Find quick answers to all of your questions about Apolitical events
Recordings and resources
Q: Will the event be recorded?
Yes! We record all of our online events and send them to all registrants after the workshop is over. We aim to send the recording within 2 working days of the workshop. We host the recording on Vimeo, and upload it to the event page for easy access.
Q: Will I be visible on the recording?
Your username may be visible on the recording, especially if you come off mute during the workshop. If your video is on, your background and anything contained in it may be visible in the recording. If you have any questions, you can get in touch with our data protection officer.
Q: Will the slide decks be provided?
While this is up to our speakers, many of them are willing to provide their slide decks after the workshop is over. If they agree, the slide decks will be included in the follow-up email, which you’ll receive up to two working days after the event has concluded. We also include a recording of the event in the follow-up email, so even if the speakers have elected not to share their slide decks, you can re-watch their presentation to catch anything you may have missed.
Q: Will contact details of the speaker be provided?
We leave this up to our speakers. Some of our speakers will elect to share their contact details or social media accounts with participants, while others will prefer not to. If the speakers have agreed to share their contact details, we’ll make sure to include this in the follow-up email to the event.
Joining the event
Q: How do I join?
Make sure you're logged in to your Apolitical account, then go to the event's registration page. On the right, you'll see a button saying 'Join event on Zoom/MS Teams'. Click this to be taken straight to the event. If the event hasn't started yet, you'll be taken to a waiting room.
Q: I registered for the event, but I'm no longer available! What should I do?
Nothing - just sit back and relax! We send all registrants the recording, so even if you can’t attend the event live you’ll be able to catch up. We don’t restrict the number of registrants for each event, so you don’t need to worry about taking someone else’s spot at the event.
Q: I’m not very comfortable with Zoom. Is there anywhere I can find troubleshooting help and tips?
Absolutely - take a look at this helpful guide for common Zoom troubleshooting questions.
Q: We can’t access Zoom at work - is there another way of participating?
Yes! If you can’t join via Zoom, you have a few options.
Option 1: Join the event via a personal device, like a personal computer or phone.
Option 2: Dial in by phone. To do this:
1.Locate your dial in information for your country or city. You can find this information linked on the event page, or by heading to the Zoom International Dial-In Numbers sheet online.
2.Dial the toll number using your phone. You should be greeted with a message that says, "Welcome to Zoom. Enter your Meeting ID, followed by #." You can find the meeting ID on the event page.
3.Once you have successfully joined, your call will announce that you have joined the meeting. You will appear as a phone symbol on other people's screens.
Option 3: Catch up via the event recording, which is posted on the event registration page after the event is over.
Q: What can I expect from a free event?
While we’ll sometimes mix up the format or timing of our free events to keep them feeling fresh, there are a few things you can expect every time:
You’ll hear from experienced public servants, who will share practical tips and personal experiences.
You’ll have the chance to connect with public servants from around the world.
There will be plenty of chances to interact, through poll questions and the chat.
Q: What’s expected of participants during the event?
All participants are asked to stay on mute, so we can keep background noise to a minimum - but there will be lots of opportunities for interaction through poll questions and conversations in the chat.
All participants are expected to be respectful to panellists and to other participants.
Accessibility
Q: What do you do to make your events accessible?
During the event, you’ll be able to access closed captions, which is created via machine translation on Zoom. We’ll also post poll questions, speakers’ bios, and important information in the chat, so you can access it there. After the event, we send the recording with closed captions.
Q: Are your events available in languages other than English?
No, at this time our events are only available in English.
Q: Will a transcript of the in-call chat be provided?
No, we aren’t able to provide this due to security and privacy reasons. We want our live events to be a secure space for the Apolitical community to come together and share ideas and opinions, and want to make sure to protect our members’ identity.
Event registration questions
Q: Can I sign up someone on their behalf?
No, we prefer that each attendee register for themselves, as they need to create an Apolitical account in order to join the event. For data protection and security reasons, we also prefer that each member creates their account individually, so they can decide on their account settings themselves.
Q: Can I share the call details with others?
No, in order to create a trusted environment, we prefer that each participant registers individually, so that we can make sure that all participants are vetted Apolitical members. Membership is quick and free, so please just share the registration link with your colleagues so they can register themselves.
Q: I signed up for an event but my account hasn’t been approved. What do I do?
Having your account manually approved can take a few days. If approving your account is taking longer than this, you can get in touch at concierge@apolitical.co.
Q: I registered for the event, but I haven’t received a confirmation email containing the call details. What should I do?
This may be because you have changed your email settings so you don’t receive emails from us. If you’ve checked and are still subscribed to our emails, you may need to check that your department hasn’t blocked our emails. You can look in your spam folder to make sure the emails haven’t gotten caught there, and reach out to a member of your department’s IT team, to ask them to unblock Apolitical’s emails. Even if you aren’t able to get our emails before the event, you can still find all of the dial-in details on the event registration page when you’re logged into your account, and can join directly via the Zoom link there.
Q: I’m receiving the error message ‘Looks like you have already registered for this event. If you did not get an email with the event details, contact us at concierge@apolitical.co.’ What does this mean, and what do I do?
If you’re getting this error message, you may be trying to register as a non-member, when you’re actually a member. If you log into your account, you’ll be able to see whether or not you’ve already registered for the event (if you’ve registered, you’ll be able to see the dial-in details on the page, and if you haven’t you should be able to register with one click).
Q: I received a code to sign up for the live event but it’s not working. What do I do now?
If you’ve received a six-digit code, this is actually a verification code for your account, rather than the event dial-in information. You can find out more about how to verify your account on this page.
Q: When I try to click ‘Join for free’, the button is greyed out, and I can’t click it. How do I fix this?
This may be because some of your details have auto-filled in the registration box. You can erase and type the text manually, and this should allow you to click the button.
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