First-time attendance at a conference where many of the other participants know each other well can be a lonely experience. As in previous years, we will be holding also in this virtual instance of ECRTS a small bring your own drink reception for the first-timers and a few old-timers on the evening before the conference (July 7). This will give the first-time attendees an opportunity to make a few friends and to get to learn a bit about the conference beforehand.
Normally, first-time attendees are assigned a mentor during this session whom they can approach during the conference to ask for help. As this will not be possible in a virtual conference, we will partially compensate this opportunity with a dedicated Meet your mentor session, during which newcomers will have the opportunity for discussing in a smaller group with one of the old-timers.
If you register as (and are) a first-time attendee at ECRTS, you will receive an email short before the conference with additional information for participating at in the first-timer reception and for connecting with your mentor.