Dear Members of the CSEE&T community,
After extensive research into the available options and after careful deliberation of all contingencies pertaining to in-person, virtual, or hybrid attendance, including convenience as well as risk for participants, the CSEE&T 2020 organizing committee has decided that it is no longer feasible to host the conference in November with an in-person component. This decision is consistent with our previous announcement to monitor the pandemic development and take further actions if necessary.
The CSEE&T 2020 conference will therefore take place from November 10-12, 2020 completely virtually (Workshop days Nov 9/10).
There are several reasons for this decisions. The most important ones concern participant safety. We have received a large number of requests for remote participation. About half of the presenters are from areas currently considered “at risk” by the European Union and/or Germany (which mostly includes the Americas, but also parts of Asia and even some European countries). Their in-person participation would require participants to undergo a two-week quarantine after arrival and prior participation, if their immigration were to be allowed in the first place. Many presenters are also facing budgetary constraints or are prohibited from traveling.
No one could have respectably predicted these challenges and developments. They are a facet of the time we live in and the year we’re experiencing. Nevertheless, we are committed to hosting the conference and deliver a great experience to our participants.
Nevertheless, we, the organizing team, are dedicated to still provide a collaborative and lively atmosphere that we enjoy about CSEE&T. For this reason, we have conceived a new, innovative format designed to maximize the discussions and collaborations:
- Rather than sessions with paper presentations followed by Q&A, we will host discussion sessions (similar to panels) comprising thematically similar papers.
- Paper presenters will be asked to prepare a short 15-20-min video in advance, which, with their approval, we will share on a Youtube Channel.
- From the pool of presenters in each session, each paper will be assigned a discussant tasked with preparing a summary and questions to initiate the discussion.
- At the beginning of the session, a brief 1-slide pitch summarizing the paper will be shown to kick-start discussions before discussants take over.
- At that point, other participants are welcome to join the discussion.
Together with breakout rooms for “coffee break chats,” we anticipate that this will help facilitate a lively conference atmosphere. We hope to see many of you virtually at the conference and, soon, again in person.
Stephan, Bastian, and Bernd