Conference Hublets
With continuing concerns about the carbon costs of travel, logistical difficulties with flights etc, COVID still lurking and that some people prefer to participate in scientific meetings in more intimate settings, we’d like to suggest and support Hublets for our ASAB Conferences. ASAB acknowledges that meeting with other animal behaviour researchers for discussion, debate and networking is a vital element in keeping our community cohesive and vibrant. Therefore, we encourage groups of members to join together during the conference, watch the talks together and then spend the social time (coffee/lunch dinner breaks) interacting locally. When we tried this previously with multiple venues per country, we found that, although people enjoyed the events, almost all participants remained at their host institutions rather than travel and mix with others, which rather defeats the point! We would therefore suggest a single venue in each country that members in that country (or nearby) can attend and thus mix with others.
If you would like to host a Hublet, please contact Jo Madden (ASAB Meetings Secretary – j.r.madden@exeter.ac.uk) and Stephanie King (ASAB Council Member – stephanie.king@bristol.ac.uk). If there are more than one proposed venue per country, we will look at the ease of transport to the venue and the space and facilities likely available there when deciding which one to promote and put potential organisers in contact with one another so that they might share the workload if feasible. We will then advertise the venues on the Conference website and Twitter.
FAQs about the ASAB Hublets
Who can host one of these? Anyone! The host does NOT have to be an ASAB member (although of course we’d prefer that). The host will need to have registered for the meeting and use that registration to login to the stream.
What does the host need to do? Before the meeting: Arrange a suitable room/venue and let the ASAB meeting organisers know details so that they can advertise these on the website. Advertise the Hublet. Ensure that you have registered so you can access the stream. Deal with any enquiries from potential delegates wanting to join you. Determine whether there is Wifi connectivity for visiting delegates if they want to interact as individuals with the meeting. Optional – order refreshments/plan entertainments for the day/evening.
What does the host need to do? On the day: Welcome any visiting delegates. Ensure that the stream is working. If necessary, act as Chair to channel questions from local delegates via the Q&A chat function or via a microphone. Optional – provide refreshments and deliver entertainments. Optional – organise or promote local networking event/social event/ professional development opportunity. There will be plenty of time during the ‘real world’ coffee, lunch and evening breaks where no material will be streamed so we encourage you to develop local events in those slots. What you do is entirely up to you and local interests/needs/opportunities.
What should the host charge? ASAB wants no payment from this. ASAB does not condone any profitmaking from hosting a Hublet. However, we appreciate that if you provide refreshments and need to pay to hire a room, costs may be incurred and it would be reasonable to try to recover these. Therefore, hosts may ask delegates to contribute to cover such costs. ASAB will not be involved in any such charges or payments for venue hire or refreshments. Please consider that delegates may have limited finances so try to keep any costs as low as possible. If the meeting can be incorporated in UG/MSc teaching (see below), it may be possible for some costs to be covered by your Department.
Do all delegates need to register individually with the conference? No. The talks will be streamed and thus can be watched by all in the room. Other conference material will not be supported.
Who can attend? Anyone, subject to the Hublet host’s approval. Non-ASAB members are very welcome (please see the ASAB Code of Conduct to ensure safe interactions).
Will ASAB offer any grants to support Hublets? We will not be funding the Hublets themselves, but ASAB members may apply for travel grants to attend a Hublet. Details are on the ASAB and Conference websites under Attendance Grants. It is the responsibility of the members to request these, not the host.
Can the Hublet be used as a teaching opportunity? Absolutely – ASAB meetings have frequently attracted UG/MSc students and we would actively encourage Hublet hosts to incorporate the meeting with UG/MSc teaching. Perhaps explicitly timetable teaching sessions to coincide with e.g. particular plenaries or talk sessions. This may also help justify/facilitate room rental during term time to local establishments.
What do I do next? Let us (ASAB meeting organisers) know and we’ll advertise your Hublet. You can get on with drumming up local support, writing to neighbouring/local AB Departments to invite them, starting finding a venue.
What did previous attendees think of Hublets?
This turned out to be a fantastic decision! I’ve never been to a conference where every person in the room is frantically scribbling down notes. It was very motivating and helped me to keep paying attention - no multi-tasking!
The students very much enjoyed the opportunity to hear from so many different speakers, and it broadened their perspective on studying animal behaviour.
Loved our hublet. I had great fun!
I really enjoyed watching the presentations with others - helped keep focus and not get distracted by email etc. I also enjoyed the hublet as a chance to meet new people even within my own institution. We didn't have many people, but those that came made it a really pleasant experience.
I really enjoyed meeting new researchers at low carbon costs; it was nice to discuss talks in between sessions; a few attendees had a poster at the conference and came with the poster printed for in-person discussion, which was nice.