Virtual or On-site Technical Support
IITS has a dedicated team to support the technical needs of events held across both campuses and in virtual environments. We provide consultation sessions to help assess the IT needs of your events, provide support with approved virtual tools, help supply required audio-visual equipment and/or provide technicians to assist during your virtual, hybrid or onsite events.
From figuring out how to use your online events platform to setting up audio-visual equipment in a physical space, the IITS events team is there to support all your technical needs. Hospitality Concordia is also available to help with the coordination of your events.
What are the different types of events we support?
Onsite Events take place in physical locations on-campus in venues managed by Hospitality Concordia or Designated Space Administrators (DSAs)
Virtual Events take place online and involve participants that are not physically in the same location but are connected in a common digital environment using one of the University’s Virtual Tools such as Zoom. The IITS events team can help support the technical needs of these events, while Hospitality Concordia can assist with coordination and Event Planning Services.
Hybrid Events are in-person events in which a virtual audience also participates. Essentially, both the in-person as well as the virtual audience come together and partake simultaneously in the same experience, but from different locations.
Who can use it?
Anyone who has an event booked through IITS or Hospitality Concordia
How much does it cost?
Prices vary depending on the client classification, event, and services requested. Consult the Equipment Loan & Rental page for full details.
How to get it
- For technical support and virtual tool licenses for events, please use our Virtual and On-Site technical support form.
- Should you be interested in organizing an event in one of Concordia’s professional Cinema spaces, you can visit us here.
- We work closely with our colleagues at Hospitality Concordia, collaborating to provide you with the best events possible. In addition to their traditional event coordination services, Hospitality Concordia offers coordination to assist with the management and delivery of virtual events. While we provide expertise on the IT components of events on campus, in a virtual environment and hybrids between both environments.
- Reservations for events in Hospitality Concordia managed venues can be made by the internal community via MyEvents and by the general public by emailing hospitality.booking@concordia.ca
Service availability
The availability of technical support for events is flexible depending on the service requested, building operating hours and technician’s accessibility.
Virtual Tools
Concordia vets and approves a set of virtual tools to support community activities. The use of Virtual Tools is a privilege granted to members of the University community and external clients collaborating with internal units. These tools have undergone a “Privacy Impact Assessment) (PIA)” which is a process led by IITS and Legal Service to evaluate the privacy and security of the data as it relates to cloud service platforms for potential use by the Concordia community. Unless otherwise specified, access to these tools is free of charge.
Here is the approved list of Virtual tools used for Concordia events:
Requests for the use of a single Virtual Tool licence and for technical support must be submitted at least 10 business days prior to the Virtual Event date, unless otherwise specified. All requests for the use of Virtual Tools not on the approved list maintained by IITS must be submitted at least 90 business days prior to the Virtual Event.
To request a consultation for the use of a new Virtual Tool please open a ticket with the IITS Service Desk with the subject line: Virtual Event Tool request
Class/laboratories onsite recording support
- If you would like assistance with recording a lecture on campus, please fill out the Class/laboratories onsite recording request form.
Documentation
Due to their unique configuration, conference centres can only be booked by choosing one of the following two options.
Option 1: Self-serve environment (Equipment in the room is available for use. No additional equipment, room configuration modifications, or technical support is required.) – Internal Only. Any services beyond the standard classroom environment require an on-site technician for a minimum of 3 hours (option 2). For client classification and rates, consult the cost details section of this page.
- This option is available to active staff, faculty, or student groups.
- Configuration changes to the room and training/orientation is not provided.
- Standard room controls will be made available to the client through the Crestron panel.
- To request support for an urgent issue, contact the MB Service Centre located at MB S2.145 (ext. 5998) during regular Service Centre operating hours.
- Note: Issues reported to the Service Centre are triaged and priority is given to academic activities.
Option 2: Standard environment – (On-site technician required & billable).
- Single on-site technician for a minimum of 3 hours or for the duration of the event, depending upon the request.
- Technicians arrive 1 hour prior to the event for setup and will remain for an additional 2 hours, unless otherwise requested.
- Events requiring a non-standard technical setup and may require two technicians or more. This will be determined by your booking coordinator Service Centre staff.
- To request support for an urgent issue, contact the MB Service Centre located at MB S2.145 (ext. 5998) during regular Service Centre business hours.
- Note: Issues reported to the Service Centre are triaged and priority is given to academic activities.
- For client classification, equipment usage rates, and technician rates, review the cost section of this page.
- This option is mandatory for external clients.
- Note: Technical assistance and support outside business hours is unavailable, unless a technician was booked at the time of the request.
This page describes the IITS service to supply live event support and audio visual equipment for free loan or paid rental to the university community and, where applicable, to outside clients.
FAQ
In certain cases, clients maybe able to operate equipment themselves (please contact your booking agent for confirmation). IITS Event staff will setup and take down equipment for your event. Labour charges for virtual and on-site support technicians my apply.
Changes to requests can be made up to three business days in advance for weekday events, and up to five business days in advance for weekend events, by communicating with your booking agent.
A minimum of three hours is charged.
No. Technician service for the duration of an event is charged separately and must be requested when the equipment is booked. A minimum of three hours is charged.
IITS will route your request appropriately based on your description of your needs. You can use the request form above for any request related to an event and this form for requests related to equipment in the classroom.
Concordia’s Zoom webinar service is centrally managed by IITS and is available to all faculty and staff. The service, which can host between 300 to 1000 participants, allows large scale events to be hosted in a virtual environment, connecting participants from different locations to see and hear live presentations and ask questions through a chat-based interface.
For such events, IITS provides support and customizable webinar services upon request for faculty and staff. This includes:
- Online technical consultation to help with event setup, technical and live support during the event and attendance reports after.
- Platform walk-throughs prior to an event to ensure you’re at ease with the tools available to you.
- Learn more about Zoom customization options and features [PDF Webinar Customization]
Before you begin, we recommend that a Moderator participate in the webinar to follow and moderate the Q&A dashboard, facilitate the flow of the webinar and energize interactions throughout the event. All media required within the scope of the webinar should be provided, prepared and controlled (played) by the Host or Organizer of the webinar, or their assigned Moderator. IITS is not offering a masters of ceremony, video production or moderation as part of the webinar services we offer.
Event planning: If you are using or planning to use the webinar service as part of an onsite or virtual event and are working with Hospitality Concordia, please reach out to hospitality@concordia.ca to ensure that our efforts are coordinated.
Licensed Zoom accounts which host events between 2 to 300 participants are available to all students, faculty and staff to independently of IITS.
IITS offers technical support for hybrid events with live and asynchronous elements via Zoom and MSTeams with dedicated Audio-Visual Equipment and technicians prepared to support both the physical and virtual event space. We can consult with you on best practices, tools and guide you to our colleagues at Hospitality for event design assistance.