ASPBP: Elevating Student Voices Through an Interactive Virtual Academic Conference

The Association of STEMM Pipeline and Bridge Programs (ASPBP) is dedicated to fostering the next generation of scientific talent. Their annual conference is a pivotal event, bringing together over 350 attendees for a half-day program centered on student research, early-career development, and academic collaboration. The core challenge for ASPBP was ensuring their virtual academic conference format could genuinely highlight student work, providing a platform where it would not be lost in the noise of traditional screen shares and static presentations. They needed an immersive education platform that prioritized the student experience.

The Challenge: Moving Beyond Static Presentations in Higher Education Events

In the realm of higher education events, the shift to virtual formats often compromises the quality of interaction, especially for poster sessions. ASPBP needed a solution that could:

1. Provide Real Visibility: Give students the attention and respect their research deserves, moving beyond the limitations of static PDFs or rushed, impersonal breakout rooms.

2. Foster Direct Engagement: Create a space where attendees could explore projects naturally, ask questions, and engage directly with presenters, mirroring the organic flow of an in-person student poster fair online.

3. Support Mission Alignment: Find a technology partner whose platform was built to support curiosity, discovery, and dialogue, aligning with ASPBP's mission to elevate student voices.

   
   

The Gatherly Solution: An Immersive Education Platform for Academic Collaboration

ASPBP partnered with Gatherly to transform their annual conference into a truly interactive and engaging virtual academic conference. Gatherly provided the ideal immersive education platform to host both calls for proposals and a dynamic student poster fair online.

Key Features and Outcomes:

• Interactive Student Poster Fair: Instead of relying on traditional, one-way presentations, Gatherly enabled an interactive student poster fair online. Attendees could navigate the virtual space, discover projects organically, and initiate conversations with student presenters.

• Real Conversations, Real Visibility: Students received real visibility and engaged in real conversations about their work. This direct, unmediated interaction is crucial for immersive education platforms, allowing students to practice communication skills and receive valuable feedback.

• Mission-Aligned Technology: For Gatherly, this event was deeply mission-aligned. Supporting students and early-career professionals has been core to the platform since its inception. The ASPBP conference demonstrated exactly what is possible when technology is designed around people, not just content, setting a new standard for higher education events.

  
  

The Result: A New Standard for Virtual Academic Conferences

By leveraging Gatherly, ASPBP successfully hosted a virtual academic conference that was not only well-attended but also highly effective in its primary goal: elevating student voices. The platform created a space for curiosity, discovery, and dialogue, giving students the attention and respect their work deserves. This success proves that a student poster fair online can be more engaging and impactful than its in-person counterpart when supported by a truly immersive education platform. The ASPBP conference is a powerful case study for all higher education events looking to maximize student engagement and academic collaboration in a virtual setting.