Information for Session Chairs

Session Chairs:

Please do not be stressed about technical issues as help is always available. Equipment problems in the session room are handled by our trained staff: each room has at least one (often two) trained volunteers managing the Zoom, projection, and translation setup, and dedicated IT staff are on standby at the registration desk. If a technical problem arises, the room staff will resolve it; you do not need to troubleshoot anything yourself.
Please contact the speakers whose sessions you are chairing and learn their modality of presentations (virtual, in-person, or prerecorded; if prerecorded, check if they are available for the Q&A sessions). Some presenters might indicate that they have sent their recordings to the LO — in that case, please contact the LO team via kadh2026@gmail.com or the staff at the registration desk.
Participant information is available in the Whova app or the ConfTool (please login to your account), which are both currently live.
Make sure to have either a phone or laptop with you so that you can keep track of the Q&A and chat on the session in Whova. You can keep track of Zoom comments on the desktop in the room itself.
Locate the correct venue in advance. Each room has a dedicated laptop PC for presentations and, in most cases, a second laptop for the AI-assisted live translation (some presenters have opted out). The Zoom session will already be set up by our student staff, and microphones and printed tech instructions, including the tech help volunteer's phone number, will be in the room. For any issue, call that number or ask the staff member in your room directly.
DO NOT allow personal laptops. Personal devices cannot be connected to the projection system, as each room's pre-configured setup integrates projection, the online stream, and the AI translation feed. If a presenter brings one, refer them to the room staff, who will transfer their files to the dedicated PC.
Welcome both the in-person and online participants. Ensure that the online participants are able to hear you. Encourage folks to speak up if they are having any issues that can be fixed.
When facilitating the Q&A, please keep in mind that there are Zoom and Whova participants. Make sure to check for questions and comments, and repeat them to the room. Please make sure that participants and presenters are both using the microphones available. This is not only an accessibility concern in the room, but also helpful to those on Zoom.
DH2026 is a hybrid conference. All sessions have both an in-person space and an associated Zoom room. This information can be found in Whova. Conference volunteers will be assigned to session rooms to help you run the room's audio-video equipment and troubleshoot as needed. Each room has a dedicated computer that will be used for Zoom and that speakers can use to run their slideshows.
Please also ensure that you and your speakers all use the microphone so that everyone is able to hear. If an audience member is unable to use a microphone, session chairs should repeat their question into a microphone before allowing the speaker to answer. In general, please be mindful so everyone can participate regardless of their modality.
Feel free to get in touch with the speakers in your session ahead of the conference — again, the participant information is available in the Whova app. You may write to simply say hi, introduce yourself, discuss the format of the session, etc. In case the papers have multiple authors, do not hesitate to ask who will be presenting. Please tell them how long their presentations can be (20 min for long papers and 10 min for short papers) and that you will have to be strict about time.
Decide whether you'd like to have the Q&A after each individual presentation, or at the end of the session.
Ideally, think of a common thread or shared topics across all the papers in your session: we know this is not always easy or, in some cases, possible. But it may help you navigate the Q&A if you have a sense of how you would start a genuine cross-paper discussion.
Arrive early: it would be great if you could come to the room before the session starts. Meet the speakers, remind them about the format of the session, the order of presentations, etc.
Introduce yourself first: when starting the session and to welcome both the audience and the speakers, make sure you say who you are and what your professional affiliation is. Do not assume that everybody knows you — even if you see lots of familiar faces in front of you.
Introduce each speaker briefly: name, affiliation and the title of the paper should suffice. We should make sure that our speakers get the full amount of time that's allotted to them.
Have a couple of reserve questions prepared for each presenter: audiences are sometimes shy. If there are no questions coming from the attendees, get the ball rolling by asking the first questions yourself.
Be strict about the time: please make sure that speakers stick to their time. Please do not forget to use a timer on your phone or your watch. In each room, we will have printouts of time cards with “5 min”, “1 min” and “Please wrap up!” Use them to help the speakers in the room know how much time they have left.
When should you interrupt? If you have a sense that the speaker is still not on their concluding slide after you have shown them the card that they have run out of time, and you've given them a minute or two to conclude, feel free to get up from your seat and ask them — politely but firmly — to wrap up their talk in a couple of sentences. You may want to explain that you are doing it to allow enough time for other speakers and Q&A.
In the Q&A session, be sure to check for online participants and their questions, either on chat or out loud by unmuting themselves. The conference volunteer assigned to your room is available to help you monitor chat, if you would like them to do so.
Make sure to have a closing segment: after the last question is answered, make sure that it is clear to everyone that the session is over. You may want to thank everyone one more time, ask for a round of applause, suggest that the conversations continue during the break, etc.

Adapted and revised based on the DH2024 “Information for Session Chairs.”