Virtual Events

PESGB Virtual Seminars

The PESGB are pleased to welcome you to the virtual seminar series.

Upcoming

When: Wednesdays 1-2:30
Where: Zoom (see Guide below)

All meetings will be recorded. Videos and Podcasts will be made available after the event. 

  • Video recordings will be available directly on YouTube.
  • Podcasts are available directly from Anchor or your usual podcatcher.
  • Spotify 
  • iTunes

All the details of forthcoming virtual events can be found here.  

 

Past Virtual Events 

Details of these past events can be found here. Links to the recordings are included below.

 

Guidance for Participation

Zoom can be accessed either via a web browser or an app. It is worth downloading the app from https://zoom.us/ and setting up a free account. This will allow you to personalise your Zoom for when you join the seminars. This can be done from the ‘settings’ marked with the usual ‘⚙️’ symbol. It is useful if you set your audio to ‘mute when entering’ and video to ‘switch off when entering’. You may also want to make use of the background feature to either blur your background (and not you) or add a virtual background.

On entering the seminar you will have the chance to test your computer audio. This will ensure that you can hear the seminar. 

Please mute your audio unless you are speaking. 

Along the bottom of the screen you will see various virtual buttons – the key one is ‘chat’. This will allow you to ask questions during the presentation, or while others are speaking. The chair will keep an eye on the questions coming in through the chat.

After the presentation there are two ways in which you can ask a question:

  1. Add a brief outline of the question in the chat box. The Chair will then call on you to ask your question. Do remember to unmute your microphone. If you also turn on your video everyone will be able to see you. If you do not wish your image to appear, then simply keep it switched off.
  2. Put your question in the chat box and the chair will ask the question on your behalf. 

As with face-to-face seminars the time available to ask any follow on questions will be limited. The advantage of online is that you and the Chair will have a better idea of the number of questioners waiting. 

The expectations of online questions are the same as face-to-face: clear, concise and directly related to the seminar topic and paper presented. PESGB follows the BPA guidance on managing questions. This has to be adapted for online seminars. The Chair will seek to cluster similar questions together and may not take questions in the order they appear in the chat box. One criterion will be to seek a diverse range of issues and to maximise the number of participants able to contribute. 

A note on isolation

One criticism of online seminars is their isolated nature – each participant is in their own space. One way around this is to use Skype/Teams/ Houseparty/etc. on another device to link with other colleagues. This allows for informal discussion as we might have in a face-to-face seminar. Please do remember to mute the other device before talking on Zoom.

Recording

All seminars will be recorded. You will only be recorded if you unmute your audio or switch on your video. Contributions to the chat box are also recorded. If you do not wish any details of your attendance to be recorded then please use a pseudonym when entering the seminar room. 

Guidance for Chairing 

PESGB has a dedicated zoom account which you are welcome to make use of to host seminars. Please ask David Lewin (david.lewin@strath.ac.uk) for the account details. If you need to familiarise yourself with hosting a zoom meeting as well as all the features available see: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/categories/201146643 

Please let the office (pesgb@sasevents.co.uk) know the details of the event one week in advance is possible (Date and Time; Zoom meeting details if you are not using the PESGB account; Title, Speaker, Abstract, Biography)

Let participants know that the seminar will be recorded and made public (both video on YouTube and audio podcast)

Encourage participants to raise questions by chat. Keep an eye on the chat tool and collate questions.

Zoom meetings without password protection have been ‘hijacked’ by others seeking to disrupt the meeting. If you are unfamiliar with how to protect the meeting, and expel trouble makers then please contact David for advice. Whilst this is rarely necessary in face-to-face meetings, invading an online meeting requires less effort. 

Ensure that the meeting is recorded to the cloud. This will normally include a video feed of the meeting as well as an audio that will be used to make the podcast. If you have any queries contact either Steph or David.