The VIDM Organising Committee uses volunteer facilitators to run the hourly sessions during the conference. Facilitators should have experience of online meetings or conferences, and be comfortable with online meeting software. Facilitators who are interested in VIDM but who have not worked at the conference before may be invited to shadow an experienced colleague for one or more sessions in 2026, as preparation for running sessions in 2027.
Facilitators must have a good Internet connection. Use of a headset with a microphone is strongly recommended. Webcams are not essential – use of these is optional during the conference. However, a webcam would be useful during practice sessions as it will help facilitators build their relationships with their speakers/presenters.
Facilitators must be competent working in English. We welcome speakers of other languages. Previous conferences have seen presentations in Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese and Indonesian.
We will be in touch in late March or early April 2026 with facilitators to make sure everyone is familiar and comfortable with how to run online meeting sessions using the VIDM software. You will be required to attend at least ONE facilitator briefing session. It is fine to attend more than one, especially if you find it helpful. We will also send facilitators guidance about the role and instructions for what they need to do before and during the conference.
Once a facilitator has been paired with their presenter(s), they will be expected to arrange a practice session with each presenter, to take place in the first two or three weeks in April.
A Master Facilitator will be assigned to each session who is there to support the facilitators. The Master Facilitator will provide technical guidance to the facilitator before and during the conference.
You will need to be responsive to communications from speakers, Master Facilitators and the VIDM committee. From early March we expect responses to emails within 24 hours. We also expect to agree with you on some form of instant communication connection (e.g. WhatsApp) for any urgent messages or unexpected issues.
