IAIA22: A HYBRID EVENT

We know many of you are eager to reunite with your IAIA friends and colleagues (so are we!), and we hope a large number will be able to join us in person in Vancouver for IAIA22. However, we also know that the pace of COVID-19 vaccinations worldwide and the proliferation of more infectious variants will likely force many government and private sector travel restrictions to continue well into 2022.

To address these potential travel and social equity concerns, and to continue to provide educational and networking opportunities to our members and impact assessment professionals around the world, IAIA22 will offer some virtual accessibility.

The main conference will be held in person, in Vancouver. The virtual component of the conference will take place on the Pathable platform that was so successful for IAIA21.

What if I register for in-person and then I am restricted from travelling?

We understand there is a lot of uncertainty and that government restrictions or personal illnesses related to COVID-19 may occur to ultimately make travel impossible. If that happens, we can convert your registration from in-person to virtual with no penalty.

What if I am a session chair or presenter?

• Abstracts can be submitted as either: (1) live, in-person presentations, OR (2) pre-recorded presentations that will be uploaded to the Pathable platform. Seven clearly-marked sessions are available for pre-recorded presentations. All other sessions will be held live, in person, in Vancouver. The one-per-person rule for submission still applies. You can choose to submit your abstract to either the in-person option or the pre-recorded option, but not to both. The same abstract submission process will apply to posters – you can submit for either in person or for pre-recorded.

• Presenters will need to stay with the presentation format (in-person vs. pre-recorded) they chose when originally submitting their abstract. Switching at a later date will not be possible.

• If you planned to present in-person but must transfer your registration to virtual, your presentation will be removed from the program (it cannot be converted to pre-recorded at that time).

• If you submit an abstract for a pre-recorded paper or poster to be included on the online platform, you may still register for and attend the live, in-person conference in Vancouver, but your presentation will remain in the online platform only.

• If you are a session chair who cannot attend in person, the Program Committee will attempt to find an alternate chair. If an alternate chair is not available, your session will be cancelled and any presentations/speakers in it will be reassigned to another session with a similar topic.

• Further details on submissions and presentations are provided during the abstract submission and confirmation process.

How will the virtual platform work?

IAIA has again partnered with Pathable to make IAIA22 an interactive virtual conference experience for both in-person and virtual attendees. The custom platform can be used seamlessly across your devices -- desktop, mobile, and tablet.

The opening and closing plenaries and all theme forums will be livestreamed to the virtual platform. In-person and virtual attendees will be able to chat and interact in real time during these live sessions through the mobile app or via the desktop Pathable platform. Plus, questions can be posted at any time, even after the session has occurred, for ongoing discussion.

Several virtual networking opportunities will be offered throughout IAIA22, at which both in-person and virtual delegates can participate. Stay tuned for discussion themes and more details.

Access to the livestreamed and pre-recorded presentations will be available to both in-person and remote attendees for a period of time after IAIA22 ends.