We know that many of you have questions about how our virtual conference will proceed, and our team of volunteers is working to plan a cross-platform, open access event that is unprecedented for our organization. Given that, we will be updating this FAQ with procedures, deadlines, and tips. If you have a question that is not answered in this FAQ, please reach out to anastasia@ucf.edu for clarification.
Remember, no submission materials will be accepted via email: all updated and new submissions should be made through the conference portal: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/elo2020/. For instructions, please see the section below on “Submitting files.”
Sections Overview:
- Registration
- Conference Presentations and Panels
- Exhibitions
- Performances
- Conference Proceedings
- Workshops
- Virtual Engagement Events
- Late Submissions
- Submitting Files
Registration
Thanks to a donation from the University of Central Florida College of Graduate Studies and the support of UCF’s College of Arts and Humanities, our virtual conference will be open to all who wish to attend. All video, exhibitions, proceedings papers, and materials will be made available in an open access repository. However, to support the ongoing work of the ELO, we do ask that all participants join the organization and consider an additional donation.You can select any project to target your donation to support the organization’s work. Please register and donate directly through joining the ELO:
- Select your membership category ($25 students / contingent / independent or $50 faculty / full-time employed)
- An additional donation of at least $50 is recommended to support the work of the organization, which usually relies on conference revenues to fund the year’s archival and community-focused projects.
If these membership fees present a challenge given the current economic situation, please contact us directly, and we will waive them. However, if you are able to provide additional support, we appreciate your help in this difficult time. We ask that at least one presenter from each submission join by May 31st to confirm your intention to participate. If this is not possible, just let us know. All revised submissions and pre-recorded material for the conference must be submitted by June 30th: to ensure time for review and debugging, we ask that you submit early if possible.
Conference Presentations and Panels
If your work was accepted to the original program as a conference presentation or panel (evaluated as an abstract-only submission), you have two options to proceed:
- Record and upload a virtual talk for asynchronous viewing. We recommend using an open-source screen capture program, and limiting your recording to 15 minutes at most for an individual paper; 45-60 minutes for a panel. Talks can be uploaded directly through our conference submission portal repository: please see the directions below on “Submitting files.”
Similar to the common practice of organizing thematic panels of individual talks, virtual talks will be grouped thematically into suggested viewing lists, promoted throughout the conference online, and preserved for open access viewing following the conference. Talks must be submitted by June 30th for inclusion in the virtual programming. - Submit to the extended conference proceedings. If you would prefer to submit a written version of your talk, your work will be included in the open access proceedings. Follow the formatting guidelines for the conference proceedings and upload the file directly to the conference submission portal. All works in the extended proceedings will be promoted in themed reading lists during the conference, made available open access, and considered for invitation to a special issue following the conference. Conference proceeding papers must be submitted by June 30th for inclusion.
If desired, presenters can submit both a written and recorded talk. If submitting both, the video should be submitted under Uploads: Presentation Video or Full Paper and the written talk under Additional Files. There are no synchronous options for conference presentations or panels; however, if your session was originally planned as a roundtable or interactive session, it can be re-imagined for virtual engagement or as a live experience. If you would like to do so, please revise your proposal and change the category in the submissions portal. All work in this category should be updated for inclusion in the new format by June 30th.
Exhibitions
If your work was accepted into the conference as an exhibition piece, it will now be included in the virtual, open access, (un)continuity exhibition. This exhibition will launch during the conference, and will be promoted locally by the two galleries originally scheduled to host ELOrlando’s exhibitions. All exhibition artists should review their submissions to ensure they have included the required artist’s statement, which will be made available as part of the online exhibit. Exhibition pieces have several options to proceed:
- Hosted by us and available for online viewing. If your files can be run on a standard website, the preferred method for submission is to submit the files to us for hosting. This will allow us to ensure that the piece is working in this format as well as archive it as part of the ongoing open access exhibition.
- Hosted by you and available for online viewing or download. If your piece requires special server-side configuration, or is downloadable from a repository or app store, please confirm that the instructions originally submitted with your piece apply and submit updates as necessary. We will link your piece through the exhibition portal, and include these instructions, which must be re-verified by June 15th.
- Video work or documentation. Video work or video documentation of work can be submitted directly through the conference portal; please see the directions below on “Submitting files.” This option is suitable for both works that were originally designed for video, and for physical or interactive works that can no longer be included in their original format.
There are no synchronous options for conference exhibition pieces. All work in this category should if possible be updated for inclusion in the new format by June 15th. The curators completely understand that this new format might entail some changes to the original work, and will be flexible in accommodating these changes. Please be sure to update artist’s statements as needed.
Performances
As performances were originally intended to be live, evening events, performers are welcome to choose between synchronous and asynchronous participation. However, note that while we will do our best to accommodate the range of time zones involved, any live event may be at odd hours depending on the participant’s location. Asynchronous performances are recommended to avoid technical challenges and scheduling problems, but both are welcome.
- Asynchronous performances. Asynchronous performances can be pre-recorded and submitted directly through the conference portal: please see the directions below on “Submitting files.” Asynchronous performances will be gathered into recommended viewing lists by theme, promoted throughout the conference, and preserved open access after the conference. Video documentation should be uploaded by June 15th if possible.
- Synchronous performances. Synchronous performances will be hosted via Zoom by conference volunteers and announced as virtual events. Performers interested in this option should have already been scheduled. Performers will be asked to participate in a practice run in June to resolve any audiovisual challenges, and practice screen-sharing and transitioning between performers. The groupings and number of events will be determined by the number of performers opting for synchronous.
The conference hosts understand the performances are likely to be strongly impacted by this circumstance (as anyone watching late-night television show “home versions” is well aware), and will be very flexible regarding any changes performers need to make in modality, equipment, and participation. Please update abstracts in the submissions portal to reflect any changes by May 31st, and submit your video by June 30th.
Conference Proceedings
Works originally submitted and accepted (or accepted pending revisions) are welcome to take advantage of the extended May 31st deadline for the conference proceedings. Since papers already submitted in this category have already been through peer review, they will automatically be included in the planned post-conference special issue if revisions were completed as requested. When revising, don’t forget to follow the proceedings formatting and citation guidelines from the Electronic Book Review. All submissions should be under 4000 words, although 3500 words at most is recommended.
All new works submitted in this category will be promoted in themed reading lists during the conference, made available open access, and included in the planned special issue following the conference pending final peer and editor review. No video presentation is expected or required for this category; however, participants are welcome to upload a video to accompany the paper if desired, following the directions under “Submitting files.”
Workshops
Both invited workshops and workshops proposed during the open call have the option of running as synchronous or asynchronous events. However, note that while we will do our best to accommodate the range of time zones involved, any live event may be at odd hours depending on the participant’s location. Asynchronous workshops are recommended to avoid technical challenges and scheduling problems, but both are welcome.
- Asynchronous workshops. Asynchronous workshops can be pre-recorded and submitted directly through the conference portal: please see the directions below on “Submitting files.” Asynchronous workshops will be gathered into recommended viewing lists by theme, promoted throughout the conference, and preserved open access after the conference. Video documentation should be uploaded by Jue 30th.
- Synchronous workshops. Synchronous workshops will be hosted via Zoom by conference volunteers and announced as virtual events, unless the workshop host has a different format in mind. Those interested in this option should write to anastasia@ucf.edu by May 15th to assist in scheduling, and note any special requirements or concerns.
The conference hosts recommend workshop leaders provide detailed information regarding software or hardware requirements to participate. Please update abstracts in the submissions portal to reflect any changes by May 31st.
Virtual Engagement Events
Virtual Engagement Events are a new special session type designed to expand participation by those not originally involved in the conference, as well as to provide space for experimentation and innovation in our online constraints. This call is now closed, and the schedule is live. Except where other technology is required, virtual sessions will be hosted by conference volunteers using Zoom.
Late Submissions
No requests for late inclusion in the exhibition, panels, or performances will be accepted. All material for accepted asynchronous work must be finalized by June 30th for inclusion.
Submitting Files
All category changes and submissions of additional material should be made directly through the conference portal at https://stars.library.ucf.edu/elo2020/. If you are changing a previous submission, you should already have an email link to your submission directly.
To access all your submissions:
- Login through the link above and view your account page
- Scroll to your proposals under ELO 2020
- Click on the name of the proposal you wish to edit
- Select “Revise proposal” at the top of the sidebar menu
- If changing your submission type (for instance, from panel to virtual engagement session, or from talk to conference proceeding paper), use the “Select session type” drop-down
- If you are uploading a video of a talk, performance, or exhibit, use the Uploads: Presentation Video or Full Paper section.
- If you are uploading a conference proceeding paper as well as a talk video, select the checkbox marked “Include additional files,” and hit submit at the bottom of the page to append the paper.
- If you are uploading a conference proceeding paper without a video, use the Uploads: Presentation Video or Full Paper section.
- For all conference proceedings papers, make sure to follow the EBR format guidelines to ensure a consistent style to our extended proceedings.
- For exhibit or performance files other than a video, select the checkbox marked “Include additional files,” and hit submit at the bottom of the page.
- This will open a page that will allow for the direct uploading of any appropriate file type. All additional files should be uploaded directly here.
Materials sent via email will be filtered by the university system, and thus ignored, so please submit all files directly using this interface.