Conference planning schedule
Basic Timetable
The generic timetable for organizing the conference, from which a specific one can be built (months in advance from conference)
CC = Coordinating Committee; LC = Local Chair; GC = general chair; PC = program chair(s); SC = sponsorship chair
Year -3
| Months Out | Who | Activity | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 38 | CC | constitute committee, liaise with ACL Exec for general parameters of time and place | add future VC-elect as soon as s/he is elected; identify related professional societies who may be planning a conference during the same period, e.g. SIGIR, AAAI |
| 37 | CC | Finalize CFB document | |
| 36 | CC | Issue Call for Bids; check that acl20XY.org is held | |
| 32 | LC | Deadline for potential bidders to signal their intention | permits chair to contact them with updates to instructions |
| 30 | CC | Add newest exec members to CC | these people began their role in January and will serve to the end of the year in which the planned conference takes place |
| 30 | LC | Deadline for draft bids | keep date away from ACL submission deadline! |
| 28 | CC | Give feedback to bidders about now; Make short-list of PC chair candidates | |
| 26 | LC | Deadline for final bids | liaise with other professional societies about final dates |
| 25 | CC | notify bidders and exec++ of result; provide informative feedback to all bidders; set up basic conference website including venue and dates | should be at least a month ahead of this year's main conference |
Year -2
| Months Out | Who | Activity | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24 | CC | announce site at business meeting of ACL conference; announce on ACL mailing list and ACL website; site visit to happen during coming months; select a General Chair (see criteria-for-general-chair); Local chair to prepare workplan cf (see Local arrangements chair duties) | establish web presence |
| LC | finalize sponsorship chairs ( duties) | ||
| 18 | LC | finalize location and dates, sign contracts by now for meetings and accommodations, pay any deposits (involves ACL Office) | |
| CC | select Program Chair(s) ( duties), Student Workshop Chair ( duties) | ||
| GC? | select Publications Chair ( duties), Tutorial Chair ( duties), Workshop Chair ( duties), Demo Chair ( duties) | ||
| LC? | select Exhibits Coordinator ( duties), Publicity Chair ( duties) | set up email aliases | |
| 15 | LC | identify Local Arrangements Committee: one or two people who would be able to take over in case something happens to the local chair; one or two admin-level people; someone dedicated to audiovisual (AV) and space management; (possibly) webmaster (see webmaster) | |
| LC | collect preliminary local info (describe meeting place and accommodations, travel info, visas, weather, etc.) | ||
| GC/SC | Create Sponsorship Committee ( duties), estimate budget needs (see Example budgets), assemble committee, mainly corporate insiders of likely sponsors, approach corporations to get placed on budget for next year | ||
| * | General, program, local, and publicity chairs create and issue initial conference announcement; include theme, general outlines, location and dates, pointers to details, organizer contact info; publicize widely ( duties) | ||
| GC/LC/Webmaster | Establish website; include general conference announcement; preliminary local info; stubs for calls for papers, etc. |
T-12? months
[General and local chairs; Priscilla] Create and disseminate Call for Participation
[General and local chairs; Priscilla] set approx. registration deadlines and costs; design conference logo for program, posters, etc; create call for participation; design posters and fliers with Call for Participation; print and distribute them (web, email, hardcopy, posters, etc.)
[General, program, local, and publicity chairs] Create and disseminate Call for Papers (see Sample conference paper calls)
[General, program, local, and publicity chairs] create Call for Papers: determine general conference theme(s); if possible, identify some invited speakers; set dates of submission, notification, and final copies (T-7 / T-5 / T-3); set format requirements for papers; distribute Call for Papers (see publicity chair): on Web / newsgroups / mailing lists; provide to ACL (Priscilla and Finite String), AAAI Magazine, IEEE, etc; provide to SIGs, SIGIR, Speech, NLGen, AMTA, and other related communities
T-13? to T-4 months
[Sponsorship committee] Apply for funding; create and submit grant proposals to AAAI, NSF, etc; contact companies for donations to sponsor reception, banquet, etc. (Initial contact T-13, while budgets are still being set for the next year; maintain intermittent contact; then final requests at T-3)
T-11? months
[Program chairs] Assemble program committee: determine program committee structure and review process; establish major topic areas and likely submission distribution; invite appropriate reviewers (confirm first with ACL Exec)?people from research, development, commerce, users, government-funders, etc; ensure proportional representation of gender, seniority, origin, etc.
[Tutorial, workshop, student, demo, and program chairs] Solicit tutorials, workshops, and demos; create Calls for Bids and papers (see Sample Tutorial calls for proposals, Sample Calls for Workshop Proposals, and Sample workshop calls for papers); issue them (website, publications, email, etc.)
T-9 months
[Tutorial, workshop, program chairs] Select tutorials and workshops: select tutorials, taking into account coverage and recent past tutorials (contact Exec); select workshops (contact Exec; see ACL-policy-worksp-support); liaise with local chair for space needs and scheduling; issue instructions to tutorial teachers and workshop chairs about printed material, agenda/time management, payments, fees, etc; update webpages; liaise with ACL Office for registration form
[Workshop and student chairs] Issue workshop calls for papers (see Sample workshop calls for papers): liaise with local chair for space needs and scheduling; liaise with general chair about printed material, agenda/time management, payments, fees, etc; liaise with sponsorship chair for funding applications; create and disseminate Call for Workshop Papers (see workshop-calls-for-papers and student-calls-for-papers); update webpages; liaise with ACL Office for registration form
[Exhibits chair] Locate and sign up exhibitors: approach CL corporation exhibitors; approach book publisher exhibitors (unless this is done by ACL Office?); sign them up
T-8 months
[Program and sponsorship chair] Update financial picture: update budget; project financial needs and make plans to meet them
T-7 months
[Program chairs] Accept and distribute submitted papers: create review form and reviewer instructions; accept submitted papers; assign to reviewers; send out for review
[Program, workshop, sponsorship chairs] Finalize invited speakers, panelists, etc: create basic plan of speakers and panels; invite speakers; reissue Conference Announcement: Web, newsgroups, mailing lists, ACL (Priscilla and Finite String), AAAI Magazine, SIGIR, Speech, NLGen, AMTA, and other related communities; update webpages
[Local chair] Confirm venues: confirm arrangements with meeting venue: rooms, spaces, lunches, etc; confirm arrangements with accommodation venue: rooms
[Local chair] Arrange conference social program: confirm arrangements with banquet and other social event providers; arrange reception; arrange banquet: location, cost, transport, etc; plan outing, for open evening?; plan anything special? Spouses’ events? Outings?; update webpages; liaise with Priscilla for registration form
T-7 to T-5 months
[Sponsorship committee] Apply for corporate funding: approach/confirm companies for grants and donations
T-6 months:
[Workshop and student chairs] Process workshop submissions: accept submissions; review them; send accept/reject letters
[Demo chair] Call for demos: create and issue Call for Demos (see Sample Calls for Demos & Posters)
[Program chairs] Find Proceedings printers: specify proceedings format and ask for quotes; select printer and binder; plan to ensure timely delivery. If the proceedings are not printed in the host country, allow an extra 6—8 weeks for customs
[General chair] Update website: contact all chairs to collect their info for the website; liaise with Priscilla for registration form
[Priscilla, general, program, and local chairs] Create and issue registration form: create form, with input from all relevant people; send out by email and hardcopy; post on web
[Local Chair] Plan registration process: report to ACL Exec; update on conference registration; update on venue (meeting and accommodation)bookings; plan on-site process, staff needs, etc.; organize conference bag or other gimmicks; liaise with sponsorship chair for corporate logos. By this stage Volunteer co-ordinator should be on board and up to speed.
T-5 months
[Program chairs] Process reviewed papers and create program: accept reviews; decide on paper selection; create program, more or less (remember time for ACL members’ meeting, banquet, reception, outings if any, etc.); liaise with Local chair; send out accept and reject letters with reviews; update conference announcement and redistribute; update webpages
T-4 months
[General, program, workshop, tutorial, exhibits chairs] Collect Proceedings descriptions: collect from tutorial teachers, workshop organizers, exhibitors, etc. short descriptions, for proceedings; provide them to webmaster and general and program chairs
[Exhibits chair] Set up exhibit: locate exhibit company for pipe-and-drape stands, signage, etc.; buy insurance, if needed; liaise with exhibitors, local committee, and venue about display needs; work with program and sponsorship chairs on exhibitor fees
[Demo chair] Arrange demos: select demos; work with selected demo-ers for AV needs;liaise with local chair for AV needs; liaise with program chairs for scheduling and proceedings; update webpages
T-3 months
[Program and sponsorship chairs] Update financial picture: update budget; project needs; seriously go after corporate sponsors, now that logos are being put onto signs, publications, and toys
[Local chair] Confirm local events: confirm meeting venue: rooms, spaces, lunches, etc.; confirm accommodations; confirm social events: banquet, reception, entertainment, outings, etc.
[Program, tutorial, workshop, demo, student, exhibits chairs] Confirm invitees: confirm attendance of invited speakers and panelists; confirm attendance of paper and demo presenters; confirm tutorials and workshops; confirm exhibitors
[Exhibits chair] Finalize exhibit spaces: finalize payments of all exhibitors; complete design of exhibition space(s); complete arrangements with pipe and drape rentals, etc.
[Local chair] Set up demo AV equipment: determine AV requirements of demo and paper presenters and other speakers; link up with venue
[Publicity chair and Priscilla]: send out registration form again; contact local authorities, as relevant
[General, program, tutorial, workshop, demo, exhibit, sponsorship, student chairs] Receive final papers and create Proceedings: accept final camera-ready papers; create Proceedings (main volume and any accompanying ones); front matter: title page, ToC, foreword(s), list of authors, etc.; body (xerox page numbers onto submitted final papers); covers; send to printers and binders; update webpages as needed
[Tutorial, workshop, and student chairs] Create tutorial and workshop material: arrange for printing of tutorial and workshop materials (see workshop proceedings format); collect material from presenters; create books/proceedings
T-2 month
[Program chairs] Assign session chairs: send out instructions to session chairs and speakers about time and place, as well as time management for the talks
[Local chair] Finalize on-site admin: assemble team of assistants for registration, gophering, etc.
[General, program, tutorial, workshop, student, exhibit, local chairs] Create conference registration material: create program to be included in conference registration package; gather all other material, incl. freebies
[Priscilla, local, and sponsorship chairs] Give registration update: update ACL Exec on conference registration, venue and accommodation bookings, financial status; update webpages, especially local and travel conditions (check the travel instructions, local weather, medical and political conditions, etc.)
T-1 month
[General and publicity chairs] Perform local outreach: start local advertising; contact press, TV, etc.
[Program, tutorial, workshop, student, exhibit, demo chairs] Finalize all Proceedings and tutorial material: collect and check proceedings (papers, students and other workshops, demos, etc.); collect and check final tutorial materials
[Local chair] Finalize demo AV equipment: finalize AV requirements of demo-ers
[Priscilla, local and sponsorship chairs] Give registration update: update ACL Exec on conference registration, hotel and dorm bookings, financial status
[Local chair] Finalize registration package: assemble all materials into registration packets: local maps, local events, conference program, freebies, etc.
Author: Eduard Hovy, 1998, from timetables of previous AMTA conferences Updates: Eduard Hovy, from AAAI conference schedule and notes by Marie Meteer.