Snow Days in Kumospace

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Snow Days’ Author Receptions in Kumospace
 

Join us on Wednesday, March 9 at 12:30pm ET and on Thursday, March 10 at 3:00pm ET for our Author Receptions in Kumopsace!

Kumospace is a virtual space where people can move around a room and talk to colleagues, friends, and family in real time. It allows for several groups to have separate audio conversations within the same room and for people to jump from conversation to conversation much like you would at a reception at one of ABA’s institutes!

 
How does it work? 
Kumospace is accessible through your preferred browser and can be used on a phone or tablet. Follow the Kumospace link that will be shared by email and in the Snow Days chat in the Hopin event platform. One of the great things about Kumospace is that it does not require creating an account! Select “continue without an account,” type your preferred name, and select your audio and video preferences to allow the platform to access your device’s microphone and camera.

Sound in Kumospace works like it does in real life — the closer you are to a speaker, the louder they will sound; the farther away you are from a speaker, the quieter they become.

Your avatar is in a faint circle (like a spotlight) that represents your spatial audio range. You can hear anyone inside this circle and they can hear you. Anyone outside the circle is out of "earshot."

 

How do I get in?
You can access the ABA Snow Days Kumospace using the link that will be sent to your email or the link accessible in the Hopin chat areas. The ABA Kumospace will have multiple rooms that attendees can move between. The welcome page will look something like this:
 

To begin exploring, click on any of the rooms. Each room will look a little different from the next, so try going from room to room to experience the entire space. 

When a room reaches more than 50 people, you won’t be able to enter the room. If you see that all of the rooms are full, please just wait a moment or two for space to open up.

During the Author Receptions, booksellers can mingle and move around the room, just like they would in a physical space. To find your friends, use the chat feature (more on that later). Authors will be positioned throughout various rooms, very similar to in-person author signings. While we won’t be able to get autographs, booksellers can chat with authors and publishers just like they would at a more traditional author reception.

 
How do I move through the space?
Once you’re in a room, you can move around in one of three ways:

  1. Click with your mouse or tap on your screen to where you want to go and your avatar will move to that location.

  2. Use your keyboard’s Up, Down, Left, and Right arrow keys to move up, down, left, and right, respectively.

  3. On a phone or tablet, swipe toward a certain direction. This will move you in that direction.

To exit the room you’re currently in, click on the Back to Lobby button located on the bottom center of your screen. You’ll be taken back to the initial page that lists all of the rooms.
 

Exit Kumospace

If you want to exit the application completely, just close the tab.

 

How can I adjust my room view?
To get a better view of the entire room you’re in, click on the map button on the right side of your screen. This will show you where everyone is in the room and include their initials. If you hover over their initials on the map, you can see their whole name.
 

 

You can zoom in and out to view more or less of your surroundings and other people in Kumospace. Zooming in and out can be easily done by clicking the plus (+) and minus (-) icons at the top right of the screen. Alternatively, pressing the + and - keys will do the same.
 

Directly beneath the zoom buttons, you can also click on the expand icon to have Kumospace fill up your entire screen. Click on it again to return to normal view.

 

How else can I chat?
Kumospace offers a chat function to allow users to message one another as well as the whole group. You can send a message to everyone in the room, everyone in your spatial audio range, or to one person privately.

To send a private message, click the chat or people button at the bottom of the screen, then select the person to whom you want to send a private message and type away.

 

 

How can I mute that doorbell?
The doorbell rings when a new guest enters the room. To mute the doorbell,

  1. Click on Settings at the bottom left of the page, and

  2. Uncheck the option to Play sound when someone enters.

 

Tech Tips
  • For the best Kumospace experience, we suggest you use a laptop or desktop computer using Google Chrome as your browser.
  • If at any point you are unsure how to navigate in Kumospace, there is a link at the top right labeled Tour with quick tips on how-tos.
  • If you are experiencing unresponsive movement, freezing, or lagging performance, try closing out background tabs and applications and refreshing the page. 
  • If your video/microphone isn’t working, check your browser permissions by clicking on the padlock icon next to the URL and setting “camera and microphone” to “allow.”

Here are more tips to help you navigate in Kumospace.

 
 
Have fun!
Fun features of Kumospace include virtual bars that allow users to grab a beverage by simply clicking on trays with food and beverages — virtual drinks are endless! You can also share reactions with emojis by hovering your mouse over your avatar.
 

 

About ABA

The American Booksellers Association, a national not-for-profit trade organization, works with booksellers and industry partners to ensure the success and profitability of independently owned book retailers, and to assist in expanding the community of the book.

Independent bookstores act as community anchors; they serve a unique role in promoting the open exchange of ideas, enriching the cultural life of communities, and creating economically vibrant neighborhoods.

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