Despite the positive outlook with regards to COVID-19 developments, we decided to again organize ICCL as a fully online conference. This was not a decision we took lightly and required some thinking that we want to share with you below.
On the one hand, given the reduction in infections and the pace of our vaccination programs, it seems likely we can freely travel again in many places by the end of September, and we can have a proper physical conference at the campus of the University of Twente. However, on the other hand, this might not be the case everywhere, and booking flight tickets in advance might be tricky for most participants. A hybrid conference might work but would certainly not provide an equal experience to all participants (i.e., virtual and physical ones). In this sense, those joining online would have a relatively hard time to properly interact with physical attendants. Therefore, we decided to have a fully online conference. This should allow everybody to have the same experience and we will do our utmost to make it a lively, energetic, interactive, valuable, and informative experience for all of you. Also, in that regard, we ensure that the registration fees for presenters and participants are very reasonable given the virtual format of the conference.