Call for Pre-Conference Workshop Proposals

The proposal submission deadline has passed. A Call for Individual Oral & Poster Abstracts will go out in late spring 2016. Click here for more information.

The ACES 2016 Organizing Committee invites those interested in hosting a Pre-Conference Workshop to submit a proposal for consideration by March 31^st. Please note that admission to pre-conference workshops is INCLUDED in the conference registration fee.

Workshops provide an informal setting where participants have the opportunity to discuss technical topics and engage in an active exchange of ideas. Workshops should offer professional development and/or educational opportunities for conference participants. Workshops may be research-focused (e.g., insights on new methodologies in research), specific place-based studies (e.g., Everglades restoration), or education/skills-focused (e.g., developing case studies for use in teaching, or new techniques in industries).

Workshop organizer(s) will be responsible for inviting speakers and ensuring their participation, ensuring submission of preliminary texts, and structuring and leading the discussion sessions. Acceptance will be primarily based on an evaluation of the workshop's relevance, potential for generating useful results, expected level of interest in the topic, and the organizers' ability to lead a successful workshop.

Workshop Time Allowance

Time allotted for pre-conference workshops will be either 3 hours for a half-day workshop, or 6 hours for a full-day workshop. Be sure to indicate the amount of time you think you will need to conduct the workshop when developing the workshop proposal.

If you have questions about developing the presentation and programmatic format for your workshop, please contact Dianna Hogan, Conference Chair at dhogan@usgs.gov or Kristin Zupancic, Conference Coordinator at kzupancic@ufl.edu.

NOTE: The ACES 2016 conference organizers reserve the right to refuse proposed workshops if time or space are limited, and to cancel any workshop if deadlines are missed by workshop organizer(s).

1. Workshop Proposal Requirements

Workshop proposals should provide the following information:

• Workshop title and brief description, specifying the goals and technical issues that will be its focus. Remember, workshop titles are critical – most people make decisions about which workshops to attend based solely on the title. Choose carefully.
• Workshop agenda outlining presentation format.
• Brief discussion of why the workshop is of interest and to whom. Who is the target audience? Who would benefit most from the proposed workshop?
• Names, postal addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses of the proposed workshop organizer(s), including the name of the primary contact for the proposed workshop. Note: All details for the workshop will be finalized via communications with only this individual.
• Description of the qualifications of the workshop organizer(s).
• List of invited and confirmed workshop speakers and/or panelists. At a minimum, please include email addresses for all proposed speakers.

• NOTE: Before submitting a workshop proposal, we ask that you please contact your intended speakers in advance and confirm they are:

• interested in giving a talk,
• available during the conference dates, and
• confident they will be able to attend

If accepted:

• As a workshop organizer, you will be responsible for full management of speakers scheduled in your workshop, including:
• Inviting and confirming specific individuals to speak in your workshop.
• Adhering to published deadlines and communicating these deadlines to your speakers. Missing deadlines may cause workshop proposals to be eliminated from consideration, especially if there are more proposals than there is capacity at the conference.
• Finding a replacement speaker if one of your workshop presenters cancels (we recommend having at least one back-up speaker lined up in advance for your workshop).
• Providing your workshop speakers with critical conference information and instructions, to be detailed in your acceptance notification.
• Verifying that all of your speakers who wish to submit abstracts have done so.
• Emailing finalized Workshop Description and Workshop Agenda to conference organizers no later than August 26, 2016.
• Workshop presenters are allowed and encouraged to submit individual abstracts for inclusion in the conference Book of Abstracts. However, this is not required, as a final workshop description detailing individual presentations and the final agenda will be required of the workshop organizer(s).
• Workshop speakers who use a PowerPoint presentation will be expected to submit their PPT file to the conference organizers following standard guidelines sent to all speakers.
• All workshop organizers and presenters are expected to register for the conference and pay the applicable fee to attend. Financial support for travel is not available for organizers or presenters.
• Workshop organizers must produce a final Workshop Summary and email this as an MS Word document to Conference Coordinator Kristin Zupancic no later than January 6, 2017 for publication on the ACES 2016 website. CLICK HERE to view an example of a Workshop Summary.

2. Proposal Submission Format

• MS Word Document
• Maximum of five, 8 ½” x 11” pages
• Full contact information for workshop organizer(s)
• A list of invited and confirmed workshop presenters and/or panelists, along with their contact information (email address, at a minimum)
• View example 1 of a Workshop Proposal: MS Word | PDF
• View example 2 of a Workshop Proposal: MS Word | PDF

3. Important Dates for Workshops

The ACES 2016 organizers will be responsible for the following:

• Determining the workshop date and time (workshop organizer requests will be accommodated as much as possible).
• Publicizing the workshop on the conference website and in digital and printed conference materials.
• Providing a meeting place and logistical support for the workshop, including audio visual equipment, within the confines of the standardized meeting sets as space allows.

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Post-Conference Items

Program Book
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Abstract Book
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Photo Galleries
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Speaker Presentations
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Poster Presentations
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Workshop Summaries
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Town Hall Reports
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