Instructions for submitting symposium proposal

Instructions for Symposia Submission

The Program Committee is now inviting proposals for Symposia that can be expected to generate greater than normal interest among AFS meeting attendees. Symposia are comprised of oral presentations that share a common thematic focus. Symposia sessions are conceived and organized by individuals who recruit speakers to present papers or participate in panel discussions organized around a special topic. To encourage a diversity of symposia for the 2015 meeting we highly recommend submitting symposia proposals that do not exceed a full day.  To be considered for inclusion, the organizer must submit a proposal to the Program Committee that describes the purpose, content and structure of the proposed symposium. For those symposia that are accepted by the Program Committee, the organizers will be requested to submit brief descriptions of the symposia and abstracts of the oral presentations that comprise them. Symposium organizers are responsible for recruiting presenters, soliciting their abstracts, and directing them to submit their abstracts and presentations through the AFS online submission forms, and for moderating the symposia. To encourage a range of perspectives, the Program Committee highly recommends reaching out to a diverse pool of potential speakers and to be receptive to suggestions from the Program Committee for including relevant oral presentations submitted as contributed papers within the symposia, especially those with student presenters. The Program Committee strongly encourages symposia that span disciplines, species, and ecosystems. Oral presentations within symposia will normally be assigned the standard time slot set by the Program Committee. Some presentations may be assigned a different time-duration, such as keynote presentations that extend over two standard time slots.

Symposium proposals must be submitted using the AFS online Symposium submission form (coming soon) by 16 January, 2015.

Format for Submitting Symposia Proposals

(Submit using AFS online symposium submission form available – coming soon).

If you are interested in organizing a symposium you will need to submit your proposal using the AFS online symposium submission form. Symposia that integrate multiple disciplines, species and ecosystems and those on emerging topics will be prioritized. Speakers should use PowerPoint for presentations. When submitting your symposium proposal you will be asked to provide the following information for each of the Symposia Submittal Steps:

Step 1 – “Set up Session”

1. Title. Brief but descriptive.
2. Abbreviated Title for Schedule at a Glance.
3. Submitter’s email.
4. Format (oral, poster). Indicate whether the symposium format is for oral presentations only. If you plan on using a mix of oral and poster presentations for your symposium, please note that all posters are to remain in the Exhibit Hall and we will work with you to provide access to you and your symposia participants to these posters as feasible.
5. Sponsor (optional). If applicable, indicate sponsorship. Please note that a sponsor is not required.
6. Audio/Visual Equipment. LCD projectors and laptops will be available in every room. Other audiovisual equipment needed for the symposium will be considered, but computer projection is required. Please list special audiovisual requirements.

Step 2 – “People”

Note: you will be asked to search the database for the person’s name before adding a new name. If not found, a data entry form will appear to enter the new name. The first name entered will be the main contact person.

7. First Name.
8. Last Name.
9. Email Address.
10. Role (moderator, chair, organizer).
11. Publish Email (check for yes).
12. Phone Number.
13. This person is a student (check for yes).
14. Enter up to two affiliation(s) for the person (institution/affiliation, department, city, state/province, zip code, country).

Step 3 “Description”

5. In 300 words or less, describe the topic addressed by the proposed symposium, the objectives of the symposium, and the value of the symposium to AFS members and participants. Images and tables are not allowed.
6. Time:  Indicate if the duration of the oral presentations will be the standard 20-min time slots (15min +3min for questions+2min for room change) or whether a shorter or longer time slot will be used. A 5 minute increment is required when splitting into shorter or merging into longer time slots. If a non-standard time slot is used the Program Committee will require that official breaks be honored and, as feasible, align with the timing of the official room change breaks. The Program Committee reserves the right to modify the standard length of the time slots if needed.
7. Special seating requests: Standard rooms will be arranged theater style. Please indicate special seating requests (for example, “After the break, a panel discussion with seating for 10 panel members will be needed”).
8. List of presentations: Please supply information on potential presenters, tentative titles, and oral or poster designation, as described in this table.

 

Presenter’s Name	Tentative title of presentation	Confirmed (yes/no)	Time Requirement	Student (yes/no)

 

Step 4 “Confirmation”

9. Please proof what you have entered. If all of the information looks OK, then click ‘Submit’

 Note thatif your symposium is accepted, you will need to instruct all your symposium presenters to submit their abstract as outlined below in “Abstract Submittal.”

If you do not receive confirmation by 23 January 2015 that your Symposium proposal was received, please contact the Symposium Subcommittee (see below). The Subcommittee will review all Symposium proposals and notify organizers of acceptance or refusal by 13 February 2015. If accepted, organizers must submit a complete list of all confirmed presentations and titles by 6 March 2015. Abstracts for Symposia presentations must be submitted by 13 March 2015, and conform to standard AFS presentation abstract format and submittal procedures described below in the Abstract Submittal section.