I've been thinking about how we can use what we learned about remote work & virtual meetings from the pandemic. It would be great if we didn't have to release lots of carbon to meet, and could live wherever we wanted. But, there are downsides to virtual everything, particularly with our current tech & practices.
Should we really be trying to go back to how things were? Can we learn from our pandemic experience? What are the best practices & tech for setting up virtual and hybrid meetings? Do we really need VR and avatars for virtual/hybrid to work? Are there advantages, for certain kinds of people, of virtual platforms?
This is likely a personal preference: I think virtual works as well as in-person when communication is mostly one-directional, e.g. prepared talks and, to some extent, poster sessions. If conferences are mainly talks and posters, I think they should be virtual.
I am hoping that n-way virtual communication could be better with better organization and technology. Places like CERN have been doing hybrid & virtual meetings for a long time. Can we learn from them? https://qz.com/1832018/how-physicists-solved-your-zoom-video-conferencing-problems
Now to be a bit cynical -- I think those in charge are those that did/do well in our old/current system, but that system is not great for everyone. Again, this is personal, but I'm better at expressing myself in writing. I'm more likely to ask a question at a conference if I can enter a virtual queue. God I dread mixing at conferences. This one time there was "science speed dating" at a conference. It was torture. Maybe for some people sometimes virtual can be better?
Anyways, I thought I'd use this virtual platform to bring up these ideas! I know many disagree on this and are happy to get back to conferences. I'd also like to mention that for people who continue to be concerned about COVID, going back to normal is not yet possible (will it ever be??). For me, this article rings true: "For those still trying to duck covid, the isolation is worse than ever" https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/10/26/covid-pandemic-still-isolating/
Hi @albertcardona @ichoran @kristinmbranson Welcome to Mastodon!
I found this thread interesting. Some comments if I may…
Virtual and in-person gatherings each have their advantages. For presentations, virtual allows the presenter to produce a video in advance which will likely be more complete and less error-prone, while allowing the audience to view the presentation prior to the event more efficiently (e.g., watching an otherwise low-bandwidth presentation at 2X playback speed while eating breakfast.) And the follow-up questions at the actual event will likely be more productive, too. In-person events have the advantage of the enhanced sensory experience – more data means better communication.
However, during the pandemic I found when people wore masks, it really cut down on the available communication channels in person, whereas a (HD) video conference allows you to see everyone’s face and expressions clearly.
Hybrid allows people to choose, but it also means that people come away from the event with much different experiences. For example, virtual folks use chat, which the in-person crowd may not see, and the folks at the event will sometimes use gestures among themselves that the virtual people miss.
Regarding in-person academic speed-dating… seems like an extremely efficient method of achieving maximum epidemiological R0.
I also have a keen interest in what you guys are researching, so I hope you stick around and discuss what you’re up to. I’ve been on qoto for awhile and the traffic volume (and quality) ebbs and flow over time. A couple of months ago it seemed like this instance was dying, but now here we are with a lot of new people and lots of fresh content. There’s a lot of noise on Mastodon, as you’ve probably noticed, so it takes a little more effort to be curator of your own experience. I’d suggest exercising restraint on blocking accounts at first and just let everything in to get a better feel for it. Then you can start blocking later. I’ve found many people here who, at first seemed like just a nuisance, but who are actually really intelligent people with interesting backgrounds and lots of creative ideas.
Regarding the content, this isn’t all-work and no play here, that’s for sure. If you’re only looking for a work-related tool for collaboration, etc., you might consider setting up your own Mastodon instance specifically for that purpose. Then you could customize it to your needs and only federate with other instances that fit that purpose.
>”particularly because if I zone out for a minute I can rewind.“
Yeah, it’s very easy to get lured into your own thoughts when you're at home alone and your brain knows that it won’t need to be doing any interaction.
>”We had a meeting at my work about whether to stop allowing virtual participation in meetings.”
A meeting about meetings! Thank goodness I’m retired.
@Pat @albertcardona @ichoran Great points! Agree! I personally like watching recordings of talks (I'm a 1.5x speeder), particularly because if I zone out for a minute I can rewind.
Agree also about the different modes of communication available to different types of participants, and it is interesting to think about the two different types of experiences for those in person vs virtual. I've definitely experienced this. We had a meeting at my work about whether to stop allowing virtual participation in meetings. I have no idea what the people in person experienced, but those on Zoom were treated to a comedy via the chat.
Thanks for the info on qoto and new instances. I've so far been enjoying hearing from scientists slightly outside my normal echo chamber of CS & neuro researchers. A few people I know have talked about setting up their own instance focused on open science, not sure if it will go anywhere.