Palmerston North from 6-8 July 2021. It is a face-to-face meeting only and will not be live-streamed. However, in the event of interference from COVID-19 we will deliver a fully or partially online meeting. This requires all presenters to be prepared to submit pre-recorded talks about 10 days before the conference. These recordings will be password protected and made available only to registrants and will be taken down soon after the meeting.

Below is our plan on how the Plant Science Central Conference will be managed under the various COVID-19 Alert Levels.

COVID-19 Alert Level Change in New Zealand

Should the COVID-19 Alert Levels change anywhere within New Zealand before the start of the Plant Science Central Conference the following scenarios will come into effect:

  1. If Palmerston North remains at Alert Level 1 the Plant Science Central Conference will continue as a face-to-face meeting.
  2. If a region in New Zealand outside Palmerston North is at Alert Level 2 or above, delegates from that region will be able to join the Conference via the live stream option (links will be sent). Delegates from the rest of New Zealand, still at Alert Level 1, are expected to physically attend the Conference. The Chair for each session will ensure online and local questions are equally valued. The meeting will be recorded and remain available for a limited period after the conference is over.
  3. If Palmerston North is at Alert Level 2 or above, the option to physically attend the Conference will not be available due to New Zealand Government protocols. We will ensure all pre-recorded presentations are made available to all delegates and remain available for a limited period after the conference is over. We may struggle to offer a full live stream experience if our staff are unable to come into the University, so there will be more communication in this case.

We understand that there are a number of different Alert Levels and protocols that affect New Zealand and as these can change at short notice we recommend you keep the following link bookmarked for ease of reference:

Unite against COVID-19

Delegates choosing to travel from outside of New Zealand to attend this Conference, do so at their own risk and expense. Please see the following for recording guidelines:

Simple guidance for submitting pre-recorded talks:

  1. Check the prescribed duration of your talk: for most of us, this is 12 min for the talk allowing a couple of minutes for questions.
  2. Simplest method is to record yourself talking to your Powerpoint using Zoom:
    1. Open your Powerpoint on your computer.
    2. Open Zoom and set to ‘record to the web’.
    3. Choose ‘share screen’ and select your Powerpoint.
    4. Begin to talk as you work your way through the Powerpoint; stop sharing and close Zoom at end.
    5. Go to your recording (Zoom will send you a link when it is complete; sometimes takes a few hours). You can easily trim off the beginning or the end with the ‘scissors’ icon, e.g. if you had some false starts.
    6. Share the link to the recording with the conference organisers.
  1. A higher image quality can be achieved if you record yourself presenting within Powerpoint itself. This will save itself as a huge file which you will need to submit to the conference organisers; we will have a Drop Box or equivalent available for transferring these large files.
    1. Be aware that the picture of yourself talking is always shown in bottom right of the screen in Powerpoint so ensure your slides don’t have important facts or images there.
  1. Basics instructions for Zendto:

To drop off your file go to

https://zendto.massey.ac.nz/

Click “drop-off”

Fill in section for Request Code

You will be emailed a link, which you can then drop off the file.

In the to box p.b.jeffery@massey.ac.nz

Select your file and click drop off.

If you have any queries please contact the Conference Secretary,
Jenny Taylor secretariat@agscience.org.nz

 

Print version HERE