are unable to pay online via card, please contact us for an alternative registration method.
Abstract Submissions
Please check the appropriate conference webpage for talk and poster abstract submission deadlines and the submission email. Abstracts should be submitted to us via email, ahead of the deadlines, for consideration.
Pre-conference Networking
Live chat will open for all participants 3 days prior to the conference commencing. Simply log into your account and head to the virtual conference platform to see a list of participants and begin networking. You can direct message an individual participant, setup small group messages or join the global 'Conference Chat'.
Navigation
Our programme is the hub of our platform and it will keep you in the loop with what’s happening and what’s coming up. In order to join a talk, poster session or networking event, simply hit the 'Join’ button and we’ll take you to the right place!
Live Chat
Throughout the conference, there will be a global 'Conference Chat' window which can be accessed from the main navigation panel, available from 3 days prior until the conference concludes. In addition to this, a 'Session Chat' window will appear within the interactive rooms* for talk, Q&A and panel sessions so participants can discuss aspect of a particular talk or topic. Questions can be raised and liked via the 'Questions' tab within a session.
*In an interactive room all participants are on video. If your video is not activated, you can still join the room with mic only.
Talks
Throughout a talk, participants will have the opportunity to engage with each other and the speaker via the 'Session Chat' function. Participants will also have the ability to virtually raise their hand should they have a question. Immediately following each talk, 10 minutes will be dedicated for Q&A. The speaker will be live on video and will invite participants who have raised their hands to join them on video to put forward their question. Speakers will try to get through as many live questions as possible but if your question isn’t answered, speakers will also be available at the end of the day in an interactive room* to answer additional questions and for extended discussion relating to their talk.
*In an interactive room all participants are on video. If your video is not activated, you can still join the room with mic only.
Posters
Posters and 1 minute flash video introductions will be available to view at any time throughout the conference. Poster Sessions will occur daily and during this time, each poster presenter will host their own interactive room*. Participants can join those rooms either individually, or in small groups to discuss a poster in greater detail. Within the interactive room, the focal point will be the poster itself and the presenter will be able to pan and zoom so detailed discussions can be had and valuable feedback shared. You can also direct message a poster presenter at any time if you have any questions or wish to discuss their poster on a 1-1 basis outside of the poster session. Participants are able to vote for their favourite poster and prizes will be awarded on the final day of the conference.
*In an interactive room all participants are on video. If your video is not activated, you can still join the room with mic only.
Networking
We have a dedicated period for networking and each day, the format differs.
Our Icebreaker occurs at the very beginning of the conference and delegates are randomly assigned to an interactive room*. Within that room will be four other participants chosen at random so you have the opportunity to introduce yourself and meet new colleagues. The rooms change after 10minutes (don’t worry, our system takes care of all the switching automatically) and you get to meet another round of randomly selected participants. Please use this time wisely to outline what you’re working on, what you would like to learn from others at this conference and what is your research question?
Our Topic Discussion session has lots of interactive rooms available for participants to freely move between. Each interactive room* has a theme/topic attached to it so like-minded researchers can connect on topics they’re passionate about.
Our Panel Discussion is where several leading researchers will discuss challenges, advances and key questions in the field. Guest questioners will be invited to the stage on video to expand upon discussions and broaden opinions.
Our Meet the Speakers session occurs at the end of each day, where each speaker hosts their own interactive room* so participants can join them on video to ask further questions and discuss their research in greater depth.
*In an interactive room all participants are on video. If your video is not activated, you can still join the room with mic only.
Forum
The forum will be accessible throughout the conference and available to all users. It’s the perfect place to advertise and find job opportunities, find a collaborator or seek advice. Every participant will be able to respond to existing discussion threads or create new ones.
Resource Centre
This is the information hub! We recommend checking the resource centre pre-conference to make sure you have all the information you need prior to the conference commencing. That way, if you have any questions, there’s plenty of time to connect with a Fusion team member for assistance. You’ll find the participant list, abstract book, our virtual code of conduct, helpful tips and guidance along with many other useful documents.
Note-taking
For convenience and efficiency, you can note take within the virtual platform whilst listening to a talk or participating in one of the networking rooms. Notes can be organised and conveniently downloaded at any time from your account.
Support
Throughout the conference, look out for the green support widget. The Fusion team will be online throughout the conference to instantly assist you. If you experience any technical difficulties, need assistance with navigating the platform or simply have a question, don’t hesitate to reach out to us 😊.
Time Zone
Times for all virtual conferences are based on the London, UK time zone.