How to get the most out of your CRYO2020 experience

A Guide for Presenters and Delegates

Access to Whova
You can download Whova through your App Store or using the buttons on the CRYO2020 homepage. You can also access all the app content at the following link. Please note this link will not work on mobile devices. https://whova.com/portal/webapp/cryo_202007/

Only registered delegates will have access to Whova. You must create an account or log in to Whova using the same email address you used to register for the meeting. 

If you are a registered delegate and you cannot access Whova please contact us as soon as possible. 

How to Use Whova
Whova have created this useful ‘how to’ guide. You can also watch the video below to learn more. 

Recommended Browser
Whova recommends using Chrome to access Zoom live sessions. For the technical specs on why this is recommended check out the ‘Why use Chrome?’ tab above. If you don’t have Chrome installed on your PC/Mac you can download it at https://www.google.com/chrome/

Asking Questions 
Feel free to ask the presenting authors questions about their presentations. One fortunate aspect of this digital meeting format is that we are not subject to the usual time constraints for questions and answers. Each presentation has a Q&A page within the app where presenters and delegates can discuss the presentation.  

Due to time constraints no presentations will be live-streamed during CRYO2020’s live sessions. The live sessions will be run as panel discussions featuring each session’s presenting authors as panelists.

The sessions will be run as webinars which means that general delegates will not be visible onscreen to the session panelists, however, delegates are encouraged to ask questions using Zoom’s Q&A function. Please do not use the chat function or the raise hand function as your question may be missed. 

All sessions will be recorded so delegates can watch the discussion session ‘on demand’ if they were unable to attend the livestream. 

Registration for CRYO2020

  • All presenting authors must register and pay the appropriate fee for CRYO2020 (members – $50 / non-members – $145). 
  • Invited speakers must also register for the meeting, but the registration fee is waived. 
Live Session Availability and Join Instructions 
Be sure to check your live session time and be ready to take part in your live session as a panelist. You will receive an email with a special zoom link to access your live session. Do not use the link in Whova for your live session as that is for non-panelist delegates. Your live session will start 10 minutes before the scheduled start time so you can join and check audio/video. An IT person will be available on the call for those first 10 minutes to help you troubleshoot if you are having issues. 
 
Live Session Training 
If you would like to attend an optional training session to take you through using zoom webinar as a panelist the following session times are available: 
  • Friday July 17, 12 pm US/Pacific Time
  • Monday July 20, 8 am US/Pacific Time 
You will receive a Zoom invitation by email for these sessions. Please check your spam folders regularly so you don’t miss  important CRYO2020 information. 
 
We also hope to have the live session available as a ‘catch up’ video. More information on this to follow.  
 

Answering Questions 
If a delegate asks a question on your presentation’s page please do not answer it until your live session has concluded. This is because these questions will be used as a starting point for the live panel discussions. After your live session has concluded please go ahead and answer the question in Whova. 

Registration for CRYO2020All presenting authors, including poster presenting authors, must register and pay the appropriate fee for CRYO2020 (members – $50 / non-members – $145). 

Live Session
Due to time constraints poster presentations do not have a live session at CRYO2020. 

Answering Questions 
Delegates may ask you questions on your presentation’s Q&A page. Please answer these as and when they appear. 

Below is the detailed description from Whova on why Chrome is the recommended browser for Whova’s Zoom integration. Note this only applies if you are accessing Whova through your laptop/desktop.  

“Whova+Zoom” has been a popular choice for organizers to run their virtual conferences.  Whova integrates with Zoom in our Mobile and Web App so that your attendees can use Zoom Meeting/Webinar directly on Whova.  Thousands of Whova customers have been using Whova with Zoom and it has been proven to be a reliable choice.  

In order to embed Zoom into our apps, we have to use Zoom’s SDKs (software development kit) to run Zoom in a web browser. Unfortunately, in comparison to its Zoom app on desktops (which require installation), Zoom’s SDKs (especially its Web SDK for Web Browsers) is very much running behind.   Here is a list of common issues where the current Zoom’s Web SDK  is lagging.  We would like to communicate with you about these issues in advance.  If certain features are important to you and your event, you may advise your attendees/speakers to use the Zoom native app directly.  Our team has been closely following Zoom’s Web SDK updates and will integrate with their latest versions whenever they are released by Zoom.
 
(1) Support for Gallery view
see the discussion on Zoom’s own forum: https://devforum.zoom.us/t/web-js-sdk-supports-gallery-view/6085 and  https://trello.com/b/bzKad84M/zoom-developer-roadmap).  It says that the Gallery view on Web SDK is on their mid-term roadmap.
 
(2) Support Breakout rooms
see the discussion on zoom’s own forum: https://devforum.zoom.us/t/use-breakout-rooms-in-websdk-how/13452 
Zoom has explicitly said that they do not support breakout rooms and they also don’t have a release date for this feature yet.  According to the roadmap ( https://trello.com/b/bzKad84M/zoom-developer-roadmap), it is also on the mid-term roadmap.
 
(3) Support other browsers such as Safari and Internet Explorer
See Zoom’s own pages: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362593-Launching-Zoom-from-a-web-browser
From the above page, you can see that from Safari or Internet Explorer, zoom users (regardless of whether they use Whova or not) have to launch the separate zoom app, and can’t use Zoom’s web plugin (in other words,  embedded inside a Web browser).  Zoom has the best support for Chrome, so it’s best that your attendees can use Chrome. 
 
(4) Zoom’s WebSDK developer roadmap
Zoom also published its WebSDK roadmap here: https://trello.com/b/bzKad84M/zoom-developer-roadmap).  As you can see, the Gallery view, the Breakout rooms,  Webinar Promote/Depromote Attendees, Zoom Room Webhooks, and also Webinar polling are in the midterm release roadmap.  Also in their long term, one of the items is “Closing SDK platform feature gaps“—basically the gap between the native Zoom app and the SDK (for third party software like ours). 

 

Do you have questions we haven’t answered? Get in contact!