A “First-Timer’s” survival guide.
1. Make a plan
You will get the most of the conference if you do some preparation work in advance of the meeting. Spend some time thinking about the most important sessions and talks that you would like to see. The meeting programme is available online. You will be able to read all the abstracts and make your own itinerary with the online programme planner available by end of May 2020. It is far better to do this before you get to Berlin. Maximise the use of your time on site!
Familiarise yourself with the colour coded session types: different types are designed for a different audience. Avoid being disappointed by a session that will be too basic or too specialised for your interests, despite an interesting title.
2. Pace Yourself
The meeting has a packed schedule. You will probably find something interesting and useful from 8.30 until 20.00 hrs each day – but we would not necessarily recommend to do so! You will get saturated pretty quickly and by Monday or Tuesday, your ability to absorb useful information will be severely diminished. Again, prioritise what is the most important.
3. Parallel Events
When you attend a session (educational or scientific), you might find that not all of the session is relevant or interesting to you, or you might have spotted a talk in another parallel session room that you’d like to see. It is completely okay to leave one session and join another (but etiquette dictates that you wait for the end of a talk to leave / join the audience). Also note that a number of sessions (all Educational Sessions and selected Plenary Sessions and Symposia) are available as on-demand video after the conference (see list further below).
4. Interact
Make the most of the opportunity to network. Most people (junior or senior) are delighted to meet new faces and to chat about their work – so don’t be afraid to approach those big names and introduce yourself, and just start chatting!
5. Ask Questions
Don’t be shy about asking questions at the microphone! This is especially true in the educational programmes. Everyone in the audience is there to learn – and so if you have a question, there’s every chance that others will have the same question.
Note that, especially in large halls, it is sometimes difficult for the chairperson to see you in the dark, especially if you are standing in the back. Do not hesitate to address the chairperson in case she or he does not see you.
6. Get There Early!
This is a principle that will serve you well on many fronts. We have literally thousands of people attending the meeting, and yet some people are surprised to find lines at the registration desk on Saturday afternoon. You will not want to miss the opening plenary this year – so get there early (registration opens on Friday afternoon) – and is open all day Saturday to Tuesday.
It is similar for the queues for food at the opening reception (Saturday evening) and networking party (Monday evening). Just think, with 3000+ people, it is IMPOSSIBLE for everyone to get served immediately.
7. Stay cool and relax!
Sounds cheesy…. but the meeting is extremely busy, and you could try and push yourself to run between every single talk that you want to see, to try and see all 1,500 posters, to go to every session, workshop and so on….. but you’ll be exhausted! It is far better to have come away with some new friends, have chatted with a ‘big name’ in your field, and have two or three ‘nuggets’ of information that will shape your research.
8. Business Cards
Although these are becoming a dying breed, we noted that having business cards ready to exchange was helpful, especially when another meeting attendee passes you theirs, but it is a matter of personal preference.
How to get the most of ESHG 2020.2
The registration desks and the preview centre open already on Friday, June 5, from 14.00 – 19.00 hrs. So in case you are already in Berlin the day before, pass by and avoid queuing on Saturday morning.
Do you always want to be up-to-date? The ESHG Congress App will guide you through the programme day by day or by session type, will make available profiles of speakers and delegates, help you to find exhibitors by name or by service provided. Add papers or entire sessions to your mobile calendar, receive push messages with important reminders and give feedback on talks or sessions. The Conference App for the ESHG 2020 will be published in May 2020.
Do you have a specific comment on the running presentation? To discuss with colleagues, know that many attendees will be using twitter with the hashtags #eshg2020#sessionnumber (e.g. #eshg2020#S01).
For all sessions, remember to use the discussion microphones in aisles of the lecture halls.
A number of posters will be presented as e-Posters at 20 e-Poster stations in the poster area of the exhibition hall. The list of available posters can be viewed on any of these screens. From there, they can be selected for viewing. Use the zoom-in, zoom-out function to focus on specific parts of the e-Posters and the navigation icons to browse though the multiple slide posters.
All Educational Sessions will be available as webcast after the meeting. So in case you are interested in a Symposium and a parallel Educational session, no worries, you can watch it at home or whenever you have time.
The Plenaries on Tuesday and the Joint ESHG-ASHG Symposium will be available as live webcast and as on-demand streaming after the conference.
The following sessions are planned to be available:
Note that the actual availability of the talks depends on the consent of the speakers.
Is your lecture hall crowded? All lecture halls are equipped with a live transmission possibility to the overflow area in the exhibition. The programme of the room with the highest demand will be transmitted to this area. In case no rooms are crowded, the programme of the plenary lecture hall will be shown.
Note that only the slides and the audio signal will be transmitted.
Posters will be discussed in 4 groups, 13.00 – 14.00 hrs and 16.00 – 17.00 hrs both on Sunday and Monday.
All posters will remain on display from Saturday to Monday.
Various types of fellowships for young investigators from European and (new) Non-European countries. See here for all details.
You might also be interested to know, that the Scientific Programme Committee decided to have at least 30% of its members aged under 40 years.
Post-doc Young Investigator Award Winners of the last meeting will be invited to co-chair a session at the next conference.
A “First-Timer’s” survival guide.
1. Make a plan
You will get the most of the conference if you do some preparation work in advance of the meeting. Spend some time thinking about the most important sessions and talks that you would like to see (note the difference between “live” and “on-demand sessions”). The meeting programme is available online. You will be able to read all the abstracts and make your own itinerary with the online programme planner available by end of May 2020. It is far better to do this before the actual meeting. Maximise the use of your time during these days!
Familiarise yourself with the colour coded session types: different types are designed for a different audience. Avoid being disappointed by a session that will be too basic or too specialised for your interests, despite an interesting title.
2. Pace Yourself
The meeting has a packed schedule. You will probably find something interesting and useful from 8.30 until 20.00 hrs each day – but we would not necessarily recommend to do so! You will get saturated pretty quickly and by Monday or Tuesday, your ability to absorb useful information will be severely diminished. Again, prioritise what is the most important to see live and what can be viewed on demand at a later stage. All sessions will be available online until 2 weeks after the conference, Educational Sessions and selected plenaries will then migrate to ESHG’s Youtube Channel.
3. Parallel Events
When you attend a session (educational or scientific), you might find that not all of the session is relevant or interesting to you, or you might have spotted a talk in another parallel session room that you’d like to see. It is completely easy to leave one online session and join another. Also note that al sessions are available as on-demand video until 2 weeks after the conference, Educational Sessions and selected plenaries will then migrate to ESHG’s Youtube Channel.
4. Interact
Live sessions have the opportunity to get in contact with the speakers present via the live chat attached to the respective session. Moderators will screen the chat and present them to the speakers. On demand sessions and posters have the possibility to get in contact with the respective author via a feedback form. Educational Sessions, although on-demand sessions, will have grouped “Q&A sessions” on Monday (14.45 – 15:15 hrs) and Tuesday (14:15 – 14:45). Most people (junior or senior) are delighted to meet new people and to chat about their work – so don’t be afraid to approach those big names and introduce yourself, and just start chatting, especially in an online environment!
5. Ask Questions
Don’t be shy about asking questions in the chat! Everyone in the audience is there to learn – and so if you have a question, there’s every chance that others will have the same question.
Note that, especially in chats with many attendees, it is sometimes difficult for the moderator to see your comment. Do not hesitate to repeat the question in case they did not see it the first time.
6. Stay cool and relax!
Sounds cheesy…. but the meeting is extremely busy, and you could try and push yourself to rush between every single talk that you want to see, to try and see all 2,700 posters, to go to every session, workshop and so on….. but you’ll be exhausted! Also note that usually the attention span in online events is a lot shorter than in real life. We have asked speakers to take this into account so that the key message does not get lost.
How to get the most of ESHG 2020.2
The online registration remains open from mid April to June 23 (so it is still possible to register to view the on-demand sessions until 2 weeks after the meeting. The presentation upload page for speakers and poster authors goes online by end of April.
Do you always want to be up-to-date? The ESHG Congress App will guide you through the programme day by day or by session type, will make available profiles of speakers and delegates, help you to find sponsors by name or by service provided. Add papers or entire sessions to your mobile calendar, receive push messages with important reminders and give feedback on talks or sessions. The Conference App for the ESHG 2020 will be published in May 2020.
Do you have a specific comment on the running presentation? To discuss with colleagues, know that many attendees will be using twitter with the hashtags #eshg2020#sessionnumber (e.g. #eshg2020#S01).
For all live sessions, remember to use the live chat provided.
All posters will be presented as e-Posters. The list of available e-Posters can be viewed on the virtual meeting platform. From there, they can be selected for viewing. Use the zoom-in, zoom-out function to focus on specific parts of the e-Posters and the navigation icons to browse though the multiple slide posters.
Interactive e-Posters will be discussed in 3 groups:
– Sunday, June 7, from 13:00 – 13:45 hrs
– Monday, June 8, from 13:00 – 13:45 hrs
– Tuesday, June 9, from 11:45 – 12:30 hrs
All e-Posters will remain online during the entire time.
Various types of fellowships for young investigators from European and (new) Non-European countries. See here for all details.
You might also be interested to know, that the Scientific Programme Committee decided to have at least 30% of its members aged under 40 years.
Post-doc Young Investigator Award Winners of the last meeting will be invited to co-chair a session at the next conference.
