National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Director and Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere Kathryn Sullivan delivered the Union lecture on building resilient communities on 17 December 2014. Credit: © Gary Wagner Photos. Watch the full video here.

The American Geophysical Union (AGU) extended the reach of its 2014 Fall Meeting well beyond San Francisco by live streaming events, uploading ePosters, and engaging numerous remote viewing sites around the world. Thousands of scientists and members of the general public in 65 countries watched video recordings of Union lectures, named lectures, and oral presentations. In all, AGU made more than 700 presentations available through live streaming.

Some of the most popular presentations included the Public Lecture on the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission, a session on the European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission, and keynote speeches by Earth Institute director Jeffrey Sachs, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration director and under secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere Kathryn Sullivan, Buzzcar CEO Robin Chase, and Wendy Schmidt, president of the Schmidt Family Foundation.

Screenshot from a video of a scientist presenting his ePoster at the 2014 Fall Meeting. Catch the full video here.
Screenshot from a video of a scientist presenting his ePoster at the 2014 Fall Meeting. Catch the full video here.

In addition, 102 institutions across the globe registered as remote viewing sites and gathered their scientists and members to collectively view the virtual content. These institutions included government agencies, research institutions, companies, museums, universities, colleges, and interested public groups.

ePosters also played a critical role in this year’s virtual program, with a total of 2055 uploaded. The electronic versions of the posters could be accessed by attendees and non-attendees alike. Furthermore, an on​-demand poster presentation pilot was launched, in which scientists were recorded while presenting their ePosters. These recordings are available on the Virtual Options site with the other recorded content. In 2015, we hope to expand this program significantly and afford more scientists the opportunity to share their research.

AGU will continue to look for ways to further develop and enhance its virtual options for both onsite and remote attendees. As we lay the groundwork for the 2015 meeting, we hope to hear from our members regarding how we can improve the virtual experience.

View our website for additional information on AGU’s Virtual Options program. Feedback can be sent to [email protected].

—Virgil Brown, Project Manager, AGU; email: [email protected]

 Citation: Brown, V. (2015), Virtual programs give everyone access to the 2014 Fall Meeting, doi:10/1029.2015EO023473. Published on 6 February 2015.

AGU Thanks Fall Meeting Sponsors

AGU thanks all of our generous sponsors whose sponsorships helped support the 2014 Fall Meeting and the events at the meeting.

Text © 2015. The authors. CC BY-NC 3.0
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