GA 2021-Briefing for Attendees-Oct2021

The 2021 WMA
General Assembly
London
goes online
A briefing for attendees
The ongoing CoViD-19
Pandemic has forced us to
change the Council Sessions,
the Committee Meetings, the
Meeting of the Associate
Members, the JDN and finally
the General Assembly to a
virtual event.
COVID-19 pandemic forces us to go online with
the 1xx Council Meeting and the General Assembly
With Delegates coming from nearly every time zone in this world, a suitable time window
for an online meeting during the day is rather short
Other then usual webinars or video presentations our meetings are
rather complex. They are:
• Highly interactive
• With a large number of participating attendees with different status,
changing from session to session
• Being held in four languages with simultaneous interpretation
• Include text work and
• Elections as well as
• Frequent and weighted voting at the General Assembly
In order to accommodate for those circumstances the Executive
Committee has recommended a number of modifications from our
usual procedure and schedules:
• With the global spread of attendees – to limit session time to 3 hours
per day with 15 min break
• To use a conference system which best allows the use of four
languages during the online conference
• To concentrate on those matters of work, which are statutorily
necessary or have a high chance to be adopted
• To use software that permits designated Delegates and Council
Members to cast their votes
Council 180
Council 180
08:00
12:00
14:00
15:00
Tuesday Wednesday Friday Saturday
Thursday
18:00
17:00
16:00
10:00
11:00
09:00
13:00
Executive
committee
Finance
Group
Work
Groups
Medical
Ethics
Socio-
Medical
Affaires
Luncheon
Session
Scientific
Session
Scientific
Session
Assoc. Members
Members
General
Assembly
Work
Groups/
Free time
Council
General
Assembly
Council
Work
Groups
Special Function
Council
19:00
20:00
Finance &
Planning
Credentials
General
Assembly
GA-Schedule
Reception
Special
Functions
Reception &
Dinner
Reception &
Dinner
, Oct 22
Tuesday, Oct 12 Wednesday, Oct 13 Friday, Oct 15
Monday, Oct 11 Thursday, Oct 14
11:00
13:00
14:00
15:00
12:00
Council
Finance &
Planning
Socio-Medical
Affaires
Council
GA Ceremonial
Session
GA Plenary
Session
Council
Chair & Staff debrief Chair & Staff debrief Chair & Staff debrief Chair & Staff debrief
Chair & Staff debrief
UTC
Medical Ethics
Please check your local time here
GA-Schedule
Break
Finance &
Planning
Socio-Medical
Affaires
Break Break
Medical Ethics
Break
Council
Break
GA Plenary
Session
Tuesday, Oct 12 Wednesday, Oct 13 Friday, Oct 15
Monday, Oct 11 Thursday, Oct 14
11:00
13:00
14:00
15:00
12:00
Council
Finance &
Planning
Socio-Medical
Affaires
Council
GA Ceremonial
Session
GA Plenary
Session
Council
Chair & Staff debrief Chair & Staff debrief Chair & Staff debrief Chair & Staff debrief
Chair & Staff debrief
UTC
Medical Ethics
Please check your local time here
GA-Schedule
Break
Finance &
Planning
Socio-Medical
Affaires
Break Break
Medical Ethics
Break
Council
Break
GA Plenary
Session
Workgroup meetings, Executive Committee,
Finance Group and JDN meetings – as well as
the Associate Members Meeting will be
held in advance to the General Assembly
week.
Presidential Election
• The deadline for nominations for
Election to the WMA Presidency for the
year 2022-2023 was 23 September.
• By this date, Dr Osahon Enabulele and
Prof.Dr Muhammad Ashraf Nizami have
been duly nominated. And the
electronical voting will be proceeded
from 1 to 4 October.
• Elected candidate will stand to be
accepted as President-Elect at the
General Assembly on 15 October.
Checklist for online participation
• Make sure that you are registered for the meeting (and if applicable that you are designated as voting delegate).
Non-registered persons will not be able to follow us.
• A laptop or desktop computer with sufficient internet bandwidth to run video chats.
• Ideal: a second screen or use a mobile device to run the CrowdCompass app for general information or voting
with NemoVote
• Google Chrome, Firefox or Microsoft Edge as browser (required to use our conference system)
• Webcam and microphone – please use a headset
• A place with low background noise
• Lightsource from the front – reduce backlight
• Download the conference documents upfront
• Familiarize yourself with the browser-based voting platform NemoVote (voting delegates only)
• Bookmark the Conference Website
• Install the CrowdCompass app by Cvent on the mobile system(s) you will use
Steps to get online
• Begin preparation well ahead of the General Assembly –
Participate in one of the Delegate briefing sessions on 1 or 4 October at noon UTC!
• Make sure that you have a good internet connection.
• Have a look at the WMA General Assembly, London 2021 (online) information in the
Conference Website and the mirroring CrowdCompass app. You can use a mobile device as an
adjuvant system e.g. for voting or display of text.
• Connect to CrowdCompass App for information, schedules and navigation before and during
the Sessions.
• Familiarize with the Zoom instructions under the Guiding document within the CrowdCompass
app. Zoom is the main conferencing system we will use.
• If you are a voting delegate please read the NemoVote instructions on how to vote.
When it Comes to the Sessions
• If you wish to make final editing suggestions, you should send them to the WMA
Secretariat 48 hours prior to each session. Please remember motions can only be made
by council members. So please make sure that a Council Member is prepared to move.
• Cross check for your local time when the session starts – remember times are given in
Universal Time Coordinated UTC – not your local time. You may wish to adjust the
CrowdCompass app to your local time zone, otherwise please check your local time here.
• Please log-on to Zoom 15 min before the session starts. The direct link to each session will
be available from the CrowdCompass App/Conference website.
The General Assembly
Website an the
CrowdCompass App
• The Registration system will send you a link to
download the CrowdCompass app and to verify
your registration.
• The CrowdCompass app helps you to navigate
the event, to reach the documents, to access
the session and (for committee/council
members and voting delegates) to reach the
voting platform (NemoVote).
• We recommend to log-in to Conference
Website through your browser on the same
computer you will use to participate in the
meeting. This will give you facilitated access to
the sessions and the voting platform.
Zoom is the Main Conference System
• Zoom is a conference platform which provides multilingual
conferences and events.
• Be online and connect well ahead of time (15 min)
• Make sure you have a good internet connection use a
headset whenever possible
• You can raise a virtual hand in order to speak and you
can use the chat-function to address the Chair to make a
point of order. Please familiarize yourself with the “virtual
hand
• As a matter of courtesy make sure that you are visible with
your full name (and affiliation/ WMA function) on Zoom,
so that you can be identified and addressed.
• Make use of the Delegate briefing session either on 1 or
on 4 October
Voting during the online
sessions
• During Council and Committee Sessions Council Members
have the right to vote, at the General Assembly the
designated voting delegate of each delegation.
• The Conference Website / CrowdCompass app will guide
those eligible to vote to the browser-based voting platform
NemoVote.
• At Council and Committees, each vote has the same
weight. At the General Assembly the vote will be weighted
according to the voting rights of the Constituent Member.
Voting with NemoVote I
• During our sessions when motions are being put
to the vote, the Chair usually asks who is in
favour and who is against and he or she may ask
for abstentions.
• In order to save time during the online sessions
the Chair may reverse the order and ask the
Council Members (in Council or Committee) or
the designated voting delegates for objections
first. At this point only attendees allowed to vote
may speak. If there is no objection, the motion is
accepted, if there is and the opposition cannot
be cleared immediately, the Chair will start the
online voting with NemoVote.
Voting with NemoVote II
• NemoVote must be opened in a browser window
with the link and the voter credentials you have
received from the secretariat. (Non- voting
attendees will not be able to log in.)
• Once you are logged-in, you will be informed on
the screen when there is a new vote open for you.
You than can vote and confirm your vote. The Chair
will only see who has voted, but not what (except
when the vote is unanimous, of course). If enough
time has passed the chair will close the vote and
announce the result. (Voters will see it on
NemoVote as well.)
• After that you may have to refresh the screen in
order to be prepared for the next vote.
Guides Available
Meeting Documents Depository – Users Guide
GA Delegate Orientation / GA Delegate Orientation Presentation
Overview of WMA Parliamentary Procedures
Council and Committee Chair Orientation Guide
New Council Member Orientation Guide
Using the Conference Website and the CrowdCompass App for the
WMA General Assembly 2021
Voting with NemoVote
These guides are likewise available on the
Conference Website and the CrowdCompass App
Contacts when technical problems
• In case of problems with NemoVote:
Florian Tischler at f.tischler@nemocontra.de
• In case of problems with CrowdCompass and general issues:
secretariat@wma.net
www.wma.net