Volunteer Info¶
Welcome Volunteers! Below are some helpful guidelines and expectations for volunteer support at FAccT 2021.
Potential Roles¶
Helping attendees get oriented in virtual spaces like Circle.so
Translating social media during the conference from English into other languages
Facilitating group discussions and breakout rooms during the CRAFT and tutorials
Encouraging conversation on conference discussion boards
Collecting open questions on Circle.so discussion boards and sharing them with relevant speakers and moderators
Helping coordinate and organize volunteers
Zoom host help for DC
Volunteer to Volunteer tips:¶
Volunteers from the first few sessions have shared the following tips:
For interactive sessions, test the note-taking link provided by the presenters, (for example, padlet, google docs, etc) before the start of the sessions to make sure that they are editable.
Discuss before going live with everyone (including tech support) which kinds of questions you want to answer privately (e.g. tech issues)
Publish messages that are not questions(eg “thank you”), only at the end of the session to help attendees see questions so they can upvote them
determine with your session chair who will accept/reject the questions in slido
determine if your session chair wants to chat via zoom or circle if needed during the session
determine with your moderator who will mark as read all the questions that have been answered already.
Check that Sli.do moderation is on before the session starts for safety
Collect any shared links and post them to Circle, the question will disappear when marked answered or at the end of the session
F.A.Q.¶
How do I start a backup shift?
For papers, please check in on the volunteer slack channel at the start of your paper session so that we know you’re ready.
If we only hear from the backup and not the assigned volunteer, at 10 minutes before the session goes live, we’ll provide a zoom link for the backup volunteer to join the meeting.
When you first join the Zoom, you will be in the green room to coordinate with the session chair, authors, & tech support in the green room.
When it’s time to go live, you’ll get a new link to join the livestream.
How do I start a volunteer shift?
For papers, please check in on the volunteer slack channel at the start of your paper session so that we know you’re ready. Approximately 20 mintues before the Q&A, join the green room with the provided zoom meeting and coordinate with the session chair, authors, & tech support in the green room. When it’s time to go live, you’ll get a new link to join the livestream.
If we only hear from the backup and not the assigned volunteer at 10 minutes before the session goes live, we’ll direct the backup to join the meeting.
For tutorials & CRAFT, please check in approximately 20 minutes before your shift, join Zoom at that time, and check in with session leaders.
What will volunteers be responsible for?
Volunteers are there to support the session chair and session presenters with technical and lightweight facilitation support. Volunteers should be comfortable with the conference hub, Zoom, Circle.so, our conference discussion boards, and Sli.do, our live Q&A and polling tool. The exact role will depend on the shift you choose and what the organisers need.
How can I get trained to use the conference digital tools?
Contact FAccTplanning@executiveevents.com to ask for the video recording of the tech rehearsal.
Who should I contact if I need support during the conference?**
This depends on the type of support. We have a large team that includes an events team, Chairs depending on the type of session, and more.
For technical issues during the conference (trouble connecting, etc.), please seek support via the Support chat box on the conference portal.
If you have other questions and don’t know who to contact, write to the Volunteers Slack channel here.
What does a Circle.so volunteer do?
A Circle volunteer should hang out in the Circle Conference and Social Spaces and engage with other attendees by: 1) asking questions, 2) responding to messages, and 3) starting conversations to encourage members to get to know each other. Without a physical space for the conference, we need to be more intentional in order to build the network during the event.
On Circle.so, Circle staff recommends:
🗣 Engage, provide support and be accessible Don’t leave your members hanging! Be accessible. Communities are about interaction, and it starts with you. If you are unresponsive, expect others to follow your lead. See questions that only you can answer? Jump in - or empower others to help out! Read what your members are posting, like and comment on their topics, too. Remember, every post is an opportunity to get to know your members and empower them to succeed
💡QUICK TIP Although it’s crucial that you engage, try not to dominate every conversation. You want to give others an opportunity to shine! Help kickstart the discussion, but once you get the conversation flowing it’s time to let your members continue to chat on their own.
What does a doctoral colloquium volunteer do?
The Doctoral Colloquium (DC) volunteer will manage Host responsibilities for the Zoom Meeting, send the groups into breakout sessions at specific times, and call attendees back from breakouts. The Volunteer should have familiarity with Zoom host tools and support the DC chairs if technical issues arise.
What does a Tutorial session volunteer do?
Most tutorial sessions have question and answer sections. Volunteers will help Tutorial presenters gather questions and pull other relevant conversations from Circle Spaces and sli.do. They might also support tutorial organizers in Zoom related tasks.
What does a CRAFT session volunteer do?
CRAFT sessions are interactive and may require facilitation support in small group breakouts. CRAFT volunteers will also review CRAFT Circle spaces and let the organisers know if there are open questions that they should address in the session.
What does a paper session volunteer do?
Paper session volunteers will work with Session Chairs to pull in questions from attendees via Sli.do, our Q&A and polling tool. Volunteers will also assist Paper session chairs to review specific Circle spaces prior to the session to see if any conversations or topics should also be included in the question and answer session. Volunteers will not need to address any Zoom-related technical issues or requests.
What does a keynote/thematic panel volunteer do?
Keynotes and Thematic Panels are moderated and require little support, but we figured it would make sense to have a volunteer available in case we needed their help with something on-the-fly.
What does a community buiding/ambassador volunteer do?
Ambassadors will be present on Circle.io during the conference, commenting and engaging the attendees, sharing resources, and answering any questions that might come up.
Circle.so Basics¶
Circle simulates a social network and discussion board during the conference. As volunteers, you will be responsible for collecting interesting posts for the sessions you support. You will gain access to the space before most other attendees.
Login and access is tied to your registration so there is no need to sign up with a new username and password. Using Circle is fairly intuitive if you have used Facebook or other social media platforms. Like, comment and make new posts in the different Conference and Social Spaces.
Conference
Doctoral Colloquium: Agenda and projects featured in the DC.
Paper Sessions: Each paper has its own post where attendees can comment, like or leave questions. These comments are also visible on the Hub on the Paper page
Tutorials: Like the paper sessions, each tutorial has its own post where attendees can comment, like or leave questions.
CRAFT
there is a private space for each CRAFT
Social
Where in the world: Where you are from and where you are accessing the virtual conference?
Collective Reading List: What have you been reading? What papers, reports, or articles have been helpful in guiding your work? This is a place to collectively build a reading list or syllabus.
Jargon Central: What does that word mean? What does that acronym stand for? How can we think about the language we use during the conference? This is a space to identify Jargon, ask for help or break down terminology with other attendees.
Hallway conversations: A social space for all attendees to get to know each other.