Case study of a national-level academic conference organised in hybrid mode at low cost

TL;DR

This case study describes how a national academic conference was successfully organized in a hybrid format at low cost, detailing procedures, technology choices, and lessons learned for future events.

Contribution

It provides a practical framework for low-cost hybrid conference organization, including hardware/software integration and operational procedures.

Findings

Online attendance was successfully increased with minimal cost.

Participants reported positive feedback on the hybrid format.

Effective procedures can be implemented with affordable technology.

Abstract

In July 2025, the University of Adelaide hosted the Astronomical Society of Australia's Annual Scientific Meeting on its North Terrace campus. We ran the conference in a hybrid mode, with options for in-person and online attendance. This report details the procedures that we used to enable the online mode of the conference at minimal cost and minimal inconvenience to the in-person attendees. We discuss our choices of hardware and software and how we integrated these systems together. We summarise our experience of organising a local AV team and the procedures that we set for running the AV in each session. We present statistics of the online attendance numbers and post-conference survey feedback, and discuss the lessons we feel other organisers may particularly be able to learn from.