Driven by concerns about the carbon footprint of air travel,time taken away from family and work duties,and ever-tightening bud-gets,many science and engineering organizations in the past few years had begun to explore the potential for virtual scientific exchange,using digital tools to enhance the in-person experience and allow for greater participation online,both live and after-the-fact.Now,the social distancing constraints imposed by the coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)pandemic have pushed the vast majority of these organizations to jump entirely into the virtual realm.Luckily,in a convergence of widely available hardware,bandwidth,and innovative software,the technology now exists to transform many aspects of in-person conferences into virtual ones.
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