Welcome to good conferences with good software

The DINA Movie

Welcome to the digital manual of the DINA platform. On the following pages you will learn (almost) everything about the possibilities DINA provides for digital exchange!

We created this manual to facilitate good conferences in the digital space which within the DINA platform are based on a value-oriented infrastructure. The manual is intended to guide you through the DINA platform functionalities and to show you the possibilities it offers. The technical features of the DINA platform are described in detail in the "Functionalities" chapter, the "FAQs" provide a brief overview.

We often use the term conference or event in this manual. However, in your case it may of course also be a digital meeting, an exchange, a games night or an event lasting several days (seminar, student exchange).

However, as technology alone does not make a good conference, in the chapter "Formats" we provide you with inspiration on how to bring people together digitally while creating an energetic and rewarding exchange. Of course, written text cannot fully cover some moderation skills in implementation, it takes a minimum of courage to try out new formats in a new digital environment. Adopting an experimental approach and getting participants in the mood for joint exploration are the most important prerequisites for digital event design - the rest is learning by doing!

The formats listed below are mostly designed for a group size of a maximum of 40 participants. On the one hand, there are technical reasons for this, as BigBlueButton - the video conferencing solution used in the DINA conference centre - reaches its transmission capacity with (at the most) 40 videos streamed simultaneously. On the other hand, we are also aware that the bigger the conference, the more effort goes into planning and support during implementation. We believe in formats that are interactive and invite and activate all participants to get involved and help shaping the conference. Delivering on this promise requires good moderation and also the possibility of providing a continuous live feedback loop (be it via audio track or chat). With increasing numbers of participants, implementing all this becomes more complicated. A well-planned session can easily turn into a complex event in which it is very challenging to ensure that the space is appealing to all different groups of people involved. In order not to overwhelm either the implementing team or the participants, we recommend not to exceed a group size of about 40 participants. If you wish to plan larger settings, get professional help: the betterplace lab which wrote this manual or the Stiftung Bürgermut (and for sure many others - also in your country) offer advice and implementation support.

The DINA Handbook is licensed under a Creative Commons Licence: Attribution - Non-Commercial - Sharing under the same terms 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).