As a chair of the RANLP conference, you have several tasks assigned to you. The first thing we would ask you to do is to join the Zoom link of the session you will be chairing at least 5 minutes before it starts.

Kindly keep an eye for possible chat messages from the Zoom hosts: they will probably welcome you when you join anyway. The Zoom hosts will also notify you if the speakers in your session have joined the link.

You will need to introduce the speakers before they start their presentation. Please check the conference programme to familiarise yourself with the presenters in your session. Either the host or co-host of the session will inform you via private chat on Zoom when the next speaker has connected and is ready. Remember to turn on your camera while presenting the speaker and during the Q&A session. It is advisable to test your camera and microphone prior to the conference to ensure the event runs smoothly.

Another of your tasks will be to make sure the presentations run to time. Please note that there are several types of presentations, each with different lengths. Punctuality is crucial as it will be a very intense programme with many presentations. Running over the time might affect the following presentations, creating a domino effect on the rest of the conference. Below are the durations for the different types of presentations at RANLP’2021. Please also check the conference programme.

• Demos and regular papers: 20 minutes presentation + 5 minutes Q&A/Discussion
• Short papers: 15 minutes presentation + 5 minutes Q&A/Discussion
• Poster papers: 5 minutes presentation + 10 minutes Q&A/Discussion

It will also be your responsibility to alert speakers that the time is about to expire. You can do this 5 minutes before their time is up. If the speaker goes over the allocated time, they will not be able to continue. This means that you may have to interrupt them and stop them.

Before the presentation, please request that the audience have their cameras on during the introduction and during the Q & A session and have their microphones muted during the presentation. Please ask the presenter to have their camera and microphone on during their presentation. As mentioned above, after every presentation there will be a Question and Answer (Q&A) session of 5 or 10 minutes (depending on the type of presentation; see above). For better interactivity, please remind the attendees to have their cameras on during the Q&A sessions and give the floor only to those who have raised their hand in Zoom and have their cameras on. Questions might come from attendees asking the question themselves or in the form of written text. For the latter, you will need to monitor the chat messages to note down the questions for the speaker. For the former, attendees will raise their hands using the ‘raise hand’ facility in Zoom. Discussion time should also be interrupted if time expires, although it can be encouraged to continue in the chat.

• Please make sure you are on the Zoom link of your session *at least 5 minutes before the session* (if you do not join 5 minutes before the session at the latest, control of the session is transferred to the back up session chair)
• Welcome the speaker and the audience, instructing the audience to have their cameras on during the introduction and during the Q&A session
• Instruct the audience to have their microphones off during the presentation
• Introduce the speakers before they start their presentation
• Alert the speakers when they have 5 minutes left
• Stop the speakers when they go over the allocated time
• Monitor the chat and the discussion. Read out any questions if they are in the form of chat messages (if time available)
• Remind the audience again to have their cameras on during the Q&A session.

A few attendees have requested to have pre-recorded videos of their presentation. We are allowing this in exceptional circumstances and subject to specific conditions. See below the email we are sending to the small number of participants with such requests.

If there is a pre-recorded presentation in your session, we shall let you know in the next few days. If the presenters play the video themselves, they need to be asked turn their camera on in addition to showing the slides so that the atmosphere would be similar to a live presentation. Kindly remind them.

If the presenters opt for the attendees watching a pre-recorded video on the RANLP’2021 YouTube channel themselves, using the chat facility of Zoom, the hosts will provide the link of the presentation on YouTube. In this case, please invite the audience to watch the pre-recorded video and please re-convene the audience for the Q & A session after 20 min at most for regular papers, 15 minutes for short papers and 5 minutes for paper presentations.

Thank you for your collaboration.