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26th Global

Mentoring, Coaching and Supervision Conference

1-3 June 2020

26th Global

Mentoring, Coaching and Supervision Conference

1-3 June 2020

Joining the Virtual Conference

If you have any questions please do contact the admin team via the chat function on this website. We may not be able to answer instantly but we will endeavour to get back to you as quickly as we can.

How do I access a session? You need to register for a session.  As soon as you have registered you will see a session the link to that session will appear on your page.  Don’t click on it now!  It will only be live 5 minutes before the session actually starts.

What if I can’t make a session?  We understand that because of time zones, screen fatigue, or life events, you may not be able to make a session.  That is why they are all being recorded (except the networking sessions).  Just as soon as we can turn them round, the sessions will be uploaded to our website and you will have three months in which to watch them at your leisure.

Which recordings will I be able to view? If you have booked all 3 days of the conference, or day 1, day 2, or day 3, then you will have access to ALL the sessions being run for the days you have booked.  If you have booked singular sessions (i.e. not whole days) you will be able to view the sessions you’ve booked.

Networking.  One of the important things about conferences is networking and we’ve been working hard to create opportunities to emulate this.  Two things we have put in place are:

  1. Networking sessions. Before and after each session there is a 30 minute networking session (you need to register for these just like for a speaker session).  This is traditionally where you all head for tea/coffee and biscuits and to talk to everyone.  During this conference we’re asking you to bring your own tea/coffee to a networking session.  Each one will be hosted by a member of the EMCC Global Executive Board and another EMCC Global Volunteer. Depending on the number of people who join the networking session you might all remain in the same ‘room’ or you might break off into smaller breakouts rooms with like-minded colleagues to discuss anything you care to – it could be something to do with the conference, or your coaching, mentoring, or supervision practice, or you might just want to chat (maybe about what type of coffee your drinking and how much coffee is too much coffee J).
  2. From Wednesday 27 May 2020 (sorry it’s still in development) you’ll also be able to see who else is booked for the conference. How? Well, there will be a tab on the https://join.emccconference.org/ page where you will see a complete list.  You’ll be able to filter by country, and also click on a delegate and see more details (like name, organisation, email, etc) and you’ll be able to email them and contact them.

The technical stuff.  We’re using zoom.  Zoom are upgrading their security encryption and it goes live on 1 June – yes that’s right, the same day as the conference!  To join the conference you MUST have:

  1. A zoom account – this can be a free zoom account or one of the paid/business accounts – it doesn’t make any difference. If you don’t already have a zoom account go to https://www.zoom.us/ and sign up for a free account.  Once you have the zoom account you can download the app for your laptop/table/phone.  Note that free zoom accounts give you the ability to set up meetings for up to 40 minutes in length (but don’t worry you won’t be limited to 40 minutes for the conference).
  2. The latest zoom software. If you already have a zoom account make sure you have upgraded to the latest version 5.0 before the conference starts.  From 1 June onwards you won’t be able to access zoom without the upgrade, and although we’ve been re-assured it only takes a minute to upgrade again we’d hate you to be doing this instead of joining us for the first session.

If you’re not familiar with zoom, have a test before the conference.  It would be good if you could work out how easily login and join a meeting, how to mute/unmute yourself, use the zoom chat, raise your hand to draw attention to yourself etc.

You can join the conference on a laptop/computer, tablet, phone.  You can even hook up your equipment to your TV and watch the sessions on a large screen (but please don’t ask us how, you’ll need to find someone technically able in your household to talk you through this beforehand).

The quality of your access will be as good as your equipment and your internet bandwidth.  If you have an old laptop or your internet speed is very slow you may find that you experience buffering or other problems.  Think about borrowing a newer laptop for the conference from someone.  And if your joining from home, ask other members of your household if they could refrain from watching Netflix, making internet calls, or generally using up the bandwidth.

GDPR and your personal information.  Note, that during the conference any information you share in a session whether by speaking it aloud or writing it in zoom chat (unless you write it to just one person) will be recorded for all to see – both those currently on the session and those watching a recording afterwards.  So if you don’t want your email address, telephone number, or other personal information shared with everyone then don’t share it.

What if we’re hacked?  There’s been a lot in the media about hacked online calls/meetings.  Zoom have raised their security encryption (see previous point about technical stuff) so it’s highly unlikely, however in the worst case scenario if an unrecognised person joins a session or someone attempts to share inappropriate material, the admin team will in the first instance attempt to remove them.  If that fails then EMCC will close the session immediately.  We will make all attempts to reschedule that session either during the conference of shortly afterwards.

Some groundrules.

To make this the best possible virtual experience for everyone we have some basic ground rules.  We’ve tried to keep these to a minimum.

  1. EMCC reserves the right to immediately remove any delegate who disrupts a session in any way or shares inappropriate materials or images (sorry it had to be said).
  2. Do not attempt to record the session. Admin will stop a recording as soon as they see it is happening and any persistent offenders will have their conference access removed.
  3. All microphones will automatically be on mute when you join each session. Please leave them that way unless requested by a speaker or member of the admin team.  If you do unmute yourself to speak please mute yourself again afterwards.
  4. Do have your camera turned on, at least for the start of each session. Our speakers would love to see who they have in each session. Imagine what it would be like for you to be delivering to a virtual room of 100s of people and you can’t see anyone!  We understand if your internet bandwidth means you need to turn your camera off after the start.
  5. Make sure your zoom ID shows your name (as registered for the conference) or change the name once logged in to your session. We need to be able to check who you are and that you have paid to attend the conference and if your zoom ID is Fred and Joe’s zoom call or Furry Paws we won’t be able to do that?  If your zoom name is not recognised by us the admin team may ask you by chat to rename yourself (and if after several attempts of asking, you still haven’t done so, they may remove you from the session).
  6. If you have a question about the conference, the session, or anything else, use the zoom chat – don’t unmute and ask it during the session. A member of the admin team will respond to you as soon as possible (or use the website chat or email us).
  7. Don’t try and share your login with someone else so they can join the conference ‘for free’. It will just mean that you get locked out of the conference and you won’t be able to access it.

Finally, please be patient.  We haven’t done this before.  We’re doing our best and have allocated a large number of resources and a huge amount of time to create this virtual event in less than a month.  We truly want to make this a great experience for everyone.  If there are any technical hiccups or you experience any issues we’ll work with you to resolve them just as quickly as we can.

If you’ve made it to the end of this email, congratulations.  Thank you for reading.  Enjoy the conference.  We’re sorry we won’t be able to meet you in the real world in Paris this year.  We do hope that this virtual experience will be inspire, motivate, and contribute to your development.