Conference Format & Information

Presentation materials will be posted on the third Friday in February and will remain open for discussion for two weeks (that being ‘the conference’). During this two weeks discussion takes place in the comments section of each session (i.e. each post). It is much like blogging, only during a specific two week period. As such it can be done from anywhere at any time! After the conference the comments section will be closed (unless requested to be left open by author). Presentations, videos, papers, etc and discussion are left for people to view (unless the presenter requests otherwise) but no new comments are approved. The best way to get a feel for what goes on here is to browse previous conferences by going to the program for that year and clicking on the title of the talk you want to “attend”.

Participating in the conference means, minimally, going to the conference website to follow the discussion, ask or answer questions, etc several times during the two weeks of the conference. This does not mean that you must answer every comment or that you need to be by a computer every moment during the conference, but you should be able to make time to sit down and see what is going on at least a few days a week during the conference. I recommend that participants plan on setting a day or two aside specifically devoted to engaging in online discussion but of course, just as with conferences in “meat space,” how much you participate is up to you!

Participants often provide some kind of audio/video material to be posted along with their papers. This can be anything from a recording of the talk given somewhere else (I think it is analogous to giving the same talk at two different conferences, which is normal), a new recording of a talk, a home made video of the presenter reading the paper, an edited presentation involving video, powerpoint slides and music, a narrated powerpoint presentation, or an audio recording of the presenter reading the paper. I encourage these innovations but I do not require them. Just as with a more conventional conference, how one chooses to present the material is up to the presenter.

After the comments section is closed the author may, if they wish, write a final comment addressing any remaining points, comments/criticisms, etc or summing up the main points made.

Oh, and the conference is completely free of charge.

Comment Policy
Comments are moderated and may take some time to appear. Participation is encouraged and comments will be approved as long as they are collegial, constructive, and aim to advance the discussion.

For more information, or any questions please email me at consciousnessonline@gmail.com