2021 National Coastal Conference Hybrid How-Tos

American Shore and Beach Preservation Association will be debuting the virtual event platform Whova at the National Coastal Conference. Whova offers several functions attendees have come to know and expect from in-person and online conferences. We are excited to engage with you in person and remotely through Whova. Whether you are in-person or attending virtually, everyone can use Whova to connect — and all while accommodating your preferred social distance preferences.

Whova can be accessed through a mobile device or your computer. You can find the Whova Attendee user guide here: https://whova.com/resources/how-to-guide/user-tutorial/.

This easy to integrate digital program allows you to add sessions to your own calendar with powerful search options. Whova connects attendees with the conference in new ways:

• Chat about sessions before and after the presentations in the chat box.
• Ask questions in the Q&A function.
• Use your participant profile to connect and message attendees in and out of your network.
• Plan meet-ups  or a rideshare by posting on the community forum.

Download the Whova app from the App Store or Google Play store and bookmark our event link for access to the agenda, exhibitors, speakers, and chat with other attendees before the conference.

Below are the guidelines for preparing your presentation for the 2021 National Coastal Conference, “Geaux Resilient.” This year’s conference will be take place both in-person and virtually through Whova, therefore you will notice additional requirements on the presentations and posters. Oral presentations will be a total of 20 minutes. We urge you to present for 15 minutes and allow five minutes for questions. We consistently receive feedback that a robust Q&A discussion following presentations is meaningful to both the presenter and attendee. Time limits will be strictly enforced so that the numerous concurrent sessions stay on schedule. Please don’t hesitate to contact us should you have any questions about the procedures.

Speakers are encouraged to edit your presentation title, bio, and abstract through the Whova Speaker Center. If you have changes related to your status of in-person or virtual, please let us know as soon as possible.

Pre-Recorded Presentations

Virtual presenters are required to submit their presentation ahead of the conference. Prerecorded presentations should follow the 15/5 presentation to question ratio. Recordings should be saved as MP4 files. Upload the presentation to a personal Google Drive, wetransfer, organizational file share service, or DropBox and shared with annie.mercer@asbpa.org. The deadline to submit pre-recorded presentations is September 15, 2021.

The Q&A feature in Whova sends the moderator all questions submitted from in-person or remote participants. They will read questions out loud and repeat any in-person questions. Whoa also allows you to answer questions as they are submitted by participants while the recording is running, before, or after your presentation.

Live Presentations

As a live presenter you will be expected to share your presentation with staff and run your presentation with a slide advance remote. A backup of your presentation slides or recording may also be sent to annie.mercer@asbpa.org. The Q&A feature in Whova sends the moderator all questions submitted from in-person or remote participants. They will read questions out loud and repeat any in-person questions. Whoa also allows you to answer questions as they are submitted by participants while the recording is running, before, or after your presentation.

Speaker Instructions

Please follow the link to view the Speaker Instructions PDF with notes for in person and virtual speakers.

Speaker Instructions

Posters

In the next couple of weeks all poster presenters will be listed on the ASBPA website.

1. Please note that all poster presentations are requested to be recorded so that attendees can view your poster throughout the conference and over the next year. This is applicable even to those who plan to also present in-person during the poster session on Wednesday September 29 from 5:30 to 7:30 pm.
2. Please provide a PDF copy of your poster, a 2 minute video explaining your poster in mp4 format, a 200×200 pixel headshot for the poster webpage, and any changes to your abstract information to Annie Mercer at annie.mercer@asbpa.org by September 15, 2021. Technical questions regarding virtual poster pages or participation should be sent to Annie.  Non-technical questions about posters or the poster session can be sent to Tiffany Briggs at briggst@fau.edu.

Moderators and Volunteers

Moderators and volunteers help keep the conference on time, introduce speakers, and serve as informational resources.

Moderators can view the Moderator Details and Duties PDF for review. Please view the training before arriving in New Orleans. If you have any questions please feel free to contact Annie before you arrive or find her at the conference.

Technical Assistance Zoom Office Hours

Annie Mercer will be holding live Zoom office hours in September to assist with technical questions.

Office Hours:

Friday September 10 – 11 am Eastern

Monday September 13 – 7 pm Eastern

Friday September 17 – 11 am Eastern

Friday September 24 – For Moderators and Volunteers – 11 am Eastern

Check out our short little fact sheet on Zoom Tips and Tricks to help get you started on presenting in this new format.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Why am I not receiving emails for the conference?

First, check your spam folder. Then check with your IT Department to be sure you can receive emails from managing@asbpa.org, including those sent through Mail Chimp.

• Who is hosting the conference?

The conference will be on the Whova event management platform, which will utilize Zoom for presentations. Attendees can learn more by reading the Whova Attendee Guide and the How-to Guide for Attendees. Download the Whova app on your phone from the Google Play or Apple App Store.

• How do I pre-record my presentation?

Pre-recordings can be done in many different software programs. We recommend using PowerPoint because it saves your recording to each slide which allows you to re-record one slide rather than your entire presentation. Watch this short video for help on recording and saving your presentation in PowerPoint. If you would like to record your presentation via Zoom because your presentation is not in PowerPoint, then watch this video. For further assistance see the office hour information above.

• How do I embed a video into my PowerPoint?

To make sure your video plays within your presentation, make sure you embed the file into the slide rather than using a link.

1. In Normal view, click the slide that you want the video to be in.

2. On the Insert tab, click the arrow under Video, and then click Video on My PC.

3. In the Insert Video box, click the video that you want, and then click Insert.

4. Go to the Video Tools Playback and select When Clicked On from the Start options.

Now you have a video which will play from the slide when clicked on, rather than opening in another window. When sharing your screen on Zoom DO NOT click Optimize for Full Screen Video Clip. This will distort your video when presenting live.