Call for Dedicated Sessions

DEADLINE HAS PASSED FOR SUBMISSION OF DEDICATED SESSION PROPOSALS

The GEER 2015 Program Committee seeks proposals and organizers for Dedicated Sessions. We expect Dedicated Sessions on a wide range of topics to comprise the bulk of oral presentations, and to relate to the overall conference theme – “Science in Support of Everglades Restoration.” The Program Committee will suggest topics, but looks to the south Florida science community to assist in GEER program development by proposing and organizing sessions. Potential session topics are provided on the Topics Page, but we encourage proposals on other topics, as well.

Acceptance of Dedicated Session proposals will primarily be based on an evaluation of the proposal’s content, structure, and overall relevance to the overarching goals of GEER 2015 and Everglades restoration – specifically, preference will be given to those sessions that focus on new and emerging science, that are integrative in nature, and/or that communicate interdisciplinary science effectively to a broad audience. Additional criteria for evaluation will include the session’s potential for generating useful results/dialogue among conference attendees, the expected level of interest in the topic, and limitations of time or conference meeting space.

VERY IMPORTANT ITEMS:

1. Each session is 100-minutes long, and will be comprised of a 10-minute introduction and six 15-minute presentations. There will be no panels or discussion-only sessions.
2. We are frequently asked if the moderator can also give a presentation. We do not recommend this practice because it is difficult to manage a session and be responsible for giving a presentation in the same session. Furthermore, we want to maximize the number of presentation slots allocated because most individuals must give a presentation in order to obtain approval to attend the conference. However, if you are a presenter in your own proposed session, please place yourself as the last speaker.
3. We are allowing one oral presentation per person, and ask that no one be scheduled to speak twice. This maximizes the number of presentation slots available to further the likelihood that more individuals will be approved to attend the conference, as stated above. If you know a colleague is proposing a session on a topic similar to yours, please coordinate in advance to reduce the risk of two session organizers double-booking a speaker. In addition, the Program Committee may ask organizers to combine similar sessions. When in doubt, contact one of the program co-chairs, Nicholas G. Aumen or K. Ramesh Reddy for direction.
4. Before submitting a dedicated session proposal, we ask that you please contact your intended speakers in advance and confirm they are:
       a) interested in giving a talk
       b) available during the conference dates, and
       c) confident they will be able to attend

Dedicated Session Organizer Responsibilities

                                                                              
As a session organizer, you are responsible for full management of speakers scheduled in your session, including:

• inviting and confirming specific individuals to speak in your dedicated session
• confirming a moderator to oversee the session (You may serve in this role, but, as mentioned above, ideally we prefer session moderators not to speak in the same session they are moderating.)
• adhering to published deadlines and communicating these deadlines to your speakers. Missing deadlines may cause session 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 session presenters cancels (we recommend you have at least one back-up speaker lined up in advance for your session.)
• providing your invited/confirmed speakers with critical information and instructions, including the following:
  • instructions and deadlines regarding abstract submission
  • communicating the ASSIGNED SESSION NUMBER to your invited presenters so they can indicate this number in the online form when submitting their abstract. (This is imperative to assist us with assuring the right speakers are assigned to the correct session.)
  • ensuring your session presenters each submit an abstract for their talk by the December 12, 2014 deadline
  • informing your session presenters in advance about the $25.00 abstract submission fee (non-refundable)
  • informing your invited presenters they are permitted to give ONE ORAL PRESENTATION ONLY to allow as many people as possible to do so. If an individual is contacted by more than one session organizer to speak – they will need to choose only one session in which to present.
  • ensuring your speakers register for the conference by the deadline and letting them know in advance they are required to pay the full registration fee to attend the conference. One-day registration fees will not be offered.
• Verifying that all of your speakers have submitted abstracts. We will email you the list of received abstract submissions periodically in December as the submission deadline nears so that you can peruse the list and quickly verify all of your session’s abstracts have been submitted. If not, it is your responsibility to contact your speakers and remind them to submit an abstract for their talk.
• Emailing the completed AGENDA GRID to us absolutely no later than Monday, January 16, 2015. THIS DEADLINE WILL NOT BE EXTENDED. After the submission deadline passes, we will email you a TEMPLATE agenda grid to fill in the session title, moderator name, and speaker names and talk titles in the recommended order. We need this by the deadline to get your session into the program.

NOTE: All dedicated session organizers, speakers, moderators, panelists and poster presenters are expected to register for the conference by March 3rd, 2015 and pay the applicable registration fee to confirm their participation.

Session Time Allowance

There is limited time and meeting space available for sessions at GEER 2015; therefore, we are accepting only one proposal for one session per person. The time allotted for proposed sessions will be 100 minutes (1 session).

NOTE: GEER 2015 reserves the right not to accept proposed sessions if time/space is limiting, and to cancel any session if deadlines are missed by the session organizers.

• CLICK HERE to view a Sample Session Proposal (PDF)
• CLICK HERE to view a Sample Session Proposal (Word Document)
• CLICK HERE to view Topical Categories for proposal submissions

Important Deadlines for Developing Sessions (please note these on your calendar right away)

QUESTIONS?

Contact one of our GEER 2015 Program Committee Co-Chairs:

Dr. Nicholas G. Aumen (naumen@usgs.gov) or Dr. K. Ramesh Reddy (krr@ufl.edu)

NOTE: We will email formal notifications to all abstract submitters confirming the approved format of their abstract (i.e., Poster or Oral)