How to Convene

We made it to another year of the annual conference! We are so glad you are joining us, and since this will be our second virtual conference, we want to be sure you have all the information you need as you prepare. The GIA team put together these resources to support an easier and more joyful conference experience. Click on any of the links below for recommendations, guidance, or troubleshooting tips.

Helpful Tips for Participants

• Feel free to indicate to other participants your comfort level with contact, physical distancing, and shared public areas.
• Have a bottle of water near you, and a snack should you need it. Hydration is known to combat Zoom fatigue!
• We recommend minimizing use of devices and turning off notifications to help you focus better. (And watch The Social Dilemma if you need incentive to cancel notifications altogether.)
• We recommend using the blank pages in the back of your conference program or having some paper and pen ready for notes.
• Take advantage of social and stretch breaks! If you need some inspiration, check out this simple and stretch-filled chair yoga flow by Arianna Elizabeth.

General Etiquette for Virtual Sessions

• If you are eating something, turn off your camera, please. Really, no one needs to see you eat that properly gooey mac and cheese, unless you’re going to share.
• When it makes sense, please mute yourself when not talking. This is especially important if there is background noise. It can be quite distracting if those sounds of life – a juicy conversation about at-home-art class, you typing that email you forgot to send, the dog barking at that taunting squirrel, the toilet flushing! – distract the speakers, performance, etc.
• Ask questions in a chat feature vs trying to ask while a speaker is talking, unless it’s a discussion.
• Ambient noises and visuals can be distracting, try to join sessions and roundtables in a quiet space with fewer distractions.