ohbm2021

This repository contains the collection of scripts and tools used to organize and run the virtual OHBM 2021 conference. OHBM (Organization for Human Brain Mapping) held its 2021 event online using a virtual platform called Sparkle. The project handles everything from generating the conference's schedule and abstract book to uploading all the events, poster presentations, and video content into the virtual venue. In short, it is the behind-the-scenes toolkit that brings an entire academic conference to life online.

The toolkit works by taking spreadsheet files filled with conference details—like session titles, speaker names, start times, and categories—and converting them into formats that different systems can understand. For example, it takes a schedule spreadsheet and turns it into calendar files that attendees can sync with their personal calendars, or into files that the Sparkle virtual platform can read to place events into specific digital rooms. It also compiles all the research abstracts into a printable book format, a process that takes about an hour to run due to the sheer volume of content.

The people who would use this are conference organizers, program managers, or technical staff running large virtual events, particularly academic conferences. For instance, if an organizer needs to assign hundreds of research posters to specific presentation time slots across different time zones, they can use these scripts to automate the scheduling. If they need to batch-upload dozens of keynote videos into a virtual screening room, add new digital spaces for exhibitors, or fix a typo in an existing event's description, the tools here handle those updates in bulk rather than editing each item one by one.

A notable aspect of the project is its reliance on simple spreadsheets as the single source of truth. Instead of requiring a complex database interface, organizers manage the entire conference through CSV files. The scripts then bridge the gap between those spreadsheets and the live virtual platform, pulling data from services like Firebase and Attendee Interactive to keep everything synchronized.