Building Community in an All-day Conference

Summary:

Education Instructor Alexa Quinn talks about how she and the planning committee worked to create an engaging all-day event for the 2021 Hunter Student Research Conference.

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Education Instructor Alexa Quinn talks about how she and the planning committee worked to create an engaging all-day event for the 2021 Hunter Student Research Conference. Before the event, her team sent physical boxes of swag to participants. On the day of, Quinn organized Zoom meetings instead of webinars so that everyone could be seen on camera. Participants used threaded discussion forums to facilitate conversations throughout the day. To encourage attendees to give feedback on the sessions, each participant was entered into a raffle that took place at the conference's closing session. These activities are a great way to build social presence and community online. Also, thanks to the online format, special guest Yvette White Washington was able to attend; she is the granddaughter of Dr. Louise Stokes Hunter, the conference's namesake and the first Black woman to graduate from UVA (Educ '53).