This page contains information for the session chairs and will help to manage presentations at the workshop taking place on 10-12 April.
Important notes
The role of the chair is to provide presenter introductions, keep time, moderate questions and promote maximum engagement from attendees.
All speakers are currently planned to be physically present. If any last minute changes occur, speakers can join remotely.
There are two audiences; the in-person attendees in the Lecture Theatre and the virtual attendees who will follow the livestream.
Only the in-person audience will have the opportunity to ask questions.
Sessions will be live-streamed to an online audience, technicians will be in the Projection Booth to manage the livestream. If any speakers do join remotely, the technicians will manage the remote presenters being streamed into the Lecture Theatre.
Please familiarise yourself with the equipment on the Lecture Theatre stage.
Sessions will be recorded. The recordings will be published online for viewing on demand. If you have any issue with this, contact events@ecmwf.int
This short guide will help you get set up in advance, whilst also minimising delays and ensuring a smooth and productive event.
Meet with the AV technician before your session to get a microphone, run through positioning for the camera and technician cues.
Familiarise yourself with the speakers in your session and prepare a short introduction for each presentation. We recommend using the speaker's name, affiliation and information from their biography, which you can access from the event platform, to create your introduction.
From a camera shot perspective, ensure you stand on stage for introductions and questions.
Familiarise yourself with the programme schedule for your specific session.
Be available to the speakers in your session and assist with questions as required. If the questions are out of your scope please forward the question to events@ecmwf.int.
Check the agenda on the event platform prior to your session to see if there are any changes.
Check the speakers' presentations are accessible from the stage laptop.
Arrive early to allow you time to greet speakers, give them a lapel microphone and to talk through how the session will run.
Ensure there are people on hand to pass the roving microphone to the in-person audience for questions.
Start ushering in-person attendees to the Lecture Theatre to ensure sessions start on time.
Make sure presenters are given a lapel microphone and that their slides have been provided to events@ecmwf.int or given to the AV technicians as much in advance as possible.
Introduce yourself, the session, and each presenter before their presentation.
Give the clicker to presenters to move slides forwards/backwards.
Remind presenters to use the laser pointer / mouse on the laptop to highlight any items within their presentation. This ensures both the in-person and virtual audience can see the pointer.
Keep track of time allotted for each presenter and feel free to interrupt if they are running over. Remember that the virtual audience will be tuning in to see what they need as specified in the programme and will expect us to be on time. There is a countdown timer in the Lecture Theatre to help keep an eye on the time.
When each presentation is finished, open the Q&A.
Be prepared to ask complementary questions if necessary.
When you close the session, remind attendees what is coming up next in the programme.
Attendees can raise their hand in the traditional way. There will be two roving microphones for questions from the audience. Arrange for someone to be on hand to pass the microphones to the person asking a question. The microphone is essential for the people who are following the live-stream to be able to hear the questions. If someone asks a question without waiting for the roving microphone, the speaker should repeat the question for the benefit of the virtual audience.