VLDB 2024: Online Platform Instructions

VLDB 2024 runs as a hybrid conference, which means that we will have in each session both on-site speakers and attendees, as well as online speakers and online audiences.

There are two types of sessions: hybrid sessions which combine on-site and online participants, and online-only sessions. You can see the type of your session in our online program structure using the "Toggle Session Type" button.

Online Conference Platform

We are using DelegateConnect / Joyn (https://vldb.delegateconnect.co/) as online event platform to stream and record all sessions, and to connect attendees and speakers. Internally, Joyn/DelegateConnect uses Zoom for capturing presentations - but only for presenters and speakers, not for the audience or the Q&A. Online attendees attend and interact with a sessions via DelegateConnect/Joyn - which runs in a web browser such as Google Chrome. Being a website, you can use this platform also from your mobile device.

We will be using DelegateConnect/Joyn as only our sole online platform this year; in particular there are no Slack channels. Rather we will use DelegateConnect's chat and question functions per each session. DelegateConnect also allows you to find and message any other conference participant; and we have a special section for our sponsors. Please have a look at the 'Sponsor' menu in the sidebar to access their content and to engage with them.

Accessing DelegateConnect / Joyn

All attendees who have registered for the VLDB 2024 conference would be automatically registered on vldb.delegateconnect.co with the same email address used for conference registration.
Attendees will have access to the DelegateConnect conference portal before the conference begins. They would receive their access credentials to vldb.delegateconnect.co via an invitation email.
Attendees can sign into the virtual conference portal at https://vldb.delegateconnect.co after receiving the invitation email with the access credentials.

DelegateConnect Profile Creation

For better user experience and networking opportunities registered users can create a DelegateConnect/Joyn profile with the following information if they so desire:
profile picture, affiliation, interests, and location.

Instructions for Authors/Presenters

Presenting as an On-Site Speaker at the ICC Sydney

The experience as on-site presenter in Sydney is pretty similar to what you are used to from previous in-person conferences:

Each room is equipped with a lectern with a microphone and a presentation laptop, as well as a microphone stand for questions from the on-site audience.
Note: As we are streaming every talk online, speakers need to use the provided presentation laptop.
You should upload your slide deck (as PPTX) to our upload server early, so that we can prepare the presentation laptop ahead of time. in case of some last-minute changes, please go to the Presentation Preparation Room on level 2.
Please go to your session room about 30 minutes before your session and introduce yourself to the session chair, and familiarize yourself with the in-room setup.
During your talk, you can navigate through your slide deck as usual on the presentation laptop; please use the lectern's microphone during the talk and the following Q&A so that the online audience can hear you.

Presenting as an ONLINE Speaker

We also support online speakers, at both online-only sessions or at one of the hybrid sessions in Sydney. For online speakers, the presentation experience will be close to Zoom, but with some important differences because we are using managed Zoom sessions:

Prerequisites for online presenters:

A principal computer, laptop or desktop, logged into the presenter Zoom (https://www.zoom.us)
Make sure that you have a good microphone (external microphones are typically better quality than built-in mics) and a (good) webcam which is switched on during your presentation.
Make sure that your Zoom account name is the name provided to the operator by the conference organisers.
If you haven't used Zoom before, please start it at least once and make sure, that the Zoom program has access to your microphone, webcam and screen sharing. Note that for Zoom on macOS, assigning screen sharing privileges to Zoom the first time requires a restart of Zoom. So do this please ahead of time.
Please also read this Remote Presenter Guide for some helpful tips about your local setup, positioning and lighting.

Online Speakers Instructions:

Speakers will join their respective paper presentation or talk session using a Zoom client. We will send the corresponding Zoom links via eMail.
Feel free to use one of the provided VLDB 2024 Zoom backgrounds during your talk.
IMPORTANT: Please enter the Zoom session at least 15 minutes before your session starts!
Please also make sure you are muted and your camera switched off when you join a Zoom session as you might login during someone else’s presentation. It is very important this year to be able to familiarize yourself with the setup of DelegateConnect+Zoom. During pure online-only sessions, there will be also an online operator who contrals the session, who will introduce you to the setup. Please follow the instructions here.
Once the session chair introduced your paper, you start sharing your screen in Zoom and start your presentation. For online-only sessions, and also special produced sessions in Pyrmont Theatre or C2.3, there will be a DelegateConnect/Joyn technician on your Zoom call who manages your start.
Your talk should be maximum 14 minutes long (6-7 minutes as demo speaker); otherwise the session chair might call you to end your talk.
After your talk, there is a hort Q&A session; please stay in Zoom for this and answer the question out to you by the session chair.
If a speaker is absent or has technical problems, we will play the pre-recording of your talk instead. The pre-recording is a backup though; we expect all speakers to present in person at their allocated session.
At the end of your talk, feel free to stay in the Zoom session to hear the other presentations; but please note that if you have questions to the talks by other speakers you need to use the DelegateConnect/Joyn platform so that the remaining audience can follow your question too.

Online panelists or Keynote Speakers

The online experience for keynote speakers or panelists you pretty much the same than for online speakers - just stay in your Zoom session, whose link we will send you by separate email, the whole time and show your slides via screen sharing.

For the best quality, please use an external microphone or headset (internal microphones typically sound worst), a good webcam and proper lighting. Our conference venue provided this handy Remote Presenter Guide with some helpful tips about your local setup, positioning and lighting.

Feel free to use one of the provided VLDB 2024 Zoom backgrounds during your talk.

Demo Presentations

There are two types of demo session: On-site demos in room C3.3 (no online streamings), and online-only demo sessions. See our dedicated page for demo presenters for details on both demo session types, and how to upload a video of your demo as backup for online demos.

For demo presenters in one of the three online demo sessions, feel free to use one of the provided VLDB 2024 Zoom backgrounds during your demo.

Poster Presentations

We only have in-person poster presentations during lunch breaks and at the evening poster sessions in Sydney. Those sessions are on-site only, they are not streamed online.

We do invite all authors though to upload an electronic version of their poster which we link to their paper in the DelegateConnect/Joyn platform, so that these posters can be downloaded by every VLDB participant. Note that this is only on-demand download; there is no online 'in-person' presentation of posters.

See our dedicated page for poster presenters for details on how to upload the PDF of your poster.

Tutorial Presentations

As a tutorial presenter, please follow the speaker instructions above depending on whether your tutorial is hybrid (i.e. you present on-site, but with streaming to an online audience too), or an online-only tutorial. In either case, your should log in to both Zoom for your presentations and https://vldb.delegateconnect.co, because your online audience listens to your tutorial on that online platform, and in order to see their questions and follow the chat there, you should be logged into your own session too.

It is very important this year to be able to familiarize yourself with the setup of DelegateConnect+Zoom. There will be also an online operator who contrals the session, who needs to introduce you to the setup. Please follow the instructions here.

If you present online, feel free to use one of the provided VLDB 2024 Zoom backgrounds during your tutorial.

Workshops

Workshops are organised either as a hybrid workshop with on-site speakers and audience in Sydney, or as an online-only workshop.

For on-site presenters and audience, the experience and instructions are the same than for on-site presenters (see above).

For online workshop speakers, the experience is similar to a Zoom session. Please note though that all chat interaction is handled via the DelegateConnect/Joyn online platform. You hence will have to login to both your workshop's Zoom session and the DelegateConnect/Joyn platform simultaneously. Please see the instructions for "Presenting as an ONLINE Speaker" above.