View source for Technical Procedure: Schedule and Moderate a Mini Symposium




The [[Mini Symposia]] are a vital part of ISSS operations.

They typically take place once a week, bypassing major holidays and the summer break. The [[ISSS President]] decides on the day and time. Some Presidents choose to organize repetitions over the same week to allow Members in different continents to attend, or they schedule some at a time more convenient for the USA-Europe and some for Australia-Asia.

One should take care of the time change during the summer months. For example, the United Kingdom uses Greenwich Mean Time (also known as Western European Time, UTC+00:00), but between the last Sunday in March and the last Sunday in October shifts to British Summer Time (UTC+01:00, also known as Western European Summer Time).

It is advisable to report online only a single time zone, i.e., '''UTC, on all ISSS pages and calendars''', and leave the responsibility for determining local time to the participants.


==Steps to Schedule a Mini Symposium==
# Use the ISSS Zoom account to log in to Zoom.
# Have the ISSS_Zoom email credentials handy, in case Zoom asks for verification.
# Schedule the meeting. If it is the first in a season, set it to repeat the end of the season.
# Note that when you start the Zoom recording, it uploads and publishes it automatically to Vimeo.
# Share screen with the [[ISSS Mini Symposium Cover slide]].

==Inform Members and Friends about the Mini Symposium==
Note that the Mini Symposium is mentioned in different places throughout ISSS's media.<br>
The [[ISSS Newsletter]] invites people to join, and the [[ISSS Administrator]] sends email alerts to an extensive list via email.

Note that Mini Symposia might be mentioned at:
* The Mini Symposia section of the isss.org website
* The Events page of the isss.org website
* The Calendar section of the isss.org website
* The News section of the isss.org website

==Starting and Moderating a Mini Symposium==
# Log in to Zoom at least 10-15 minutes ahead. Let people in the Waiting Room enter, because this is a time when Members enjoy informal talking.
# Welcome everybody, mentioning the date, and terms like "mini symposium" and "ISSS".
# Test your own screen sharing, as well as the main speaker's.
# Introducing the speaker (in detail) and reminding everyone of the purpose and rules of Mini Symposia (using the second slide of the [[ISSS Mini Symposium Cover slide]]).
# If you need to leave before the end of the session, make someone else "host" so the recording does not stop.