Meet the R/Pharma Conference Platform

For the third year we have chosen to use the hopin conference platform to host R/Pharma. Here is a brief guide to some of the platform’s features.

TL;DR - watch this video

When you enter hopin you’ll be in the reception area. This is one of five main areas within the conference platform, each will be described briefly below.

Reception

The page you see when you first enter the conference. It’s a place where the conference organizers can push important announcements and where you’ll be able to see the schedule.

Stage

This is the place where all of the talks happen. Head over to the stage to listen to the speakers and watch the panels.

Sessions

Sessions is an area for smaller talks, round-tables and discussions with up to 50 on camera and an audience of up to 5000. Not only can we schedule sessions throughout the conference, but you can create them too. We’ve left sessions open for impromptu meetings. Anyone can create a session by just clicking on Create Session, filling in a few details and adding an optional picture.
Sessions can be open, meaning anyone can go on camera, or moderated, meaning that you can manage who goes on camera. Anyone and everyone can watch sessions. Want to follow up with a speaker? Invite them to a session over a virtual coffee!

People

Here you can find people at the conference by searching for, and connecting with, other attendees. You can also try speed-networking where you’ll be randomly paired with another conference attendee for three minutes and both go on camera. It’s a great way to meet new people, and we all have something in common! Please consider trying it out - you’ll find that everyone at R/Pharma is very nice!

Expo

The expo is our virtual exhibition hall. R/Pharma does not work with sponsors and we promote open source so the exhibition hall is not a traditional one. We’re using this space to give people a chance to showcase their R packages and shiny apps. When you enter a booth you can see a video or set of slides highlighting a package or app.
If the author is present in the booth they can interact with you and even show a live demo. The expo will be open throughout the entire three days of the conference - come check it out.
If you would like to showcase your package or app more details are in this blog post.

R/Pharma aims to provide amazing workshops and presentations within a highly social atmosphere. This is clearly more challenging in a virtual environment. We hope you enjoy the conference and have the chance to make some new connections.