OW2con'21 Attendee Guide


Welcome to OW2con'21

This page explains how the online conference works and the resources available to attendees.

Do not hesitate to spread the word around you, posting about your talk at OW2con on your favorite social networks, blogs, shared agendas and websites. And we recommend you use the promotion widgets provided on the Help To Promote page. Check it out!

How does OW2online'21 work?

We use Rocket.Chat as the main conference interface and our OW2online Rocket.Chat server is available at: https://l.ow2.org/live-ow2online
All hours are given in CEST time zone.

There are two main categories of chats: General Chats and Dedicated Chats.

General Chats

- #ow2online: this is the core conference chat, where we post general announcements and where attendees find the links (the invitations) to join the presentation chats. This chat is read only.
- #help: this chat is for questions about the organisation, technical difficulties, etc.
- #feedback is a chat open for attendees to share their impressions and provide suggestions.
- #say-hello: use this chat to check in, hang out, see who is out there and test writing messages.

Dedicated Chats

- Presentation Chats: for each presentation we open a dedicated "Presentation Chat" advertised in the #ow2online chat. Presentation Chats are moderated by the speaker and by the session chair who can thus chat with attendees.
- Sponsored Chats: each sponsor will be running a chat like a virtual booth, visit them for news, demos, networking and online goodies.

The visual part of the presentations is a YouTube Live stream embedded in Rocket.Chat on a panel to the right of the chat panels.
It is all browser based, OW2online attendees only need a url and do not need to install any software.

Screenshot 2021-06-16 at 16.40.20.png

What to do first?

While you can enjoy the conference directly from the OW2 YouTube channel we recommend of course you join the "official" OW2online interface. Well actually think of it as our online venue! Access is free of charge, you just have to log in.

Doors are already open. Once logged in, the first thing to do is to go to the #ow2online chat.

Next, in the #ow2online chat look for the #say-hello invite and click on it. This will grant you access to the #say-hello room that you should use to test writing messages like saying hello and checking in with whoever is already out there.

View the conference video stream

When you join the conference website, video player should automatically be displayed on the right hand side of the screen.
The video stream playback should also automatically start. 

If you don't see the video stream:

  1. In the panel on the left hand side, under General Chats, click on #ow2online
  2. In the #ow2online chat displayed on the right, click on the banner Click here to start the live stream! ...
  3. Video should be displayed on the right of the screen
  4. You might have to click on the video in order to start the playback

Chat with the speakers

When a new presentation begins, a new dedicated chat will be created and announced in #ow2online chat.

To chat with a speaker:

  1. Check out the #ow2online chat it announces Presentation Chats created for each talk and provides a link to join. 
  2. Join the one you are interested by clicking on the button available in #ow2online chat conversation.
  3. In the Presentation Chat dedicated to the talk, type your message in the message box at the bottom of the chat panel and hit Enter to send it.
  4. Speaker will reply also in the same chat.

Visit our Sponsors

All sponsors chat rooms will be open and freely accessible. Just check in and start chatting.
Sponsors may take you out to a Jitsi video call for a demo or simply an even more interactive discussion.

Still confused? Ask for help!

You can ask for help using Rocket.Chat #help chat: https://rocketchat.ow2con.org/channel/help
or by sending an email to: event-team@ow2.org