STEM 2021 Reflections
Last week, we organized our first ever virtual STEM 2021 Conference. This was very special for us for many reasons. After I had some time to rest and think about it, I have to say that I am very pleased with how our conference went. We had a lot of interesting presentations, keynotes, workshops and symposia. Most surprisingly for me, the virtual platform provided many opportunities for lively discussions and interactions. I think that the virtual nature of the conference opened many opportunities that were not open to us earlier. For example, we had participants from 27 countries around the globe (380+ participants and 150+ presentations in total). We were able to invite keynote speakers from various places despite the geographical location. The recording of the sessions allowed to share the presentations with much wider audience. So while many of us wished we could see each other face-to-face, there were some advantages to the virtual environment. I hope future conferences will have a virtual component to them.
The STEM 2022 Virtual Conference will take place at the University of Sydney in November 2022. I am sure it will be a successful event.