CNI Spring 2021
Virtual Membership Meeting
March 15-26, 2021
#cni21s

1. Project briefing schedule

2. Preparing for your live project briefing

3. Presenting your live project briefing

4. After your project briefing

5. Pre-recorded video submissions

1. Project briefing schedule

March 15-16 from noon-5:00 pm EDT and March 17-19 from 4:00-5:00 pm EDT will be devoted to live project briefings. For the spring 2021 virtual meeting, we are only scheduling a very small number of live (synchronous) project briefings; we expect the great majority of project briefings will be pre-recorded. Once accepted, speakers who are selected for live sessions will be notified of date and time (and we will work with presenters on any constraints they may have). Pre-recorded video project briefings must be submitted to CNI no later than March 8, 2021. March 22-23 is unscheduled and intended to allow time for meeting attendees to explore pre-recorded project briefings.

2. Preparing for your live project briefing

• While attendees will access your presentation via Sched, you will use Zoom to present your session. Download Zoom onto your computer if you do not already have it: https://zoom.us/support/download
• Plan to share/run your slides from your own computer during the webinar. If you would like to arrange a practice session, contact Beth Secrist (beth@cni.org) at least 3 days prior to your presentation.
• Leave time for questions/discussion, about 10-15 minutes.
• Each live session presenter will receive a unique Zoom link by email; use that link to join your session.

Audience Engagement & Focus:

• Attendees have told us that, in a virtual environment, shorter presentations are preferable, focused on the topic, and without a lot of background information.
• It’s best to use a natural, conversational style which better holds the audience’s attention; if possible, try not to read your presentation.
• Breaking up your talk with audience interactions can be very effective for keeping attendees engaged. Polls can be a good way to do this (if you want to use a poll please be in touch with us in advance), and the chat feature can be an effective way to promote interaction, particularly if prompted and encouraged by presenters.

3. Presenting your live project briefing

• The better your network connection the better your presentation will go. Use a wired connection if possible.
• Log in 15 minutes prior to your scheduled webinar time to double-check that everything is running as it should be.
• A CNI staff member will serve as your webinar “host” to provide support. The host will welcome attendees, provide some instructions, and introduce the speaker(s).
• We will use the Q&A tool to manage questions. The host will moderate Q&A.
• You have the option of accepting questions during your presentation or reserving all questions for after. The Q&A tool allows attendees to submit written questions (with the option of remaining anonymous). Attendees will be muted with cameras off. Attendees can (virtually) raise their hands. Time permitting, we may unmute attendees and invite them to pose questions or make comments – the CNI host will manage this process. Chat will also be available for panelists to communicate with the host, other panelists, and attendees. Registrants may use chat to communicate directly with panelists or with other attendees.

4. After your project briefing

Please be sure to share your slides with us so we can add them to your project briefing page:
https://www.dropbox.com/request/oiqRuRVbQXwUIWpRcOAG

5. Pre-recorded video submissions

We expect a great number of project briefings at CNI’s Spring 2021 Membership Meeting to be pre-recorded videos; pre-recorded videos will not be scheduled – they will be available “on-demand” throughout the meeting. A complete list of on-demand briefings will be posted here: https://cnispring21mtg.sched.com/info.

If you have been asked to submit a video, please note these guidelines and suggestions:

• We suggest keeping videos to 30 minutes or less in length, though we recognize that longer recording times may be warranted; we leave this decision to the discretion of presenters.
• We strongly recommend that you use an external microphone for better sound quality.
• Include contact information for follow-up inquiries.
• Preferred video formats are MP4 or MOV
• Submit videos no later than March 8, 2021; drop videos & slides here: https://www.dropbox.com/request/oiqRuRVbQXwUIWpRcOAG
• Please contact us with questions, and thank you for your contributions to CNI’s Spring 2021 Virtual Membership Meeting!

Code of Conduct

CNI is committed to maintaining a welcoming and inclusive environment for inquiry, constructive disagreement, and intellectual freedom and honesty. We do not tolerate personal attacks, harassment of any kind, violence, or disruptive behavior. Please be respectful of our community’s diversity and generous of others’ views. If you have concerns, please contact a member of the CNI staff.