The breadth and depth of presenters shifted significantly as a result of COVID. The virtual component lowered the barrier of entry and enabled those that would not have otherwise attended to present their work. That said, there were considerably fewer attendees physically present even though the venue was set up for several thousand people. Each room was set up for full occupancy, leading to a surreal experience wherein only a handful of chairs were occupied in a room set up for several hundred. There were a considerable number of withdrawn due to emergence of the Delta variant, (Figure ) with over 25% of the sessions including at least one withdrawn talk, often interrupting the flow of the session. Many synchronous virtual presenters experienced technical difficulties and could not present at the last minute. The silver lining was that these breaks resulted in impromptu networking sessions. One other problem was that synchronous virtual presenters often were not able to take cues from the audience and went over time. Finally, coffee breaks are commonplace in academia and present excellent opportunities for casual conversation. However, networking sessions were tense as coffee and snacks were provided in a closed indoor room, causing many to shy away due to risk of spreading COVID.