Will Conferences Remain Online Post-pandemic?

Steven Fraser

Had a message from Steven Fraser at Innoxec asking me to pass on a Future of Conferences Research Survey. I miss being on the stage at a conference, wandering through the trade show, and bumping into acquaintances. But I also don't want to give up the convenience of being able to attend an international conference online, without a 10 to 20 hour flight. 

During the pandemic academic conferences transitioned well to an online format. Keynotes worked fine, as did panel sessions. ASCILITE 2020 & ASCILITE 2021, made a good attempt at including a casual get together. EDUtech Asia did reasonable well with commercial online conferences, with sponsored round-table sessions.

However, hybrid events which offered both in-person and online options did not work so well. This requires organizers to work very hard balancing the needs of in-person and online participants. Perhaps as more experience is gained with this workable formats will be found.