A pilot multi-site academic and social event

On March 8, we piloted a hybrid conference format in Boston and London as part of the student-organized 16th annual Tufts Nutrition Data Symposium (TNDS), whose theme was “Sustainability Now: Action-Oriented Solutions for Food Systems, Nutrition, and Diet.” Tufts University and the London School of Health and Tropical Medicine hosted a viewing party for the keynote speaker, Dr. Catherine Nakalembe, followed by a social event afterwards so that students, staff, and faculty at both locations could engage with one another (pictures below). Two large TV monitors with speakers hooked up to Zoom allowed participants to interact across sites. In our pilot, the video connections worked better than the audio, and we are now experimenting with technical options for improving the audio in the future. Many conferences successfully broadcast keynote speeches, but there are great opportunities for future innovations to improve the interactivity and interpersonal warmth of social events in multi-site conferences. Our website has a tab for more information on low-carbon conferences.