We've assembled some frequently asked questions from judges on Symposium events. Please don't hesitate to reach out to our support team at [email protected] or via the chat feature on our website if you have any further questions.


TABLE OF CONTENTS

General and Sign up Questions

Q: My event organizer designated me as a reviewer and judge. I finished reviewing my assigned presentations, but why don't I have access to the Judging portion of the event? 

A: While submitting a response to the Reviewer Recruitment Form associates your account as a reviewer, it does not associate the same account as a judge. You will need to fill out the Judge Recruitment Form in order to gain access to the Judging portion of the event. Please check to see if your event organizer has sent you a link to the Judge Recruitment Form, and, if not, you'll need to contact them to 

Q: How do I sign up as a judge? Where can I find the Judge Recruitment Form?

A: Please look for an email from, or reach out to your event organizer for your event's Judge Recruitment Form.

Q: Why can't I access the Judge Recruitment Form?

A: Please make sure you sign up or log into your Symposium account, as you are required to be logged into your account in order to successfully access the Judge Recruitment Form. The following image is what you would see if you have opened the Judge Recruitment Form, but are not logged into your Symposium account: 

If you are signing up for the first time, please note that you will receive an email from Symposium asking you to verify your email address. If you do not verify your account before clicking on the Judge Recruitment Form link, you will see a message stating that verification is pending. The account you log in with will then be associated as a judge for the event, which will allow you to access the Judging page and see the presentations you have been assigned to evaluate.


If you're seeing the following message box, this means that you have missed the Judge Recruitment Form deadline, and you can no longer register as a judge. Please reach out to your event organizer with any further questions. 


If you're seeing another message box, this means that you have already submitted the Judge Recruitment Form on a previous occasion with the account you have logged into. 


Judging Questions

Q: Where can I see the presentations I've been assigned to evaluate?

A: Once you have filled out and submitted the Judge Recruitment Form, you will gain access to a new tab in the header of the event page, as seen in the below image. If you do not see the Judging tab, please make sure that you are not only logged into the same Symposium account you filled out the Judge Recruitment Form with, but also on the event page. You will not see the Judging tab if you are viewing the Symposium Discover Events page, or a different event that you have not registered as a judge for. 


After selecting the Judging tab, you will be able to view the presentations you have been assigned to evaluate, as well as the evaluation forms that have been assigned to each respective presentation.

Q: How do I see the actual presentation content, and then judge my assigned presentations?

A: If your event organizer has assigned you presentations to judge, you will be able to see the assigned presentations appear in the Judging table. To view the presentation, please select "View Presentation", and to open the assigned Evaluation Form, please select "Evaluate" as highlighted below. 

After you submit your evaluation, you will be able to see the status of the presentation change from Incomplete to Complete, as well as when you submitted your Evaluation Form. 


Q: Can I edit my evaluation?

A: No, once you submit your response to the assigned Evaluation Form, you cannot go back to edit your evaluation. However, you can reach out to your event organizer to edit your response, as seen in the message you receive once you have submitted your response: 


Q: How do I complete the Final Notes Survey?

A: Once you have finished evaluating all assigned presentations, you will be able to select "Access Survey" at the bottom of your Judging tab to fill out and submit the Final Notes survey. If you cannot select the link, and the words are in a gray font (as seen below), this means that you have not completed evaluating all assigned presentations. 

 If you do not see a Final Notes section at the bottom of your Judging tab, your event organizer may have not enabled this survey, and you may not need to fill it out. 

Presentation Questions

Q: Why can't I comment on a presentation?

A: As a security feature, we require everyone who would like to leave a comment to successfully register for the event. When you fill out the Judge Recruitment Form, you are automatically registered for the event. Please log in to the same Symposium account you used when you submitted the Judge Recruitment Form. Once you are logged in, you will be able to comment on any presentations. 


You will see the following messages based on your account status:

  • If you have not signed up or are not logged into your Symposium account:
  • If you are logged in, but have not registered for the event (If you see this message and are sure you filled out the Judge Recruitment Form, you may have logged into a different Symposium account): 

Live Session Questions

Q: Why can't I join any Live Sessions?

A: If the event you are attending has not yet launched, you will not be able to join any Live Sessions until after the launch date. However, if the event has already launched, and it is a private event, please make sure you are logged into the same Symposium account you filled out the Judge Recruitment Form with. You will be directed to either log in or register for the event if you have not done so. 


If you are still having trouble joining any Live Sessions, please reach out to us at [email protected] or send us a message via the chatbox in the bottom right corner. 

Q: How do I join a Live Session?

A: Once you have logged in to your Symposium account, you will be able to view the event's Live Sessions page. Please first locate the Time Slot where the Live Session you are intending on joining is located, and then find the Live Session you would like to join. Select "Join Live Session" or the meeting link to open the synchronous meeting. Some event organizers may also ask you to watch an embedded video instead of a synchronous meeting. 


If you are able to find the Live Session you intend on attending and the button to join the meeting is grayed out, this means that the meeting has either reached maximum capacity, or the meeting has already concluded. 

Q: Where do I find Presentation Video Rooms? Why can't I join any Presentation Video Rooms?

A: When you have reached the time of the specified Presentation Video Rooms, you will be able to find the link by opening any Presentation through the main Presentations page and then locating the link "Join Presentation Video Room", as seen below. You will not see the link to join your Presentation Video Room if it is not the correct time, if you are not logged into your account, or if the room has reached maximum capacity. 


Please don't hesitate to reach out to our support team at [email protected] or via the chat feature on our website if you have any further questions! If you have any questions specifically about event scheduling or different guidelines regarding judging, please reach out to your event organizer.