Information for Presenters and Session Chairs

Oral presentations

All talks will be limited to a 15-minute time period. Session chairs will be merciless in enforcing time limits for each talk in order to facilitate synchronous start times for each of the three concurrent sessions. To allow time for questions and AV prep, plan to talk for 12 minutes with three minutes for questions. Please be courteous to fellow speakers and practice your talk ahead of time so that you do not run over.

All session rooms will be equipped with a laptop computer, an LCD projector, a microphone, and speakers. Please note that only PC computers will be used. If your presentation is formatted for a Mac, it is your responsibility to test that it is functioning properly in Windows ahead of time. To load your presentation, please do so at least two breaks ahead of your session by bringing your USB thumb drives to your session room. If you are speaking after the first morning break, this means showing up before the plenary and loading your talk. This allows everyone time to troubleshoot if necessary. Presentation laptops will not be connected to the internet, so please do not plan on accessing the internet during your presentation.

Poster presentations

Each poster presenter will have a poster board space provided that is 4 ft (~1.2 m) wide x 5 ft (~1.6 m) tall. Feel free to also post fact sheets or other information. Posters will be attached to the poster board via push pins that will be provided. Your poster will be given a number (found in this program), and that corresponding number will appear on the poster board to guide you to where you should hang your poster.

Poster boards will be available starting at 5:00 pm on Tuesday in Salons I and II. Please take down your poster at the end of the poster night. Posters left hanging will be discarded.

Session Chairs

Thank you for your willingness to help manage the scientific program. You have a critical job in keeping presenters within the time allotted to their talk. We will be running 3-4 concurrent sessions, all with 15-minute time limits for talks. Please note that the 15 minutes includes your introduction of the speaker, the talk, questions from the audience (time permitting) and transition to the next speaker. At the 12-minute mark, please stand in a location visible to the speaker as a notice to the speaker and the audience that it’s time to wrap up. At the 14-minute mark, it’s time to communicate a more forceful warning. Feel free to be creative in communicating this warning! At the 15-minute point, thank the speaker, and begin your introduction of the next speaker. At the break prior to your session, contact all speakers to confirm the presenter’s name and pronunciation and collect any specific introductory information. Session chairs should also confirm that all the session’s talks are loaded onto the laptop and ready to go. In the event of a last minute cancellation, do not move the other talks up a slot and finish early. Instead, leave the cancelled speakers slot as time for discussion so that those in other sessions that have planned on attending specific talks later on in the session do not get thrown off.