# VLDB2020: Attendee Instructions

Welcome to VLDB’2020! We have a very exciting program for you to enjoy online this week, with many opportunities for learning about the latest research, the latest advances in industry, and to hang out with your colleagues around technical discussions and social time.

Because the online mode for the conference is still pretty new, we provide the following instructions to help you navigate the VLDB’20 website and conference.

<video style="width:460px;" src="https://vldb2020.org/assets/vldb2020-online-welcome.mp4" poster="/assets/vldb2020-online-welcome.png" controls></video>

## STEP 1 - Registration

Please register as an attendee. It is quick and free of charge:

<a href="https://tokyo.vldb2020.org/" class="btn btn-red btn-large btn-block">Step 1-1: VLDB 2020 Virtual Conference Sign Up</a>

In addition,to sign in to the VLDB2020 official Slack channels for asynchronous discussions, you must sign up for Slack.

<a href="https://tokyo.vldb2020.org/?slack=signup" class="btn btn-red btn-large btn-block">Step 1-2: VLDB 2020 Slack Channels Sign Up</a>

Registration gives you access to the full conference experience.

## STEP 2 - Conference program structure

Please scan the [interactive conference program](https://vldb2020.org/program.html) from top to bottom. This view will give you a sense of the overall conference structure.

**IMPORTANT:** Because we want to be respectful of all time zones, the conference runs 24 hours / day. Each 24 hour “day” has 4 blocks of content. Each block has 4 hours of technical sessions followed by 1 hour of social and sponsor activities. The interactive conference program shows you all block and session times in your **local time zone**.

Please also notice that almost all elements of the program occur **twice**, at different times, so you should be able to view everything at a time that is convenient for your time zone. This includes the conference welcome, all three keynotes, all research & industry paper sessions, all demos, the VLDBJ paper highlights, and the special invited talk on racism and technology. The tutorials and sponsor sessions occur only once.


## STEP 3 - Session Details

In the interactive conference program, if you click on a session, you will see the session details including:

* A link to the virtual conference room. It is a link to a zoom webinar for most sessions. It is a link to Gather for the parties. And it is a link to a variety of platforms for the sponsor sessions.
* Links to the recorded talks on YouTube and Bilibili
* Links to the pdf version of the papers or slides
* A button that allows you to add the session to your calendar
* Information on the session chair or chairs
* For the research & industry papers and for the demo sessions, the details also include information on whether an author will be present to answer live questions.

Note: Keynote speakers & award speakers will be present to answer questions live for both presentations of their talks.


## STEP 4 - Searching

To search the conference program for specific papers, authors, or topics, we recommend that you use the [**flat** conference program](https://vldb2020.org/program_flat.html).

It contains the same information as the interactive program, except that alternate sessions that present the same content are grouped together. For example, the “Human in the Loop” session occurs during slots 03F and 52F. Each slot includes its own zoom link. Both share the same Slack channel.

Please note that the flat program does not list the social activities. So please make sure to look at the interactive program too!


### STEP 4 plus - Quick Searching

You can also use "**Keyword Marker**" on the **interactive** program.


* When you enter a keyword or author of interest, the appropriate session is listed. Then click on the session ID to scroll to that session.


* Alternatively, you can click the **More Details** button to see the details on the **flat** program.


## STEP 5 - Social Program

At the end of each block, we have one hour of social and sponsor activities. Please use the [**interactive** program](https://vldb2020.org/program_flat.html) for more information.

Typically, each social hour includes:
* A party on Gather for socializing. (See also [Gather Instructions](https://vldb2020.org/guide-gather.html))
* Two technical round tables for discussions. Instead of round tables, the first two blocks feature a “Virtual Japan” video.
* A sponsor session: Talks and booths by industry sponsors.

## Additional Notes

* **Panel**: The panel in session 27P is a live panel. The panel will be recorded. The recording will be replayed during session 37P. The panel recording will NOT be available on YouTube/Bilibili.
* **Special, invited talk**: The invited talk by Prof. Ruha Benjamin on Racism & Technology will be a live talk during session 30P. The talk will be recorded and it will be replayed during round table 9 (session 40r). The talk will NOT be be available on YouTube/Bilibili.