Top Ten Things to Get Ready for the Fall Meeting

#AGU20 is starting in just over 1 week.  Here’s 10 things to do to prepare. 

10. Register and keep your AGU login and password handy. Be prepared to join the meeting through the Fall Meeting home page.

9. Post your talk or create your poster (deadline today, 23 November). If you are in an oral session, prepare your 2-3 summary slides and upload them at least 48 hours before your session. If you have a poster, you can continue editing it until 31 December.

8. Review the resources in Participant’s Corner (AGU login needed) if you are presenting or chairing to ensure you understand how to navigate your specific presentation and session. Ask for help if needed ([email protected]).

7. Build out your schedule and meeting plan (you’ll need your AGU login, which is the same as for registration). You can view content and sessions live and/or on-demand and add notes to your schedule this year. Set your time zone on the bottom left. All posters and oral presentations (except named lectures, some Union sessions and plenaries), will be available 1 December. Most session recordings will be posted online within 24 hours after the session. Award lectures, plenaries and many Union session recordings will be available for playback almost immediately after each session. 

6. Look through the expanded list of special content including:

• 13 Plenaries, one every day. 
• 12 Innovative sessions (mini-meetings modeled after the Centennial sessions last year)— these span from exoplanets to environmental sensing to community science and climate justice. Several include prominent speakers. The full schedule for these is here. They are mostly scheduled during the first and third week to minimize conflicts with other sessions. 
• 28 Named lectures —accessible and broad overviews across AGU’s science.  
• Over 100 Town halls, covering developing future research programs, to the impact of the election, to education. 
  • TH035 on Friday, 4 December at 19:00-20:00 will serve as AGU’s Membership Meeting, including a discussing AGU’s new strategic plan. 
• A large set of programming and discussion on expanding DEI in the sciences and other suggested itineraries. 
• 60+ exhibitors 
• A large track on COVID-19, covering the GeoHealth of COVID, new science in the time of COVID, and the impact of the pandemic on Earth and space science and scientists, including a related plenary and late-breaking session. 
• Data help desk and other resources. 
• And check out the casual events every day, including daily virtual “happy hours” with special guests.
• Attend the Honors Program on Wednesday 9 December, and see stories from awardees at the new Honors website, available 1 December. 

5. Update your browser and, if you can use it, the Zoom desktop application, to the latest versions. You will need a supported browser to access the meeting. If you can’t use the Zoom desktop, all attendees can join those sessions using a browser. Supported browsers for attendees include Edge, Chrome, Firefox and Safari. If you are presenting a plenary, named lecture or union session, only Edge, Chrome or Firefox work. 

4. View more detailed tips on “Know Before You Go,” which will soon include a visual guide of how to navigate the virtual meeting platform.

3. Look for daily updates starting this week. These will both highlight content that was just presented (and you can go back and view) and upcoming sessions and events. These will be sent by email daily and posted here and on the Fall Meeting homepage. 

2. Plan to connect and network during the meeting by…

• Engaging with poster presenters. Times they are available for chats will be listed on the schedule.  If enabled by the presenter, a video chat can be launched from posters. 
• Signing up for a Braindate—this service can connect attendees with common interests. 
• Looking for expanded discussions of sessions and topics on AGU Connect each day (and sign up for an alert). 
• Reserving pods for text discussions or looking for a topic of interest to you to join.  
• Chatting with any attendee through the meeting platform. 
• Posting to social media. Make sure to tag us and use #AGU20. 

1. Know how to get help.

• If you are having trouble with your login or password, email [email protected]
• If you need other help with the meeting platforms, email [email protected] 
• Call our help desk during #AGU20 hours:  
  • Member services team:+1 202 462 6900 or 800 966 2481 (North America only) 
  • M-F 1 Dec – 11 Dec (6AM ET – 2PM ET) and (6PM ET-1AM ET) 
  • M-F 14 – 18 Dec (8AM – 6PM ET) 
• Chat with us inside the meeting platform, available from the virtual meeting lobby.