Airmeet Attendee Guide

Norwescon 43 is virtual and being presented in Airmeet. You will enter the convention from a button on the home page using the email address you registered with. When the convention is available you'll see a home page that looks something like this.

As with an in-person convention: If you break the Norwescon Code of Conduct, you could be removed from the event and won’t be able to return. Click the link to read it: https://www.norwescon.org/con/memberships/policies-and-guidelines/code-of-conduct/

The below information is designed to supplement the general Airmeet help documentation and provide information specific to Norwescon. For assistance with accessing the convention or purchasing a membership, visit our help desk page. Once you successfully enter the event, help is most easily found at the Norwescon Help & Information Booth in the Arena.

Audio Tips and Tricks

Convention attendees are able to interact with others in the Lounge and Arena. For some panels you may be able to raise your hand and ask questions via audio instead of using the Q&A feature. If you choose to interact with others the following audio tips and tricks may be helpful.

Camera: To get the best from this, you should have lighting that is above and semi in front of you. Note the different images in the various tables and sessions. The closer to natural lighting is best. NOTE: I tested this and found that sitting in the cat’s room had the best lighting effect for me.

Audio: It’s best if you use a headset. If you can’t use a headset, headphones or earbuds will still make it easier for you to hear others and others to hear you. Turn off external noise sources, TV, stereo, etc. and try to keep other sounds to a minimum (like removing all cat toys from the cat room so your fur baby won’t play in the same room as you). And if there is too much noise due to external outside noises, you can mute yourself (or the Host will do that).

Connection: The best result is to use a wired Network connection for audio and streaming. WiFi is OK if it’s really reliable and fast.

Internet Browser: Recommended is Google Chrome – 79 or later, then MS Edge; current versions of Firefox and Brave also work. Other browsers will join in Light mode, where you can browse and watch live sessions but not interact in the social spaces.

Physical setup: A desk / table for your computer / laptop; a desk chair, comfy chair, etc. For the performances, you can plug your computer / laptop into your TV and mirror it.

Remember to take breaks away from your computer, laptop, or device. And have fun!

If you don't have a computer . . .

There are apps for iOS and Android but they do not allow you to interact via video. You can see any video but you cannot be seen by others. It is possible to force your tablet or smartphone to show the convention in desktop mode and access the video interaction features. If your preference is to attend events but not voice/video chat with others then the app for your device is the preferred method of attending the convention.

Home Page Features

Outside of the Airmeet event everyone has access to the following home page features. The Schedule for all events is in Guidebook, just like in previous Norwescon’s! FYI, Guidebook doesn’t have any weblinks to Airmeet.

Schedule

Want to find out what is going on all weekend? Every panel, concert, game, and performance listed day by day for your convenience. Sessions are listed inside of Airmeet but Guidebook is the best way to find things other than sessions.

Art Show

The Norwescon art show features science fiction and fantasy artwork by artists local and far flung, led by our artist guest of honor, Sana Takeda! Browse through our art show to explore their work, and follow hyperlinks to purchase from your favorite artists through their websites. Many artists will be available for interaction at virtual booths within our virtual convention space.

Club Tables

Norwescon always offers space to local clubs, groups, conventions, and organizations that promote science, science fiction, fantasy, costuming, and other fannish pursuits. Check out the options for what other fannish fun you can find. Interaction is possible at virtual booths within the convention's virtual space.

Dealers' Room

Explore the finest fandom-related merchandise form our dealers with their vast array of collectibles, books, games, and other items. At our writers' row, allow authors to tempt you with their wordsmithing ways. Members may visit virtual tables to interact with dealers and authors within the convention's virtual space.

Twitch

A number of games and several event performances are being streamed to the public through our Twitch channel. Stop by, watch a show or a game, and hang out in the chat channel.

Entering the Convention

Once you have clicked on the Enter Norwescon 43 button, you will land on a page that has features similar to the one below.

Click the Enter event button.

Attendee Card

This is a picture of an attendee profile card. It is what you will see the first time you enter the event. Designation may read Professional Title insted.

The card shows you what was prefilled for you based on what you entered when you registered for Norwescon 43. If you already had an Airmeet account prior to being entered into the Norwescon Airmeet, your attendee profile will not be overwritten. You are encouraged to edit it to match other attendees. You'll be able to change it back at the next Airmeet you attend.

PREFILLED FIELDS

• Name (Badge Name)
• Professional Title/Designation (Badge Type - Panelist, Guest of Honor, Attendee, Staff, etc.)
• Organization (Norwescon)

NOTE: Please do not edit any of the fields in your profile that Norwescon has prefilled.

You can edit all other fields (City and Country) and add a photo or image. City and Country doesn’t have to be ‘filled in’ but Airmeet requires something to be populated. In the above scenario, I used dots. Note that there is a minimum / maximum number of characters you can use.

If you want to use pronouns, please add them after you Name. This is the only exception to the direction not to edit your Name, Professional Title/Designation, and Organization.

After clicking the Save button, you will see a message telling it’s processing then another message letting you know it’s done. If you choose not to click save, the changes aren’t saved.

Your profile icon will have whatever photo, image, symbol you uploaded into your profile. NOTE: I’m a NASA Juno space craft Lego fan, which is where the image is from. 😊 Remember when choosing something other than a photo of yourself to pick images that adhere to the Code of Conduct

Test your setup

The last thing that happens before you enter the convention proper is that you are given the opportunity to test your setup. You can take this opportunity to check to see how you look on camera and to test your speakers and microphone. Note: Airmeet will require that you opt in to sharing your camera and microphone every time you engage in an activity where this is possible (e.g. take a seat at a table, step onto a stage). Even if you do not intend to interact with others via your camera or microphone, we recommend that you test your audio connection at least once when you first enter to ensure that you can hear the audio during the sessions.

Click the video icon, the mic icon. OR you can click the Test speaker and mic button. Make any adjustments needed for best audio. Note: I have hung a gray blanket behind me.

Reception

The first page you see when arriving at the convention is the Reception page.

Most of the text on the graphic will link you to convention information outside of Airmeet, the links will open in new tabs in your browser making it easy to come back to the convention by clicking the tab. The one exception is the Walkthrough box provided by Airmeet. This plays a video in a pop up that can be closed by clicking the X in the very light gray circle in the upper right when the video is open.

• Schedule (Guidebook), a complete list of everything scheduled to take place during the convention including scheduled games & events not on stages
• Program book,
• Virtual Convention Tour, 15-minute video that walks you through the convention areas and menus
• How to get help, link to the help page with live chat
• Art Show, portion of the Norwescon website with artist information
• Dealers, Norwescon website list of vendors with text and images
• Clubs, Norwescon website list of clubs with text and images
• Code of conduct, the document that covers appropriate interactions at Norwescon

From reception you can:

1. Find and attend a Session (Panel) that takes place on a stage
2. Visit the Lounge (where tables are – i.e. Social space)
3. Explore the Arena (Info table, Dealers room, Gaming, Club tables, etc.)
4. Read and comment on the live convention wide Feed
5. View the list of people currently present at the event and direct message them
6. See any convention-wide alerts (reminders & announcements)
7. Exit the event by clicking on your profile (select exit from the menu of options)

Sessions

The default view for this page is All Sessions.

On this page you can:

1. Filter the panel (session) list by those you have added to your schedule
2. Filter the list by a subject tag(s)
3. Toggle between days
4. Search for a specific panel using part of the title (or the whole title)
   • Events which provide American Sign Language interpretation have [ASL] in the title.
5. Filter the list by upcoming, live, or completed
6. Join live sessions
7. Add sessions to your schedule

Before a Session Begins

It is possible to enter a session before it has officially begun (the host and panelists are backstage preparing to start). In such a case you will see a message that the session will begin/resume shortly. When the session begins to go live, you will see a yellow bar and numbered countdown across the bottom of the screen.

During a Panel / Session

Attendees cannot speak during a session without being handed a microphone, they also cannot be seen on camera.

On this page you can:

1. See who is on stage
2. See how long the session has been running and how many people are attending
3. Send emoji feedback about the presentation
4. Raise your hand to be handed a microphone and ask a question live on stage
5. Turn on/off closed captioning
6. Adjust your video feed to a lower resolution or turn off the video all together to save on bandwidth
7. Text chat with everyone
8. Ask a question to be answered by the panelists (yellow dot means there is an unanswered question)
9. Participate in a poll
10. See the profiles of everyone attending (new tab)

Screen sharing menu

Panelists may choose to provide information using screen sharing.

You can make it full screen to see it better. Click the four arrow box to do this.

1. To exit full screen view, click on the two arrow box.
2. To see chat, Q&A, and polls in full screen view. Minimize the speaker videos.

Note: Screens can also be shared at tables (lounge & arena) the tool will function the same way there.

Chat Details

Posting in chat shares your avatar, name, membership type (aka professional title/designation), and Organization (Norwescon). This is true regardless of where you post to chat.

A yellow dot means there is something unread. In the image below there is an unread direct message waiting for me. Whenever there is a yellow dot by people that means you have a direct message.

Click the people button to see who has direct messaged you. You will be able to see the first several words of their message and choose to open it to read the remainder or not. Click the message to read it.

Lounge

This is a social space for all Norwescon attendees. It is only accessible in desktop mode.

Think of it as stopping in the hallway to talk to people you know, sitting down in Seaports to have a drink with friends, etc. You can arrange to meet a group of people at a a table in the lounge at any point during the convention to have a chat (voice/video/text). Each table has a maximum of 8 chairs. To join a table, click on an open chair. Your Personal Icon will appear on a chair. Other attendees can see this and choose to join you. Once the table has the maximum people occupying the table, it’s full and no one else can join it.

If you're the only one at a table there's not much to see.

Table Interactions

When you first arrive at a table with others (not shown) you will always enter with your camera and microphone off even if you just had them on at another table or on stage. Airmeet's default setting for any situation where you have the ability to share your camera and microphone is to have these devices turned off. Devices that are off have a red box around them and a diagonal strikethrough on the image.

1. Video, enable/disable your video feed
2. Microphone, enable/disable your audio feed
3. Share your screen with others at the table
4. Change the layout (view) of the tabl.
5. Table chat, private with the people at the table
6. Settings, adjust your camera and microphone
7. Leave table to go somewhere else (you may also click on another table or a menu item at the top of the page to leave)

Arena

The arena is where the The Official Norwescon booth, Con Services including Help Desk, Info desk, Dealers, Norwescon Games, Little Free Library, Club tables, Artists, BIPOC Safer Space, LGBTQI Safer Space, Quiet Room, etc. are located. The first booth in the arena is Norwescon Help & Information, this is where you can find friendly faces to assist you. There is some operability with arena spaces on the iOS and Android apps. A computer with a supported browser (chrome preferred) along with a microphone and camera are required for full feature access.

1. Filter the booths by a tag or tags
2. Search for a booth by a portion of the booth/person name
3. Use the interior scroll bar to scroll down to see everything

Booth Interior

1. Resources are links that will open outside of Airmeet in a new browser tab
2. Register Interest opens a pop up allowing you to send an email to the booth host (see below)
3. Links to the associated social media accounts for the booth
4. A host is at the Help Desk table in this picture, they show up in the upper right corner
5. Join a table to connect with people at that table by clicking an empty seat or the word join

Register Interest Email

The email address you provide gets added to a list of emails that is provided to the booth host after the convention is over.

The button changes to request sent

Interactions

There are 6 tables in the booth, with a maximum of 8 people per table, you can move between tables by clicking on different tables. For information on how to interact at tables, see the lounge section.