| Deadlines
are now firm with GSA Headquarters. Note that in several cases Committee
members need to get copy to Chuck and Noel BEFORE we owe it to GSA
so that we have time to do a final edit. DO NOT ASSUME that your deadline
is the date we have to get material to GSA.
(The following timeline is based on a meeting
being held in March.)
A bit of a heads up for various local committee members. Look at
your responsibilities indicated by letters below dates as follows:
| |
P = Technical Program |
| | F = Field Trips |
| | K = K=12 Teacher Programs |
| | E = Exhibits |
| | S = Student Volunteers |
| | AV = Audio Visual |
2009
Mar 12-13 SE GSA, Tampa, FL
Covered by Chuck and Steve W.
Mar 22-24 NE GSA, Portland, ME
Covered by Noel
Apr
10
P, F |
e-mail
blast to NE and SE Section about: 1) Where, when meeting will
occur, and contact info for Baltimore meeting, and 2) inviting
suggested Symposia and Theme Sessions by Apr 28. |
Apr 16
P, F, K |
Local Committee
Meets in Reston-Primarily discuss possible Theme sessions and
Field Trips in light of NE and SE meeting and e-mail blast for
ideas. |
| Apr 20 |
Nancy Wright, Chuck,
and Noel agreed on schedule for: a) submission of copy for Preliminary
and Final Announcements, b) abstract deadline, c) submission
of Final Program copy, etc. These dates (in BOLD below) are
now firm and cannot be changed. |
Apr 28
P, F |
Suggestions for
Symposia and Theme Sessions due to Program co-chairs |
early to mid-May
P, F |
Decide on Theme
Session and Symposia Topics and line up
Convener/ Advocates. NOTE: Need to do this before most academics
have headed to the field or elsewhere and are hard to get hold
of. |
June 15
E |
Exhibit Fees decided,
Exhibit Info out to potential Exhibitors. We don't need everything
now, but keep these guys on the hook-especially those who might
come back from last year-most of ours did.
Get GSA to research tax exemption for GSA in MD. |
June 22
P, F, K, E |
All information
for First Announcement to Noel and/or Chuck. Need Symposia,
Theme Sessions, Field Trips, K-12 activities. Several committee
chairs will need to be reminded of the copy that they should
have ready. One or two people (Noel and Chuck) need to read
carefully and be responsible for getting it all together. |
| June 29 |
Text for First
Announcement due to GSA. (Appears in October GSA Today, and
also goes live on the GSA web site then. Note that this copy
is all that most people will see before abstracts are due, so
most theme sessions should be in this copy.)
Get tentative meeting schedule, room use to hotel. |
| Early Aug |
By now we should
have contacted representatives of various groups that traditionally
meet with and have events at NE and/or SE GSA. Among these are:
Eastern Section, Society for Sedimentary Geology (SEPM)
NE and SE Sections, Paleontological Society
Association for Women Geoscientists
National Assoc. of Geoscience Teachers (New England, Eastern,
Southeastern Sections)
Any others? |
mid-Aug
AV |
Need to know about
all arrangements for AV-computers, projectors, screens, mikes,
pointers, timers-need costs for budget-this is a large item
that will affect fees we charge for meeting. |
| mid-Aug |
Have printing arranged
for poster (~11x17) that will be sent to Allen Press to insert
in October GSA Today for mailing to NE and SE Sections. |
| mid-Aug |
Have menus chosen
and prices from hotel for luncheons, banquet, breakfast, Shlemon,
Mann, and box lunches for field trips. Need these to do budget,
set fees for Final Announcement. Banquet speaker arranged. |
| Late Aug |
Local Committee
meets. Discussion of fees (we will have prepared models, settled
near final fees). Discuss field trip fees and logistics. Review
other matters. This could be our last Local Committee meeting
all together |
Late Aug
P, F, E, K |
By now should have
fees set for Registration, Ticketed Meals, Field Trips, Workshops,
Box Lunches. Take care of "free" Regis. for student help and
any others. Set budget and get it to Section Secretaries for
Management Board review |
Sep 3
AV |
AV chair should
have all info needed regarding computer format for Power Point
presentations, and how speakers can submit their Power Point
files. Need this for Final Announcement and especially web version.
|
| Early Sept |
Posters (~11x17)
need to be folded and delivered to Allen Press for insertion
in October GSA Today going to NE and SE members. |
Sep 22
P, F, K, E |
All information
for FINAL Announcement to Noel and/or Chuck. This includes Theme
Sessions, Symposia, Field Trips, Special Events, K-12 Activities,
Registration Fees, etc |
| Sep 29 |
FINAL Announcement
copy for GSA Today and web site due to GSA |
| ~Oct 5 |
First announcement
published in GSA Today and on Web. Abstract form goes "live."
|
Oct 5
F |
Manuscripts for
Field Trip Guidebook due to GSA HQ. Field trip co-chairs have
other deadlines not included here to furnish to authors. |
Oct 18-21
P, others |
GSA National Meeting,
Portland, OR. Be prepared to advertise our meeting at National.
Are we taking some posters? How many? Also a good place to meet
with your conveners and pump them up. Good time to stir people
you know to urge them to submit abstracts. Might find some exhibitors
there too. |
| Oct 26 |
Student Mentor
(Shlemon, Mann) Program details finalized with GSA rep. |
Early Nov
F |
Field Trip people
will need to have all logistics worked out (departure and return
times, meals, overnight if appropriate) for GSA Staff to have
ready to send to registrants for trips. See form required by
GSA for all trips. |
| Early Nov |
Nancy sends session
chairs access to abstracts submitted to their session so that
if there are laggards chairs can "beat the bushes." |
Late Nov
P |
Nancy Wright will
introduce Program Chairs, and General Chairs if they wish, to
Confex-the computer program that handles, sorts, and arranges
abstracts and sessions. This can be done with a ~30-45 minute
conference phone call while participants sit at their own computers.
We get passwords for access to the program. Once this is set
up, we will be able to monitor receipt of abstracts. |
| Late Nov |
Nancy Wright sends
an e-mail blast to NE and SE Sections reminding of Abstracts
Deadline coming up.< |
| Dec 8 |
FINAL Announcement
published in GSA Today. Preregistration form goes "live" on
web. Hotel room reservations go live about now too. |
Dec 8
P |
Abstract Deadline.
Don't expect most abstracts to arrive until the last minute-the
evening of the deadline 50-100 could arrive.
Technical Program folks need to immediately start review and
organizing sessions. Note that this occurs over Holidays. Need
to plan when you will work together on this. Program Chairs
need to have contact info handy for conveners/advocates. Much
of the "Program" copy (other than Technical Sessions) can be
prepared ahead of time by Chuck and Noel, so that "crunch time"
can be devoted to getting the sessions in order and carefully
checked. |
| Dec 10 |
Review budget and
adjust if necessary in light of abstracts received. By this
time we can "guess" roughly how many may come to the meeting
by using past meeting ratios of Attendees to Abstracts received-this
is usually in the range of 2.0-2.5. |
2010
Early-Jan
S |
Student Help person(s)
should have their act together and be ready to e-mail colleagues
at undergraduate institutions about how you will handle student
help for meeting. Time this to when students are about to start
Spring semester-a good time for faculty to pump up their students
about meeting anyway. We usually offer free registration to
those who help for a given number of hours. Students needed
to help with Registration, Speaker Ready Room, in session rooms,
and to change signs outside rooms. We will furnish number of
student help needed. |
| Early Jan |
Decide what oral
sessions will be in what rooms. Need this for Program copy.
Need to be careful which sessions go in larger or smaller rooms.
Start to monitor hotel room pickup |
Jan 12
P |
Technical Program-this
is all the material that goes in the Program handed out at the
meeting--finalized and sent to Nancy Wright at GSA.
All technical sessions in order, conveners arranged, times, rooms, etc. Need to try to avoid conflicts in sessions-related topics. Nancy will prepare text for Abstract Book (Abstracts with Programs).
Prepare list of signs needed. Get ready to print. GSA will prepare "superstats"-the signs listing all papers in a session to post outside rooms. We can print other signs on 11 x 17 paper at one of our colleges and save $ on them. |
Jan 15
AV |
Meet w/ Hotel folks
by this date to finalize program, room use and setups, AV, menus,
etc. Within a couple of weeks we will be reviewing and signing
BEO's (Banquet Event Orders) for every room setup, event, AV
requirement, and menu with approximate numbers for these. Order
AV stuff, tripods, final layouts for rooms, AV, Registration,
Exhibit pipe and drape, Poster boards for posters. For food,
final numbers are due about a week before meeting, but we need
to give approx numbers now. This is also when we should make
hotel arrangement for special guests and GSA staff and officers
(VIP's) coming to meeting. Should also make sure that all of
our billing and payment arrangements are square with the Hotel
folks. |
mid-Jan
AV |
Acceptance notices
e-mailed to authors by Nancy Wright. Include in this message
how authors should deliver their PowerPoint presentations (e.g.,
on CD or memory stick to Speaker Ready Room). Also include instructions
about Posters (size, push pins and/or Velcro). Technical Program
schedule is posted on the meeting web site. |
| Jan 20 |
Nancy Wright furnishes
"galleys" of the Program (sent to us via e-mail as a pdf). We
have 2-3 days to go over it. Most is in good shape (we furnished
the copy), but we need to check carefully. |
Jan 22
F |
Final corrections
for Field Trip Guidebook due to GSA HQ. |
| Jan 25 |
Abstract and Program
book go to printer. Technical program signage printed--so-called
superstats that go outside each room. We will also have to furnish
number of Programs (the ones given to every registrant at meeting)
we want. Fair warning-this may be 10 days before the Pre-Registration
deadline, and most people register at the last minute. We will
have to guess how many.
Confirm all food/beverage selections.
Confirm sponsored events (SEPM, AWG, NAGT, Paleo Soc, etc). |
| ~Feb 25 |
E-mail blast to
NE/SE section reminding of Pre-Registration deadline-sent out
by GSA staff. Also remind everyone of hotel room block deadline.
|
~Early Jan
E |
Send final program
copy to exhibitors and request they register on line for meeting.
Arrange VIP travel and housing. |
| Feb 8 |
Pre-Registration
Deadline |
Feb 8
F |
Decisions will
need to be made about whether Field Trips and Short Course/Workshops
will "go" or not, based on preregistration numbers. For cancelled
events, those who signed up need to be notified (GSA takes care
of this). Need to arrange for refunds through GSA Registration
folks. For field trips that are going to run, confirm, modify
or cancel transportation requirements. |
Feb 8
S |
Need to know who
Student Help will be and tell William Cox who these people are
for "free" registrations. Have Student Help work schedule set
up. |
| Feb 8 |
Get number of people
for meals, food from Pre-registration to Hotel folks to help
them refine needs. Furnish exhibit requirements and layout to
Hotel. |
~Feb 8
E |
Deadline for Exhibitors
to get contracts and payment in to GSA-Payment can be made by
credit card to GSA HQ. Also need any special requirements-electricity,
high speed internet, extra tables-beyond basic booth. Note:
some of these will involve extra fees. Get these needs to hotel.
|
mid Feb
AV, E |
Signs made and
superstats and signs mounted. Use Fom-cor backing and binder
clips.
Check computer/AV setups.
Check plans for Exhibit and Poster and Registration setup with Hotel. |
| ~Feb 10 |
Abstract book gets
mailed. Programs that we ordered are sent to us for meeting.
Need to designate to Nancy Wright where to send. |
| Feb 15 |
e-mail blast to
authors reminding of 1) Power Point download procedures, Speaker
Ready Room, type of projector (for oral), and 2) poster setup
(for posters). |
Late Feb
AV |
Meet with Hotel
staff for run-through of all events, setups, etc. This will
include Hotel people that do food, setups, AV, etc. |
| Feb 26 |
GSA packs and sends
all conference materials. Need to have place for them to be
sent, and person who will get them to hotel. |
Mar 1
F |
Field Trip Guidebook
offprints shipped to trip leaders. |
| Mar 5 |
Finalize food and
beverage with hotel
Review all VIP arrangements
Verify VIP arrivals, airport pickups
Receive and inventory all shipments, equipment, suppliers
Arrange daily invoice review with hotel, and who signs for these
Check pickup of all rental equipment and supplies |
| Mar 13 |
Set up conference
office.
Set up Speaker Ready Room.
Conduct personnel instructions for registration volunteers
Oversee setup of exhibit area (be ready to answer questions for exhibitors), poster boards (need numbers on boards). |
| Mar 13-16 |
NESE GSA Baltimore
Meeting |
| Mar 14 |
NOTE: Daylight
Saving Time begins-Saturday evening, Sunday AM. Remind all registrants.
|
| ~Apr 1 |
File final reports.
|
|
