Digitally architecting ICWIP 2021—Bringing women physicists together virtually

After three years in the planning, the 7th International Conference on Women in Physics (ICWIP 2020), intended to be held in Melbourne, Australia, had to be postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In November 2020, the decision was made to reschedule the conference to be fully virtual, which necessitated the formation of a technical organizing committee. In this article we describe the digital planning involved in delivering ICWIP 2021 online, which aimed to achieve the same goals and reproduce the feel of the in-person conference in a virtual environment. We outline here our experience in designing ICWIP 2021 and share the lessons learned to inform best practice, so that meetings of the future can be more accessible, inclusive, and sustainable than those of the past.