Session Chairs

We are excited to invite individuals from our community to serve as Session Chairs during the RSECon24 programme. As a Session Chair, you will play a vital role in ensuring the smooth running of the conference sessions, contributing to the overall success of the event.

Session Chairs are responsible for moderating a single (for the most part) 75 minute session, introducing speakers, managing the time, and facilitating discussions. By ensuring sessions run smoothly: discussions remain positive, and both in-person and remote attendees alike receive the best possible experience from the session. You will play a key role in fostering a collaborative and engaging conference environment.

If you have capacity to chair a session during RSECon24, please consider volunteering your time. Ideally, a Session Chair will have been to one or more conferences (not necessarily RSECon) previously, so will have an idea of what a Session Chair will do, but you do not need to have been a session chair previously—full guidance will be provided on what to do in your session.

For more detail on the talks, panels, and walkthroughs that will be in each session, the draft programme is available here.

Depending on the number of volunteers, it is possible that not everyone who volunteers will end up chairing a session; nonetheless we are grateful for everyone who makes themselves available.

Responsibilities

The responsibility of a Session Chair is entirely within the session. You will:

• Briefly introduce each speaker, or group of speakers, and their presentation.
• Ensure sessions start and end on time, and notify speakers when their time is nearing an end.
• Ask questions from Slido on behalf of the audience. Moderation will be supported by volunteers in the room.
• Ensure that any follow-up discussion remains respectful, professional and time-limited.
• Thank the speakers at the end of their presentation.
• Coordinate with technical staff and volunteers to ensure smooth transitions between presentations.

As always, if you have any questions about signing up to help, please reach out to us at [email protected].

Thank you for considering becoming a Session Chair!