Samvera Virtual Connect will be held Tuesday, May 6th and Wednesday, May 7th, 2025, from 8:00 AM - 11:00 AM PDT/11:00 AM - 2:00 PM EDT/15:00 - 18:00 UTC. Samvera Virtual Connect is a free, informal opportunity to present on topics of interest to current and potential Samvera technology adopters. 

Virtual Connect occurs entirely online via Zoom, with presentations recorded for asynchronous viewing. Based on feedback from last year, this year Virtual Connect will be in Zoom meeting mode instead of webinar mode to allow for easier participation from everyone attending!

We're calling for proposals for breakout sessions, presentations, and repository showcases.

NEW: Repository Showcase

The whole community benefits from seeing different repositories in action! Whether you’re on a Samvera platform like Hyku or using a component like ServerlessIIIF, we want to learn more about what makes your implementation or collections unique. This is a 5-7 minute repository “show and tell” open to any repository in production or development. 

Breakout Session

Breakout sessions are 45 minute virtual roundtables, scheduled before or after the main Virtual Connect meeting. Breakout sessions can be on a very specific or very general topic, and are a great way to discuss issues and topics of interest with others from across the Samvera Community. If you propose a breakout session, you’re agreeing to facilitate a conversation and bring a few questions or ideas to kickstart the discussion.

Presentation

You have the opportunity to propose 5, 10, or 20 minute presentations. We’re looking for submissions from across the entire Samvera landscape, directly or indirectly related to Samvera or open repositories generally. 

Consider the following themes for ideas, but also feel free to submit other types of proposals.

• Accessibility and access: How are you making your collections more accessible, equitable, or inclusive? What accessibility challenges have you encountered that could use a community approach to address?

• “New to Samvera” experiences: If you or your institution started adopting Samvera technologies recently, how has the journey been so far?

• Adaptation: Have you implemented or are you working on implementing something adapted from another organization in the community?

• Challenges: We can all from each other’s failures, pilot projects, performance tuning, and integration challenges

• Integration: How are you integrating the digital repository into your wider institutional community? How have you integrated Samvera technology with other software and services?

• Ways we work together: Ideas about processes, staffing, and other strategies that help teams work together better

• Propose new ideas and pilot projects: “Hear me out, I think we should try this and here’s why…”

This year’s Virtual Connect will have two days of programming, during which we’ll be coordinating presentations into thematic blocks based on topic, audience, and time. 

Submit your proposal

Proposals are due Friday, March 28th, 2025. 

Sincerely,

Heather, on behalf of the 2025 Samvera Virtual Connect Organizing Committee:

Sudha Anand, Indiana University

Heather Greer Klein, Samvera

Jim Halliday, Indiana University