It is a good idea to do a practice before the event so participants know what to expect.
If you don’t have an account with Fourwaves, you can learn more about our virtual poster session solution on this page.
Create a practice session in your program
Go to Program.
Click Add session and create a session on the day you want to do the practice. It can be before your official event dates. You can call it Poster session practice, for example.
Assign a room to the session with Virtual poster session under Live stream (see this article).
Assign posters to this session.
During the time of this session, participants will be able to start video conversations in front of posters through the Poster hall.
Let your participants know about the practice
Invite participants to the practice session by sending an email via Fourwaves. Share them any relevant information about the goal of the practice.
Tip: Set up a Zoom link where they can join you before the practice so you can explain to them the practice and where they can come for any questions.
Practice the different steps
The goal is for them to be able to simulate what will happen on the day of the event. Here are the steps to show them:
Invite participants to log in to the event with the email address used during registration. They can reset their password if needed. If that doesn't work, make sure the email address they're using is on the registration list.
Show them where the poster hall is and explain the search bar and filters.
On a poster show them the button to start a conversation.
Before their first video conversation, a preview screen lets them make sure their camera and microphone are working properly, and Fourwaves tests their network connection (see section below if a problem arises).
Mac users who want to share their screen may need to give their browser permission to share the screen (see this article).
If a participant encounters a problem during practice
This is the reason you are doing the practice!
Before the practice session, make sure the organizers have reviewed this troubleshooting guide which lists potential problems and solutions.
Participants can resolve problems quickly with one of the following solutions:
Using a compatible browser, such as Chrome. Make sure it is up to date!
By refreshing the page or restarting the browser.
By closing another application (such as Zoom) that is using the camera or microphone.
If you can't find the solution, ask the participant to follow the steps in Troubleshoot your connection to a virtual poster session.
When the network test fails, the participant sees a message saying their network may be blocking video calls, with a Learn more link to that same article.
If you still can't find the solution, contact support@fourwaves.com with the participant email so we can follow up.
Want to do a practice session only for organizers?
You can do a practice session only with the organizing committee. The only thing to do is to make sure at least one organizer has a submission and test the video conversation using this submission.
Caution: when you click to join a video conversation on a poster, the presenter receives a notification email. If it's a practice only for organizers, make sure to start a conversation on a submission owned by an organizer.