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ICPC 2022
Mon 16 - Tue 17 May 2022
co-located with ICSE 2022
ICSE 2022 (series) / ICPC 2022 (series) /

Instructions

Note: updates are highlighted (last update: 16.05.2022).

For all ICPC registrants:

ICPC 2022 will use Midspace, Zoom, and Discord (details below).

Getting started on Midspace. As soon as you receive the invitation email, please:

  • Log in to the Midspace platform. it is important that you try to login with the email that you used for registration.
  • Customize your profile by clicking on the upper right-hand corner of the screen; add a picture, a badge, your affiliation, etc.
  • Time zone: Make sure you check that that program is displayed in your local time zone by going to your profile and setting the proper “Timezone offset”.
  • Test your camera and audio by selecting “Socialise” on the left side of the screen, then under the “Rooms” tab select “Training Room” or “Test room”. Then enable your camera and audio and join the room. Those rooms are similar to the one we are going to be using for ICPC.
  • Troubleshooting: If you exit perience technical problems in Midspace while trying the above or at any other time, please check the documentation here: https://resources.midspace.app/. Mind that all sessions are set up as “video chats” in Midspace (similar to Zoom calls) and there is no “backstage”. If the problem persists, please post a message in the chat called “Help Desk” (in Midspace, click on the chat icon in the top right and then on “Chat List”, then “Help Desk”). Please reach out to us via Discord (more details below) if you cannot sort it out. During the conference, student volunteers (tagged as “Session Organizer” in Midspace), sessions chairs (“Chair” in Midspace), and organizers will do their best to help you should you have problems.

Navigating in Midspace:

  • Browsing the schedule for ICPC inside of Midspace: Selecting “Schedule” from the left side of the screen shows the schedule for the selected day. If you click “Browse Schedule” you will see a horizontal scroll with the different subconferences - if you click on any one, you will be able to see that content if you are registered for it. You definitely want to check that you can see the schedule for ICPC to confirm that you have proper access to the conference.
  • Live sessions: You can join the ICPC Room in Midspace during the conference by clicking on the name of the “live” or “starting soon” session in the schedule - see “Live Now” or “Schedule” in the left menu.
  • Search feature: Can help you quickly find an event, or a person’s profile. Entering part of a person’s name will show that person and all papers/events associated with that person, and entering a paper/event title will show that event.
  • Interacting with other participants: Click on any user’s profile, and then the “Chat” button to create a new direct message text conversation with that person. Each text conversation will appear in your “Chat list”, and notifications will appear above the chat bubble. Every chat (including direct messages) can have a video room associated with it, too - if you’d like to go from text to video chat, you need only click the video icon at the top of the chat to add video to your text chat. Social rooms are video + text chat rooms where you can meet and mingle for an informal chat. Selecting “Socialise” on the left menu will display a set of social rooms. The icons of the people in the rooms will show up and you can join the room for an informal chat.
  • Refreshing your browser: At any time, if you are experiencing strange behavior or if things appear not to be working properly please refresh your browser page. Note that if you are in a session, refreshing the page will remove you from that session and you need to click on “Join the Room” to get back in it but the entire process will take a few seconds.
  • No virtual background: Midspace does not natively support virtual backgrounds so make sure you are comfortable with showing what is behind you.

Zoom:

  • The 3 Keynotes, the MIP talk, the “Cooking with the PC chairs” social event, and the Open Steering Committee meeting will be on Zoom - the link is included in the ICPC program on Midspace. We will also have a backup Zoom link for the other sessions in case Midspace does not function properly so please make sure you install Zoom before the conference starts.
  • The Keynotes and MIP talk will be recorded and posted on Youtube after the conference.
  • Here is the background image for ICPC’22, feel free to use it for the Zoom meetings that you are attending: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iNSm8aq2tKyZvjjA8KtyPTXh239qYGTM

Discord:

  • We created an ICPC Discord server, and the link was sent to you via email - please join ASAP. You can use it for socializing, posting questions regarding the conference, or for posting urgent need for help during the conference.

ICPC Program:

  • In Midspace, all ICPC sessions will happen in the “ICPC Room''. Midspace also contains the links for the sessions that will be held in Zoom.
  • Mark your calendars: the ICPC program is also available in Researchr: https://conf.researchr.org/program/icpc-2022/program-icpc-2022/ Make sure that the program is displayed in your local time zone by checking the “Displayed time zone”. You can add the entire ICPC program to your calendar by clicking on “Get Calendar (iCal)” on the top right. You can also add only specific sessions (for example those in which you are a chair or in which you are a presenter) to your schedule by clicking on the star in front of the session and only download those for your calendar.
  • Online participation: Please try to attend as many sessions as possible that are in a reasonable time for your time zone to interact with the ICPC community.
  • Offline participation: Some sessions might not be at a convenient time for you. You can still “participate” in those sessions by watching the pre-recorded videos in Midspace for those sessions and then post your questions in the corresponding chat for the session again in Midspace.
  • All sessions except the social events will be recorded. For sessions happening in Midspace, the recordings will be automatically uploaded on Midspace a bit after a session has ended. You will be able to find the recording as part of the videos in the corresponding session. The Keynotes and MIP talks will be recorded and the recording will be shared via the ICPC Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDmMsD_i964jiKSwu2BWuiQ/featured
  • Best presentation award: We will have a vote for best presentation during the conference. The instructions for voting were sent via email (from Helios Voting Bot no-reply@mail.heliosvoting.org, title: “Nomination of Best Presentation Award at ICPC 2022”). The voting will be open from May 15, 2022, 11:59 p.m. UTC until May 17, 2022, 4:20 p.m. UTC.
  • Additional Notes: Sessions have different lengths. There are no parallel sessions within ICPC.

Structure of each paper presentation session (all happening in Midspace):

  • The paper presentation sessions of the conference are organized by topic, with a mix of papers from the different conference tracks (Research, ERA, RENE, Journal First, Tool Demo.)
  • Pre-recorded presentations: All sessions will start with the pre-recorded videos for all the papers in that session, which will be played by the chair of that particular session. During this time, presenters and attendees do not have to do anything other than watching the videos.
  • Live Q&A: After all the pre-recorded presentations end, there will be a live Q&A for all papers in that session. At this time, presenters should turn on their camera and be ready to unmute and answer any questions the audience may have for them. The audience can post questions in the chat or unmute themselves and ask questions.

Proceedings:

  • The ICPC proceedings are handled through ICSE and IEEE, and they are not available at this time. We were told they should become available soon, but we do not have an estimate at this time on when they will become available. Some authors have included a link to a preprint in Midspace and/or in the program on the ICPC website on Researchr (https://conf.researchr.org/program/icpc-2022/program-icpc-2022/). Also, all papers already have a video of their presentation available on Midspace, which you could use if you want to get familiar with a paper before or after their presentation slot during ICPC.

For paper presenters:

Before the conference starts:

  • Please go through all the instructions listed above for all ICPC registrants, which also apply to you.
  • Upload a preprint of your paper on Researchr and/or Midspace. Mind that the proceedings are not available yet and a preprint would greatly improve the visibility of your work and facilitate interactions with your colleagues during the conference.
  • Mark your calendar: Check the time(s) and session(s) of your paper(s), in your local time band and add them to your calendar.
  • Spot the session chair(s) for the session in which you are presenting. Their name will appear under the session name if you are looking at the schedule in Midspace or by clicking on the session - the session chair will have a tag “Chair”. Session chair names appear also in the Researchr program.

During the conference:

  • Connect to Midspace and join the ICPC Room by clicking on the name of your session 10 min prior to your session’s starting time to setup: check that your audio and video work and meet the chair of your session.
  • Attend the entire session: Note that you are expected to stay in your session for its entire duration as the live Q&A session takes place after all pre-recorded presentations.
  • Prepare 1-2 questions for the other speakers in your session. If you want, you can watch the pre-recorded presentations of the papers in your session ahead of time in Midspace (you can find them by clicking on a paper in your session in Midspace).

For session chairs:

Before the conference starts:

  • Please go through all the instructions listed above for all ICPC registrants, which also apply to you.
  • Mark your calendar: Check the times and sessions that you are chairing in your local time band and add them to your calendar.
  • Prepare 1-2 questions for the speakers in your session to start the live Q&A session in case no one asks any questions in the beginning. If you want, you can watch the pre-recorded presentations of the papers in your session ahead of time in Midspace (you can find them by clicking on a paper in your session in Midspace).
  • Spot the presenters for the papers in your session by clicking on each paper - the presenter has a “presenter” tag (if not hovering over the name with your mouse will tell you whether they are presenters) and their first name is spelled out.

During the conference:

  • Connect to Midspace and join the ICPC Room by clicking on the name of your session 10 min prior to your session’s starting time to setup: check that your audio and video work. Please note that the “Play video” button that you will be using (see below) will only appear at the beginning of the session you are chairing, so you will not see it before your session starts. Check if the presenter for every paper in your session is there. If student volunteers (tagged as “Session Organizer” in Midspace) have been assigned to your session they will help you and the authors setup. If you have problems at any time, please try refreshing the browser first, as this usually fixes many problems.
  • In the event that Midspace prevents you from running the session properly please contact the organizers via the Discord channel (see link in the email you received from us).
  • A couple of minutes before the session starts, introduce yourself quickly in the chat (Something along the lines of: “Hi everyone! The session on will start soon. I am and I will be moderating the discussion. Please post questions in the chat as the video plays. You will also have the opportunity to ask questions live during the Q&A after the pre-recorded presentations.”). This way, people that join a bit late can see the message even after the session starts.
  • At the beginning of the session, unmute and introduce yourself and briefly remind participants that there will be a live Q&A after all presentations. Invite participants to ask questions in the chat while the videos are played. Then play the video titled “-all presentations” with the paper presentations for the session (will be available by the time the conference starts). If you do not see the play video button please refresh and if that does not fix the problem please let us know and the backup organizer person for the session will play the video for you.
  • Paper sessions are automatically recorded: The starting and ending of the recording is automatic so there is NO need for session chairs to do anything for that.
  • After the pre-recorded presentations have ended, please open the floor for questions by reminding participants that they can ask questions by unmuting themselves or by typing in the chat.
  • Please end the session on time to allow presenters for the next session to prepare for their session.

For backup session chairs:

Before the conference starts:

  • Please go through all the instructions listed above for all ICPC registrants, which also apply to you.
  • Please go through all the instructions listed above for all ICPC session chairs, which also apply to you if you end up being a session chair.
  • Mark your calendar: Check the times and sessions that you are backup chair for in your local time band and add them to your calendar.
  • Prepare 1-2 questions for the speakers in your session to start the live Q&A session in case you end up being session chair and no one asks any questions in the beginning. If you want, you can watch the pre-recorded presentations of the papers in your session ahead of time in Midspace (you can find them by clicking on a paper in your session in Midspace).

During the conference:

  • Connect to Midspace and join the ICPC Room by clicking on the name of your session 10 min prior to your session’s starting time to setup: check that your audio and video work and that you can see the play video button.
  • Ensure that the session chair is present and does not have problems running the session. If the main session chair is having problems or is not in the ICPC Room 5 minutes before the session starts, please step in as the new session chair.
  • During the session, be ready to step in and try to assist the session chair anyway you can.
  • Post/ask questions during the session’s Q&A.