LEARN FROM OVER 100 INDUSTRY EXPERTS
Thank you for joining Beyond Games, a completely new online conference. If you’re used to seeing webinars and video streams online, you’ll get the idea pretty quickly about how our talks and panels will work here.
We’re using the Zoom webinar format for our talks and panels, so you can see our expert speakers on video wherever you are in the world. You can watch live, or catch up with the recordings later.
This online conference has three main sorts of video presentations: talks (presented by one individual, often with a slide deck you can follow) which last 20 minutes; panels (a number of individuals discussing a hot topic) which last 40 minutes; and round-tables (a larger, extended panel on a broader topic) which last about an hour.
NOTE: You will need to be registered for Beyond Games in order to receive the necessary links to join, and for access to the meeting platform.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Talks will be broadcast live via Zoom webinars and take place between 9am and 1:30pm and then 2pm and 8pm from Monday May 10th to Wednesday May 13th. These times are UK time (British Summer Time, GMT +1). Additional Power Panels will be available on Thursday May 14th, which your ticket will also give you access to. The topic tracks run simultaneously but you can catch up with what you missed later by viewing a recording of the sessions, which will be made available to all attendees after 48 hours.
The schedule is not available yet. Closer to the event we’ll send you a Zoom link by email so you know where to go to view the sessions. Links will also be available on the Program tab of the MeetToMatch system.
You will need to be a registered Zoom user. Log into your own Zoom account before clicking on one of our talk links please.
Talks will happen in a similar way to how they do in a regular Pocket Gamer Connects event. We’ll group talks into specific themed tracks with a time for each track. Typically individual talks will have a 20-minute length and panels about 40 minutes.
The difference, of course, is that rather than being in a track room in London, Helsinki, or Seattle, you’ll be watching from your home, using the popular Zoom video conference chat tool, where you can also interact with the speakers. There will be time at the end for the presenters to answer your questions, which you can share with the moderator using the chat function.
You need to register for a ticket to Beyond Games.
During the event, we will send all registered attendees a link to each track “room”. Each themed track will run like a track room at one of our events – but will be a video broadcast on Zoom for you to watch at home.
Simply click on the link and you’ll become an audience member in the track. (If it does not open first time, please remember that you need to be logged into your personal Zoom account!)
These links will also be visible in the Program tab of the MeetToMatch platform during the week of the event, which is where you’ll also plan your meetings. You will receive an email invitation to the MeetToMatch platform about a week ahead of the conference.
You need to be a registered Zoom user in order to see the content. This is a security measure.
If you click a link to one of the talks or panels and get a message saying that the meeting is for authorised attendees only (and you are presented with the need for a password) please don’t panic.
This is happening because you are not currently signed into a Zoom account. This is not a password from Beyond Games, MeetToMatch or Eventbrite, but your personal Zoom account. Here are your steps:
1/ Register for a free Zoom account if you haven’t already.
2/ Log in to Zoom as a user using those credentials.
3/ Click the link that we have sent you for the digital broadcasts. (You will also see them under Program in MeetToMatch, when that is live.)
The Zoom link should now resolve correctly. If you are still experiencing difficulties, please email [email protected].
You need a laptop, PC/Mac or tablet (potentially even a phone could work if you have no other option) that has audio and video capabilities set up so you can comfortably watch.
To watch the talks and panels, you will also need to register for Zoom and download the free client (no need to pay for a pro license). If you are a speaker, you will likewise need to have Zoom on your machine. Please log into that before “attending” the conference.
Obviously you’ll need an internet connection. Zoom is pretty forgiving, but the faster and more reliable the better.
(NB: You can use any video conferencing platform of your choice in order to hold meetings. We are using the MeetToMatch platform to schedule your agenda, and once that is live (early May), you will be asked to nominate a preferred video conferencing tool for your meetings. We recommend Zoom or Skype but others are available, including 8×8, which the platform will default to if you don’t make another selection. Although you will be able to browse the schedule in MeetToMatch, that platform is not used to host the talks and panels. These take place separately in Zoom.)
Zoom has a dedicated chat box where people can either talk to all attendees, or just the panellists, or specific other attendees. We ask that attendees use that courteously.
There is also an additional Q&A box, where the audience is encouraged to pose specific questions to the speaker or panellists.
The audience will be muted so the speaker won’t hear their audio or see them, but you can post questions in the Q&A box or comments in the chat channel at any time. Each session will have a moderator and stage manager, who will lurk in the background helping the speaker filter and answer questions. Our moderators will monitor the questions that are put in there, and share them with the presenters if there is time for Q&A at the end of the talk.
All the talks will be recorded with a video link posted to a private space after about 48 hours. So, Monday’s talks will be available on Wednesday to watch on-demand, and so on. We’ll share the link with ticket holders by email so you can catch up later.
You will have heard from our events team about getting you set up, and if you haven’t already you’ll be invited to take part in a test video. You will need Zoom on your device and the team will talk you through setting that up.
Zoom enables you to set a virtual background for your talk. We can supply a Beyond Games-branded background graphic.
Zoom enables you to share your screen in order to show your presentation deck.
(It’s our experience that shared video does not display well for all participants over Zoom, so while it’s technically possible, we advise you to keep it to a minimum. Please contact us if a video presentation or trailer is something you plan to rely on.)
If you have problems please contact our event organiser Sally, our content manager Patty, or the general helpdesk.
We advise you to register your speaker ticket as soon as possible, with your speaker code, so that you can receive messages in the MeetToMatch platform too. We do not use the MeetToMatch platform to broadcast the talks, but it is a great place to keep your agenda and arrange one-to-one meetings.