Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Frequently asked questions about Fall Meeting 2020 
For quick information on Fall Meeting 2020, we encourage you to peruse our frequently asked questions. If your question is not addressed, please email us.
General | Sessions, scientific workshops, town halls, or events | Abstracts and guidelines | eLightning | Technology | Hotel and travel | Registration
GENERAL
Where is Fall Meeting 2020 being held?
The Fall Meeting will be available in our online platform. We have partnered with various audio-visual providers to ensure quality streaming.
What are the dates for Fall Meeting 2020?
Fall Meeting 2020 will be held from 1-17 December.
Is the meeting still scheduled?
The AGU Fall Meeting will be one of the world's largest virtual scientific conferences, with exciting programming and events. To assist in minimizing scheduling conflicts, #AGU20 is scheduled from 1-17 December, excluding weekends. Most content will be prerecorded or available as posters for attendees to view and peruse outside of scheduled sessions during the meeting.
When does the online registration tool open to register for the early bird fees?
Early registration will open in mid-September and close 30 October.
What is the expected meeting attendance?
Approximately 27,000 attended the meeting in 2019. View more statistics on the Fall Meeting.
Do I have to be an AGU member to attend?
No, but AGU members, and those who are members of cooperating societies, who joined or renewed their membership for 2020 by 30 October 2020, will receive reduced registration rates.
How do I become an AGU member?
Join AGU or renew your membership: online, via email, or by phone at +1202.462.6900.
How can my donations support future AGU Fall Meetings?
Earth and space science makes a valuable impact on our everyday lives and the community's support of each other is a consistent inspiration to us all. Whether working from home, participating in virtual field work, or reopening labs and offices during this global pandemic, AGU's community of Earth and space scientists are continuing the important work leading to discoveries and solutions - advancing the collective understanding of the world around us. Charitable gifts to AGU are invested back into the ESS community providing valuable training, networking, and publishing opportunities worldwide, as well as enhancing diversity and inclusion in our field. As you make your plans for the 2020 AGU Fall Meeting, please consider making an investment in support of the Earth and space sciences with a gift to AGU's Unrestricted Fund. Donate Now.
SESSIONS, SCIENTIFIC WORKSHOPS, TOWN HALLS, OR EVENTS
Where can I view the full scientific program?The scientific program is available here.
Where can I find a schedule at a glance?
The overall meeting schedule at a glance can be found here.
When will session chairs be notified of their session schedule?
Session Chairs received email notification of their session schedule on 5 October.
What is the the role of the session chair?
Session chair guidelines can be located here.
Why are sessions numbered differently this year?
Since the Fall Meeting is taking place 1-17 December, excluding weekends. sessions are not numbered as they normally are at a face-to-face meeting.
ABSTRACTS AND GUIDELINES
When will authors be notified of their session schedule?
Presenting and first authors received email notification of their session schedule on 5 October.
Where can I find presenter guidelines?
Oral, poster and eLightning presenter resources and guidelines can found here.
Where do I upload my oral presentation or poster?
Oral presenters please refer to the presentation guidelines and you may upload your pre-recorded presentation and overview slides (PDF) via the Participant's Corner. Please refer to the email dated 12/3 from AGU for direct access to the Participant's Corner.
eLightning session presenters please refer to the guidelines for creating your virtual poster and login here to create your poster.
Poster presenters please refer to the guidelines for creating your virtual poster and login here to create your poster.
eLIGHTNING
Where can I find presenter guidelines and resources?
eLightning presenter guidelines can found here.
Where do I upload my eLightning presentation?
eLightning session presenters please refer to the guidelines for creating your virtual poster and login here to create your poster.
What if I don’t want to make my eLightning presentation permanently available in the library?
All eLightning presentations will be available for view in the Fall Meeting poster gallery. There will be an opt-out for any presenter who does not want their presentation to be available after the meeting. This library will be available to registered meeting attendees until mid-January. AGU is also investigating the various options for archiving eLightning presentations.
Is the eLightning library open access?
The virtual posters will be available to registered meeting attendees only.
Why is this named eLightning?
In 2016, AGU piloted a Lightning Poster Session format that allowed poster sessions to have a set time, outside of their designated time in the poster hall and in a separate room, for their presenters to give lightning presentations of their posters. This experiment was intended to encourage discussion, enable presenters in the same session to see each other present, and increase visibility of the posters. The current session format is built on the progress made and lessons learned from Lightning Poster Sessions, hence the Lightning in eLightning. We are adding additional value by providing more of an electronic ability, hence the e in eLightning. We also wanted to make sure that it wouldn’t be confused with our long-running ePoster program, where poster presenters are able to upload a static PDF copy of their poster to the online scientific program, so the word poster wasn’t included in the name.
TECHNOLOGY
When I try to login I get redirected to my profile. What should I do?
Open a new tab in your browser. Go to www.agu.org/Fall-Meeting and navigate to the page were trying to access. This should correctly redirect you the second time. If you are still having trouble, please email [email protected] and we will assist you.
When I try to publish my iPoster, it says I haven’t paid. But I paid 3 months ago, what should I do?
Go to the Fall Meeting homepage and click the register button. Check that you have registered for the meeting. All Fall Meeting presenters must pay both the abstract submission fee when they submit their abstract and the meeting registration fee. If you only paid the abstract submission fee when you submitted your abstract, you will need to register for the meeting.
When I try to publish my iPoster, it says I haven’t paid. But I just paid my registration, what should I do?
Check that you used the same email to register, that you have as your primary email address with AGU. If you are using a different email for registration than your primary AGU email address, please email [email protected].
Go to the Fall Meeting homepage and click the register button. Check that you don’t have any outstanding items on your registration page (e.g. you have provided your student information etc.) .
If you are still unable to publish your poster, please email [email protected] and we will assist you.
Will you offer a mobile app this year?
No, there will not be a native application for Fall Meeting 2020.
HOTEL AND TRAVEL
How do I apply for a virtual student travel grant?
The online student travel grant application process opens in mid-June and closes in August. Learn more about the various grants offered to offset the costs of participating virtually.
When can I reserve my hotel room?
AGU will not provide housing for Fall Meeting 2020. If circumstances change and we are able to host a small regional meeting, we will provide an update via our various marketing platforms.
Does AGU offer travel discounts?
AGU will not offer any travel discounts for Fall Meeting 2020.
REGISTRATION
For more information regrading registration, please refer to the Registration FAQs.