LULLU Researchers work on our first online conference for the SSSR!
There is a saying that every cloud has a silver lining; that is to say that some positivity can always be taken from an unfortunate situation. In the time of a pandemic, it is more important than ever to keep this in mind. I’m sure that each person reading this can name at least one thing (in most cases many more than one) that they have learned or one skill that they have gained as a result of social isolation imposed on us due to the pandemic. In addition to this, if you were asked to organise an international conference with hundreds of presenters and attendees, there would be many skills to learn. Our team have had to combine their newly-honed electronic working skills with those required to organise an international conference – one with over 600 delegates in multiple timezones across multiple online ‘stages’ combining pre-recorded and live content – using an online platform that none of the team had experience with.
Not only were the delegates all spread around the globe, but the organisers were also working as a team in many different countries and different timezones. In Lancaster, we had a team of 6 fabulous stage managers who trained hard and worked hard to ensure that the live sessions were (nearly) seamless, who were overlooked by two stage manager managers, one of whom was also spinning numerous other plates as vice-president of the SSSR and head of department for the psychology department at Lancaster University.
I’m happy to report that due to the tireless work of the organising committee and everybody involved in the organisation of the conference, as well as the gracious session chairs, live panellists, each person who submitted an abstract and the attendees who watched and commented on talks and posters, SSSR 2021 was a resounding success. There were one or two technical hitches in places, but the rehearsals that were put in place and the people who attended them ensured that these were minimal. Even in-person conferences rarely go without a malfunctioning screen here or a session chair not turning up there, unpredictable weather interruptions or suitcases going missing on flights, but there was none of that this year. Even bandwidth-related issues were minimal, and the food was specifically catered for each individual delegate (because they prepared it themselves).
If you joined us at this year’s online gathering, hopefully you enjoyed the conference and were able to watch and comment on all the submissions that took your interest. Hopefully, you enjoyed the Q&A sessions that proved to be very popular and could have continued far longer than the 45-minute sessions to which we had to limit them. For some, online conferences are the preferred method for mass gatherings in future and there are many lessons learned over the last year and a half that could be incorporated into future in-person meetings for a more inclusive experience. For me at least, when things do get back to ‘normal’ I am looking forward to the casual one-on-one research discussions in the tea room and the chance passing of posters that might not have been on my ‘to-view’ list, but that I walked past and found absolutely fascinating. I’m looking forward to meals and drinks after the end of a long, mentally-stimulating day of talks, posters and discussions with other like-minded researchers from around the world. These are just a few of the many things that I am looking forward to when Covid-19 poses less of a risk to life and we can meet without worrying so much about inadvertently infecting others.
So while there have undoubtedly been many challenges and new hurdles to jump, the silver lining is that we have learned so much, not just developing new skills and knowledge (particularly in technology), but we’ve gained an awareness of just how resilient and capable we are when we need to be.
SSSR Team Photo