September 24, 2021, edited 9/27
Dear Friends and Colleagues of the GSA,
We hope this last letter to you before the conference will fill you in on important details about both the virtual and the in-person logistics. We hope we have answered your questions, but as always please feel free to reach out with others. If you have not already registered for the conference (required for all participants), please do!
- Virtual Conference Website:
- By the end of business today, Thursday 23 September (Eastern Daylight Time), our *virtual conference website* will be open and available for you all to explore. No formal sessions will be starting until Arts Night on Tuesday 28 September at 2:00PM (EDT)/20:00 Uhr (MESZ), but feel free to take a look!
- You'll use your GSA member ID and password to log in unless you are a seminar member (convener, seminar panelist, auditor). If that describes you, please follow the instructions on the login page.
- Instructional Video for Moderators of Virtual Panels, Roundtables, and Seminars
- Open Water has created a special instructional video for all moderators/chairs/conveners with instructions about opening Zoom rooms, dealing with the settings for recording the session, etc. We hope you all find it useful. (Heed Margaret’s advice: don’t press the red button unless you are sure.)
- Pre-Conference Drop-in Hours
- Prior to the opening of the conference, we will be available at the conference site for registered participants to visit, check their equipment, or just ask other questions. Look for the Drop-In/Drop-By Virtual Desk once you’ve logged in:
- Friday 24 September after the New Members Meeting, 1:15-2:00 PM EDT / 19:15-20:00 MESZ
- Monday 27 September, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM EDT / 17:00-18:00 MESZ
- Tuesday 28 September, 12:00-2:00 PM EDT /18:00-19:55 MESZ (right before Arts Night)
- Wednesday 29 September, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM EDT / 17:00-18:00 MESZ
- Once the conference gets underway, Benita Blessing and other members of the GSA will be available in the same virtual room for questions, visits, etc.
- Prior to the opening of the conference, we will be available at the conference site for registered participants to visit, check their equipment, or just ask other questions. Look for the Drop-In/Drop-By Virtual Desk once you’ve logged in:
- COVID-19 Protocols
- For those of you coming to Indianapolis, we expect everyone who can be to be fully vaccinated and we will be requiring that all participants be masked when not eating, drinking, or presenting their work. The rooms have been set up with social distancing and head tables have been eliminated to make it easier for panelists to spread out. Each room will have a few extra chairs so that, for example, roundtable participants may sit facing the room, but with more distance between them than would have been possible with a head table. There will be a lectern as has been the case in earlier conferences. There will be a 30-minute pause between each session to allow all the audiovisual equipment to be sanitized.
- Transportation to the Conference Hotel
- We regret to inform you that the shuttle service mentioned in the program has since gone out of business. There will be taxicabs and rideshares available, but unfortunately no specific bus service. Please refer to the Indianapolis International Airport’s Transportation Page for more information.
- Hotel Dining Options
- The Downtown Marriott will not be offering room service due to COVID restrictions, and there may be other limitations. Please check the hotel’s dining website for more information. There will be water available, but not the usual pitchers on tables; bring your own flasks!
- Conference Program
- Our Conference Program now has a designated tab at the top of the GSA website. We are continuing to update for withdrawals, but cannot make changes to paper titles right now. Please note that it can take a few days for us to get an edited PDF changed out of our website.
Thanks to all of you for your collective grace under pressure this year. We hope you all have an enjoyable and constructive conference, wherever you are. If you are posting on social media about the conference, we encourage you to use the hashtag #thegsa2021.
With all good wishes and many thanks,
Margaret E. Menninger, Executive Director
Benita Blessing, Operations Director