Designing an Inclusive and Engaging Hybrid Event: Experiences from CHIWORK

Abstract: Conferences are a key place for training and education. Attendees learn about the state of the art of their field, about relevant methods, and acquire networking skills that can support their work. In the world that was changed by the COVID-19 pandemic, we often need to organize hybrid training and education events, including conferences, with both in-person and remote attendees. Both organizers and attendees are eager for events that are productive, safe, and that bring together a diverse group of our colleagues, across multiple fields of study, multiple countries, as well as with different capacities to travel and attend in-person and remote meetings. However, the best practices for such hybrid events are still under development. In this document we hope to contribute to this development of best practices: we report on our experiences in organizing a small, hybrid conference, and provide the lessons we learned through this process.