The Dakotas Conference will have a one-day virtual session, with Celebration of Life in Ministry Service happening before the session:

Annual Conference: Saturday, October 10, 2020, 10 a.m.- 12 p.m. and 1-4 p.m. CDT,  9 -11 a.m. and 12-3 p.m MDT

Celebrartion of Life in Ministry Service: The services will take place, and be recorded, with celebrants and family members in September.

Registration
The theme of our 27th Annual Conference is "Be the Light: Live Hope!" and centers around our gospel imperative to heal a broken world. Registration will open August 10. Those who are not voting members should not register. The Annual Conference Session will be streamed to the Dakotas Conference Website and Facebook page, and visitors will be able to watch at no cost. A Facebook account is not necessary to access the livestream.

Technology
The session will be conducted on a Zoom business webinar platform (this is different from the Zoom system most people are familiar with). Interaction will be limited but possible; through the platform, people will be able to indicate they want to comment, make a motion, or propose an amendment. When recognized by the Bishop to speak, they will be able to unmute their microphone to address the body. Check out this cheat sheet to learn about how interaction will work.

Voting members will need to use a device with a stable internet connection. This can be a desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

Only one vote can be cast from each device. Each voter will need their own device. At this time, it is not possible to vote via a voice-only phone line.

For each session, participants are encouraged to sign-in 10 to 15 minutes in advance.

There will be several people dedicated to helping individuals with any connection problems.

Preparation
The Conference Workbook will be available online and  for download September 14. 

Each member of the 2020 Annual Conference Session is asked to  register (as part of annual conference registration) for and participate in a pre-conference webinar. This will be an opportunity to discuss the legislation that will be acted upon during the conference. There will be little time during the actual session for discussion about these issues. It is key that participants take this time to get their questions answered. Some important information about the sessions:

• Please attend the pre-conference webinar session that best fits your schedule. 
• Connection information will be sent via e-mail to each registered participant in advance of your session.
• One of these sessions will be recorded for those who cannot attend.
• The pre-conference webinars will take place  on the following dates and times:

Thursday, September 17 at 7:30 p.m. CDT, 6:30 p.m. MDT
Wednesday, September 23 at 8 p.m. CDT, 7 p.m. MDT
Saturday, September 26 at 10 a.m. CDT, 9 a.m. MDT
Sunday, September 27 at 6:30 p.m. CDT, 5:30 p.m. MDT

Each member of the 2020 Annual Conference Session is also asked to register and to attend a procedural orientation to check their connection and learn the specifics on interacting within the system (you can register for an orientation session as you register for Annual Conference). Each session is expected to last about 35 minutes; an hour is reserved to assist those who might have connection issues. The three session options are:

Monday, October 5 at 12 p.m. CDT,  11 a.m. MDT
Monday, October 5 at 8 p.m. CDT, 7 p.m. MDT
Tuesday, October 6 at 7 p.m. CDT,  6 p.m. MDT