Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the organizing committee of the 2020 edition of the Passive and Active Measurement (PAM) conference decided to organize it as a virtual event. Unfortunately, little is known about designing and organizing virtual academic conferences in the networking domain and their impacts on the participants' experience. In this editorial note, we first provide challenges and rationale for various organizational decisions we made in designing the virtual format of PAM 2020. We then illustrate the key results from a questionnaire-based survey of participants' experience showing that, while virtual conferences have the potential to broaden participation and strengthen focus on technical content, they face serious challenges in promoting social interactions and broadening the scope of discussions. We conclude with key takeaways, lessons learned, and suggestions for future virtual conferences distilled from this experience.

中文翻译：

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组织 PAM 2020 虚拟会议的经验教训

由于 COVID-19 大流行，2020 年被动和主动测量 (PAM) 会议组委会决定将其组织为虚拟的事件。不幸的是，对于在网络领域设计和组织虚拟学术会议及其对参与者体验的影响知之甚少。在这篇社论中，我们首先为我们在设计 PAM 2020 虚拟格式时做出的各种组织决策提供了挑战和理由。然后，我们说明了基于问卷调查的参与者体验的主要结果，该调查表明，虽然虚拟会议具有尽管他们具有扩大参与和加强对技术内容的关注的潜力，但在促进社会互动和扩大讨论范围方面面临严峻挑战。我们总结了从这一经验中提炼出来的关键要点、经验教训和对未来虚拟会议的建议。