SUSY 2023

Focused BSM Physics with Calendar-Driven Reminders

SUSY 2023, the 30th in its series, convened 250 theorists and experimentalists at the University of Southampton to discuss the latest constraints on supersymmetry, dark-matter candidates, and other beyond-the-Standard-Model scenarios. Although smaller than mega-conferences like ICHEP, SUSY’s tightly packed four-track programme posed its own navigation challenge: with talks as short as 15 minutes, missing a single slot meant missing an entire result.

Calendar Sync and Native Reminders

HEPCon’s calendar-sync feature proved especially valuable for SUSY’s format. Attendees exported their favourited talks to Google Calendar or Apple Calendar and received a native five-minute reminder on their phone before each slot. Because SUSY sessions ran back-to-back with minimal breaks, the reminders helped people transition between rooms on time.

Full-Text Search for Niche Topics

BSM physics spans a wide range of sub-topics: from electroweakinos to long-lived particles to extra dimensions. HEPCon’s full-text search let attendees type a specific model name or keyword and find every relevant talk and poster instantly, rather than scrolling through the entire programme. For a community where result announcements can be time-sensitive, this discoverability mattered.

A Lightweight Conference, a Lightweight Setup

The Southampton LOC was small and volunteer-run. HEPCon’s automatic Indico sync meant the app was ready within a day of the final timetable being published, with no manual data entry. The LOC appreciated that the effort was proportional to the conference size.