Gather Guidelines (poster sessions, social events, video screening event)

This year at ICLDC 8, we will be utilizing Gather as the platform for the poster sessions and the social gatherings. Gather is an online platform that allows presenters to share content and communicate with participants in a virtual conference environment. 

For comprehensive information on how to get started with Gather, please see this official guide from the Gather website or the help center. More in-depth information regarding Poster Sessions can be found in the Poster Guidelines section.

Guide Contents

What is Gather?

Gather is an online platform that allows users to move their avatars around a virtual space. When you get close enough to another user, you can see and speak to them, just like you would be able to on Zoom.

How to join Gather

When you follow the link to the Gather space from Sched, you may first be asked to grant permission for Gather to use your camera and microphone. These are necessary so that other conference attendees can see and hear you!

Image of a Gather avatar with ‘Welcome to ICLDC 8’ at the top, and a welcome message below. You will see this welcome page when you log on for the first time.
You will see this welcome page when you log on for the first time. 

Depending on your browser and computer, you may see something like the below image pop up. Click “Allow” to give Gather permission to use your camera and microphone.

Image of menu with options to allow Gather to use your camera and microphone. Make sure to allow permissions to interact with other attendees. Image of menu with options to allow Gather to use your camera and microphone. Make sure to allow permissions to interact with other attendees.
Camera and mic permissions on a desktop browser (left) and a mobile browser (right). Make sure to press “Allow” to interact with other attendees. 

Once you have given Gather permission, you will see a screen like the one below:

Image of the Gather entrance screen with ‘Welcome to ICLDC 8’ at the top, permissions for camera and microphone to the left, and the prompt to add your name at the right. Click on “Edit” to customize your avatar and add your name where prompted. Click “Join” when ready to join the Gather space.
Click on “Edit” to customize your avatar and add your name where prompted. Click “Join” when ready to join the Gather space. 

Before joining the space, you should give yourself a name by typing in the space labeled “What’s your name?” Please type in your full name (e.g., John Doe) on Gather to avoid confusion. You can also edit your avatar by clicking on the “Edit” button, circled in purple above. This will allow you to change your skin color, hair, clothing, and so forth.

Image of the Avatar customization page
This is your Avatar customization page.

When you are happy with your avatar, click “Finish Editing,” then click “Join” to enter the ICLDC 8 virtual conference space!

What Gather will be used for

At ICLDC 8, Gather will be used for three main events: poster sessions, social mixers, and a pre-conference video screening. In addition to these events, the Gather space will be open throughout the conference. Feel free to drop in to socialize with other conference attendees at any time!

Poster Sessions

There will be two poster sessions during the conference: 

Session 1: Thursday, March 2nd, 6pm–7pm HST 

Session 2: Sunday, March 5th, 10:30am–11:30am HST

Check out the ICLDC 8 Sched page to look at the posters schedule.

Each poster session has a room set aside in Gather for their respective posters. To enter the Poster Lobby from the Welcome Lobby, take the left exit (see the Gather Map as a reference). 

Once you enter the Poster Lobby, go to the room on the left for Poster Session 1 and the room on the right for Poster Session 2. 

Image of the main Poster Lobby space – go to the left for Posters Room 1 (Thursday) and to the right for Posters Room 2 (Sunday).
The main Poster Lobby spaceGo to the left for Posters Room 1 (Thursday) and to the right for Posters Room 2 (Sunday). 

Each poster session room will have poster sprites marked with a number on the floor, and this number will correspond to the listed number of the poster on the ICLDC website. This is to make finding a specific poster easier.

Image of an avatar standing in Poster Lobby 1
Poster Lobby 1 (Poster Lobby 2 is a mirror image of this)

The grayed-out sections of the floor are meeting areas, and during the poster sessions, standing in this meeting area will essentially put you in a private room with the poster presenter and any other people observing the poster. To view the poster in full screen, press the X key while facing the poster sprite. 

If you wish to download it, press X (this will change the poster to full-screen mode), then press the Pop-out icon on the right of your screen. Pressing this will open a new tab with the poster in full-screen and various options including download and print. This should be applicable to those on mobile devices as well. 

Image of a poster in full-view mode. To download a poster, click on the Pop-out icon while viewing a poster in full screen in Gather. This will open a new page (see next image).
To download a poster, click on the Pop-out icon (red arrow) while viewing a poster in full screen in Gather. This will open a new page (see below image). 
Image of a poster in Google Drive. After clicking the Pop-out icon in Gather, a new tab will open. Click on the three vertical dots to the upper right of your screen. There should be an option to download the image.
After clicking the Pop-out icon in Gather, this tab will open. Click on the three vertical dots to the upper right of your screen. The options available to you may be different than in this image, but you should have the option to download the poster as a PDF file. 

To voice a comment or question to the presenter, make sure your microphone is turned on (indicated by a green color). You can turn on/off your microphone and camera at the bottom of your Gather screen. You can also utilize the keyboard shortcut Ctrl/Command + Shift + A to turn on/off your microphone. 

There is also a whiteboard sprite next to each poster. Pressing X on your keyboard to interact with this whiteboard will open the program Eraser in a window. You can use this program to leave notes for the presenter or highlight portions of the poster.

Image of an avatar by a whiteboard in the Poster Room. Walking next to the whiteboard sprite will open a prompt to press X. Pressing X will open an app called Eraser, which you can use to leave notes for the presenter and highlight portions of the poster.
Walking next to the whiteboard sprite will open this prompt. Press X to open an app called Eraser, which you can use to leave notes for the presenter and highlight portions of the poster.

For more information on how to navigate Gather, please refer to the section labeled How to use Gather. During the sessions, each poster room will have a volunteer on standby at the white semicircular desk, who can assist you with any technical questions. 

After the poster sessions, you may return to the poster rooms at any time during the conference to look at and download any posters you may have missed. 

For Presenters: During your poster session, simply walk to your assigned number and stand inside the gray area in front of your assigned poster sprite. Anyone who wishes to discuss your poster or listen to your presentation will walk to your area, and you can discuss the contents as you would in a Zoom meeting. Take care not to leave the grayed-out meeting space or you will not be able to speak to others viewing your poster. 

All attendees will be able to view your poster, but if you need to screen share, you will find a Screen Share icon at the bottom of your screen, next to the Emoji icon. After pressing on the Screen Share icon, you may need to change your browser security settings to share your screen. You can then choose to share your entire screen, a single window, or a tab on your browser. 

Social Events

ICLDC 8 will have two official social mixers during the conference:

Mixer 1: Thursday, March 2nd,1:30pm–3pm HST

Mixer 2: Friday, March 3rd, 4:00pm–5:30pm HST

Both will take place in the Social Garden space on Gather. To get to the Social Garden, go straight up from the Welcome Lobby. Continue along the path in the garden until you reach the Mixer Area. ICLDC volunteers will be in the space to help you, and you can see a full map of the Gather space in our FAQ.

Image of the Social Garden space with five themed areas; clockwise from the top: Orchard, Docks, Lounge, Volcano, Desert, and a center area labeled ‘Mixer Area’
Social Garden with a Mixer Area: Orchard, Docks, Lounge, Volcano, Desert

As shown above, our Mixer Area is divided into 5 themed areas for different groups of conference attendees to mingle:

Volcano: for undergraduate students

Desert: for graduate students and postgraduates

Orchard: for educators

Docks: for community activists

Lounge: for researchers

If you feel you fit into more than one group, we encourage you to move between areas throughout the mixers!

Each mixer will start with a brief welcome, then you are free to chat with other attendees. Icebreaker questions and online games can be found throughout the space to foster conversation and engagement! Feel free to attend one or both social mixer events.

To play one of the online games, press X as shown below.

An image of an avatar playing a game in Gather.
Press X to play an online game linked in the Gather space

Each game is set up differently, but generally one person will need to host a lobby and share the code or link to this lobby with others who want to play. You can use the chat function to message nearby attendees with the game information!

Video Screening

We will be hosting a Video Screening event in Gather the day before the conference starts, on Wednesday, March 1st from 10:30am–12pm HST. The ICLDC 8 Gather space will be open from 10am–1pm HST, and there will be tours of the space before and after the video screening event to help attendees become familiar with Gather.

The Video Screening event will be held in the Movie Theater room, which is the exit on the right side of the Welcome Lobby (see below image). 

Image of the Lobby room with an avatar standing beside a yellow-highlighted sign in the entrance leading to the Movie Theater room.
Welcome Lobby: The yellow-highlighted sign leads to the entrance of the Movie Theater

Once inside the movie theater, the videos will be synchronized to begin at 10:30am HST and will play for everyone in the theater until the playlist is finished. Afterward, video makers will be given the opportunity to discuss their work with attendees. At this point, their avatars will move to one of the green desks with the microphones on the stage, as shown below, and their audio and video will be broadcasted to the whole movie theater.

Image of an avatar standing behind green desks with microphone symbols where the video makers will be after the screening.
Stage of the Movie Theater room: Video makers will answer questions at the green desks. 

To ask the video makers questions, attendees may line up in front of the podium sprites on the right side of the theater after the screening. Once it is their turn, they should stand on the megaphone icon, which will broadcast their video and audio to the room. Questions will be answered on a first-come, first-served basis.

Image of an avatar standing next to two lines leading up to the podium sprites, with a megaphone symbol for broadcasting audio.
On the right side of the Movie Theater, audience members can line up at the two lines leading up to the podium sprites to ask the video makers questions. 

Gather Tours

We will hold two tours of the Gather space, one before the video screening at 10am HST and one after the video screening at 12:15pm HST. Meet us in the Welcome Lobby to get walked through how to use Gather and where things are in our space!

How to use Gather

On a computer

To move around in Gather, use your arrow keys or use the letters W (up), A (left), S (down), and D (right). You can also navigate by right-clicking and selecting “Move here” (as shown in the below image) or by double left-clicking.

Image of an avatar with the right-click option ‘Move here’.
Navigate your avatar by right-clicking and selecting “Move here.”

You can interact with some objects in the Gather space by pressing X. This will allow you to read informational documents, view posters, and play games.

Images of an avatar standing in front of an interactive object with the prompt ‘Press X to interact’Images of an avatar standing in front of an interactive object with the prompt ‘Press X to interact’Images of an avatar standing in front of an interactive object with the prompt ‘Press X to interact’
Press X to interact with objects around the Gather space: view signage around the space (left), view a poster (center), play a game (right)

On a phone or tablet

If you are joining Gather via your phone or tablet, please note that functionality may be limited. For best results, log on to Gather on Safari (iOS) or Chrome (Android). 

To move around the space, you can either hold and drag your finger or double tap on the area you want to move to. 

Image of the Welcome Lobby with two options to move on a mobile device: You can hold and drag your finger or double tap to move around Gather.
You can hold and drag your finger or double tap to move around Gather. 

Similarly to turning on/off your microphone and camera in the desktop version, you will find the microphone and camera icons at the bottom of your screen. Remember that you will need to grant permission for Gather to use your microphone and/or camera. You can adjust these settings in your browser settings. To do this in Chrome, you can find a guide here. For Safari/iOS, you can find a guide here.

You will also find your chat messages here at the bottom of the screen, next to the microphone and camera icons (see below image). 

Image of the bottom portion of the screen on a mobile device. Microphone (left), camera (center), and chat buttons (right) are at the bottom of the screen on a mobile browser.
Microphone (left), camera (center), and chat buttons (right) at the bottom of the screen on a mobile browser. Note that the microphone and camera are turned off (indicated by red).

There are objects that you can interact with in the Gather space. If you encounter one, you will see a message such as “Press ‘x’ to interact.” An X will appear at the bottom right of your screen (see below image). You can tap on this to view the interaction. You can press the X again to exit the interaction. 

Image of an avatar approaching an interactive object. When you approach an interactive object, you will see the message “Press ‘x’ to interact.” Click on the X at the bottom right of your screen to view the interaction.
When you approach an interactive object, you will see the message “Press ‘x’ to interact.” Click on the X at the bottom right of your screen (red arrow) to view the interaction. 

General

Typically, you cannot walk through other people’s avatars. If you find a space getting too crowded though, you can press G to “ghost” walk through the other avatars. Your avatar will become transparent (as shown below). Please note that this action is only applicable to desktop users. 

Image of a semi-transparent avatar; this is how you look while ghosted
Pressing G will activate “ghost mode,” where you can walk through other people. 

Most of the time in Gather, you can only hear and speak to people when you are close to them. However, certain areas of the map are designated as “Broadcasting Spaces.” If you step into one of these areas, which are marked by a megaphone, then everyone in that room will be able to see and hear you.

Images of an avatar standing on a broadcasting space marked with a megaphone symbol on the ground.Images of an avatar standing on a broadcasting space marked with a megaphone symbol on the ground.
Standing on the megaphone icon (red arrow) will broadcast your audio and video to the room. 

There are also certain areas of the map designated as “Private Areas.” In these spaces, you can only hear and be heard by other people in that space, regardless of how close you are to people. You can tell you have entered one of these areas when all but a central rectangle of your screen is dimmed.

Images of an avatar in a private area which is lit up normally while the rest of the screen is dimmed.Images of an avatar in a private area which is lit up normally while the rest of the screen is dimmed.
Your screen will be dimmed when you enter a private area. 

There are several options for interacting with attendees who are not near you. You can see the list of people in the Gather space by clicking on the “Participants” tab in the bottom right of your screen if you are on a desktop. Next to “Participants” is a “Chat” function. If you are on mobile, click on the chat bubble icon next to the camera icon at the bottom of your screen. By clicking on the chat bubble icon, you can see those who are in the Gather space as well as chat with them. You can choose between messaging everyone in the room (“Room”), only those who are near you (“Nearby”), or a specific person (“Inbox”).

Image of the Chat Menu with three chat options: From the top down, Room, Nearby, and Inbox.
Chat with attendees in the room, someone nearby you, or a specific person (“Inbox”). 

By right-clicking on a person’s name in the “Participants” tab, you can also “follow,” “locate on map,” or “request to lead” them. “Following” means that your avatar will follow the person you selected automatically throughout the space, and “leading” means that you are requesting that the person follow you. If you select “locate” for a person, a line will appear on the Gather space between your avatar and their location, which you can follow until you reach them.

Image of the Participants menu with four options: From the top down, send message, locate on map, follow, and block.
Clicking on a person’s name in the “Participants” tab allows you to send them a private message, locate them in Gather, or follow them automatically. 
Image of a dropdown menu upon right-clicking on a person’s sprite. In the dropdown menu, you have options to follow them, request for them to lead you, or send a private chat.
Right-clicking on a person’s sprite brings up this dropdown menu, where you can follow them, request for them to lead you, or send a private chat. 

We encourage you to check out the Gather space before the conference to ensure you feel comfortable moving around and communicating with others! Feel free to join the Video Screening on Wednesday to get a guided tour of the space or explore on your own. If you need help, come to our Help Desk in the Welcome Lobby or send us an email at icldc@hawaii.edu. You can also look for people in Gather with the words “Organizer” or “Volunteer” after their names and ask them for help!

Images of the blue Interpretation Desk on the left and the green Help Desk on the right.
In the Welcome Lobby, you will find the Interpretation Desk (blue) on the left and the Help Desk (green) on the right.

If you require sign language interpreting, go to the Interpretation Desk or find someone with the word “Interpreter” in their name.

FAQ & ICLDC 8 Gather Map

Are there any keyboard shortcuts? 

Yes! Please see the table below. Note that these shortcuts will not work if you are on a phone/tablet. 

Windows/PC ShortcutMac ShortcutAction
(g)(g)Ghost mode! You can walk through other participants. 
(x)(x)Interact with an object. 
(z)(z)Make your avatar dance! 
(f)(f)Shoot confetti in the air. 
(Esc)(esc)Close (escape) an interaction. For example, you can close a minimap or an object interaction. 
(Ctrl) + (p)(⌘) + (p)Open settings. 
(Ctrl) + (Shift) + (a)(⌘) + (shift) + (a)Turn your microphone on/off. 
(Ctrl) + (Shift) + (v)(⌘) + (shift) + (v)Turn your camera on/off. 
(Ctrl) + (u)(⌘) + (u)Turn on/off Do Not Disturb mode. 
Windows key + (n)(control) + (n) Turn on network diagnostics. 
(Alt) + mouse drag(option) + mouse dragLook around the space. 
(Ctrl) + (F5)(⌘) + (shift) + (r)Hard refresh: refresh your web page and clear your browser cache. 
(1)(1)Wave
(2)(2)Heart
(3)(3)Party popper
(4)(4)Thumbs up
(5)(5)Question mark
(6)(6)Raised hand
(0)(0)Clear your emote 

I need help troubleshooting. What should I do? 

General

  1. Refresh your browser.
  2. Switch to Chrome if you are not using it already.
  3. Close any other applications or browser tabs.
  4. Disable any unnecessary browser extensions (or use Incognito/Private mode in your browser).
  5. Disable your VPN/firewall.

Audio/Video Issues

  1. Check browser settings and permissions to allow microphone and camera. 
  2. Close any other applications that use your microphone or camera.
  3. For Mac users, check system settings and permissions to allow screen recording, microphone, and camera.
  4. Disconnect from external monitors.
  5. Use headphones/earbuds. This can help if people around you are getting audio feedback.
  6. Turn on Original Audio (Settings > User > Audio & Video) to turn off Gather’s audio processing, which includes echo reduction, automatic gain control, and noise filtering.
  7. For more detailed troubleshooting instructions, this guide by Gather may be helpful: A/V Troubleshooting FAQs.

Black or White Screen Issues

  1. Respawn into the Gather space. Click on your name at the bottom of your Gather screen and click on the “Respawn” button. This will make your avatar reload in the space. 
  2. Hard refresh your browser (hold the Shift key and press the refresh button on your browser).
  3. Clear your browser cache. You can find this in your browser settings. For more information on how to do this, this page may be helpful: Clear your browser cache. 

Help! I’m stuck. 

  1. Try respawning your avatar. Click on your name at the bottom of your Gather screen and click on the “Respawn” button. This will make your avatar reload in the space. 
  2. You can also try refreshing or hard refreshing (where you refresh your browser and clear your cache). To hard refresh for desktop users, hold the Shift key and press the refresh button on your browser. 

Still having issues?

  1. Try restarting your computer. 
  2. Request help from our IT committee and someone will come help you out! Just look for a person with the words “Organizer” or “Volunteer” after their names. You can also email us at icldc@hawaii.edu. 

ICLDC 8 Gather Map