Instructions for Attendees, Presenters, Organizers, Moderators

Attendee Etiquette

All NACCB attendees must follow the Code of Conduct as a participant of the congress. Please remind yourself of these policies in advance of the conference. Please be respectful and courteous to presenters/speakers and minimize disturbance during presentations. We ask that you wait until a speaker is finished to move from a session or do so lease as quietly as possible if you must leave prior to the conclusion of the talk. Please refrain from interruption, commentary, questions until the end of the presentation, unless the presenter verbally welcomes this discussion. If a presenter requests (verbally or by use of text/image on a slide) that their material not be photographed, recorded, and shared by any means included and not limited to social media, do not photograph, record, and/or share the material.  Relevant, appropriate, thoughtful and concise questions are highly encouraged during designated Q&A times. Please bear in mind time restrictions for each speaker and session.

Attending an Interactive Session? NACCB interactive sessions are designed to be just that – interactive.  Organizers have developed full session scopes with attendee participation on various topics. These sessions are designed to be attended from start to finish. If you choose to attend an interactive session, out of respect for organizers and in an effort to take part in a productive and uninterrupted session, please commit to the entire interactive session and arrive on time. Read more about the session format. Interactive Sessions are open to all congress attendees and will include round table settings rather than a theater setting.

Instructions

Interactive Sessions

Session facilitators must share a 1-page wrap-up report, or 5-10-minute video or audio file to conference organizers, summarizing activities, outcomes, and future plans for sharing material or building on the session outcomes beyond the conference, by September 1, 2018, via email to mail@scbnorthamerica.org.

Symposia

Symposia organizers/moderators are responsible for keeping sessions on time and may follow NACCB’s moderator instructions (below) for additional guidance. Symposia speakers should follow instructions below for full length presentation & upload. Moderators may NOT skip ahead, change order, or move up talks in a sequence. This is highly frustrating to attendees planning to attend for a specific talk.  Discussion time or a pause must be used in place of late cancellations/no-shows.

Presentations: 15-minute & Speed

Full Length & Speed presentations are grouped by topic or symposium assignment, with day/time information available in our online scientific program. You are responsible for knowing the date, time and location of your talk, and arriving at least 15 minutes before the start of your assigned session. Oral presentation rooms will be equipped with a PC capable of running presentations saved as PowerPoint or Adobe presentations, a projector, a laser pointer, and a microphone. Laptops in session rooms will have a high speed wired internet connection. You may NOT bring your own laptop nor will you be allowed to upload your presentation file in the session room. Presentation files must be uploaded online prior to the start of the conference via your abstract log in, or onsite 24 hours prior to your talk.

15-Minute/Full Length Talks

Timing – Oral presentations are limited to fifteen (15) minutes: twelve (12) minutes for presenting and three (3) minutes for questions. (Symposium presentation times may differ based on the organizer’s designated format). Time will be strictly enforced by session moderators to keep concurrent sessions in synchrony.

Speed Presentations

Speakers should upload their presentations according to the process and timeline described below. Speakers will be given four (4) minutes each to present (typically 4-5 presentation slides), and one (1) minute for questions. Speed Sessions are grouped according to topic, and include sub-groups of typically 3-5 presentations, with a 15-minute break for Q&A for all speakers in the subgroup. The session moderator will then introduce/facilitate the next subgroup and group Q&A.

Timing: The 5-minute time limit will be strictly observed. Some presenters ask a question as a prompt for the group discussion to follow, i.e. “my question to you is … “. If you like this idea, please do ask a question, however it is not a requirement of the format of the speed presentation. See below instructions on how to prepare, save & upload your presentation.

Presentation Upload

How to prepare your file: To ensure your presentation runs as expected, we ask that the following steps be taken while preparing to save your file:

  • Make sure any video/audio files are properly linked and embedded in your presentation.
  • If you wish to ensure retention of your fonts, you must embed them. This can be done under the “Tools>save options” when you’re saving your file on a Windows system. This is not possible on a Mac.
  • How to save/upload your file: Please save your oral presentations to a USB stick if you plan to upload onsite in the Speaker Upload Room.
  • PC laptops are the designated computer for presentations at NACCB. If you prepared your presentation on a Mac, be sure it is formatted as desired for display on a PC laptop. Screen format will be 16×9 widescreen. (PC 2013 – 2016: select slide size in far-right tool bar, select widescreen 16×9. PC 2007 – 2009: select design tab, select page set-up, under “slides sized for” choose the predefined size. Mac: select file, page set-up, under “slides sized for” choose the predefined size.)

We strongly recommend you also save your presentation on a back-up medium and bring that to the conference as well.

Remote Upload: Log in to view your abstract through the conference website and upload your file directly into this portal. You may not delete this file, rather you will have the option to again upload your presentation file, which will override the previous one, if you make changes.

Onsite Upload: Presentations that are submitted onsite, should be uploaded in the Speaker Upload Room (located in Pier 7). Presentations may NOT be uploaded in the individual session rooms. There will be NACCB volunteers to assist with presentation submission. Please know the day of your presentation to help expedite the submission process. Presentations MUST be uploaded atleast 24 hours in advance of the talk.

Presentation Upload Room (Pier 7) Hours:

  • Sunday July 22 from 8:00am-5:00 pm
  • Monday July 23 from 8:00 am – 6:00 pm
  • Tuesday July 24 from 8:00 am – 4:30 pm
  • Wednesday July 25, from 8:00 am – 12:00 pm.
Moderators (Contributed & Speed Sessions)
  1. Please bring your own watch or clock and arrive to your session room 15-20 minutes prior to the start of your session. Check that all speakers are present and their presentations are loaded before the start of the session. Consult speakers about any questions regarding pronunciation of names. 
Speakers are in bold on schedules.
  2. Please START the session on time, even if it appears that not everyone is there yet. It is your job to keep the session running on time. There will be time cards in the room to assist you in communicating with the speaker.
  3. Announce any cancelled talks. You can use the time from a cancelled talk for questions but do NOT move the program forward when a paper is cancelled. 
Keep track of all cancelled talks on the paper list provided to you in the room and give it to the volunteer at the end of the session.
  4. Check the sound and projector system and discuss back-up plans with the audio-visual volunteer in case of failure.
  5. Check the lights and projection, adjust as needed. Try to have dim lighting in the back of the room that can be left on during the presentation. This aids note-taking and safe movement of people in and out of the room during talks.
  6. Encourage speakers to leave a few minutes for questions at the end of their talk and provide simple but effective time checks: e.g., use a visual or vocal signal when there are 3 minutes remaining, stand-up when there is one minute remaining, and walk to the podium and politely indicate that their allotted time has come to an end.
  7. Try to have at least one question ready for each talk in case there is time for questions and none arise from the audience. For the benefit of those sitting further back, be sure that speakers repeat questions from the audience, especially those from front rows.
  8. In case of major AV failure, you can call 647-212-6950 from a cell phone, and you’ll reach PSAV audio visual on-duty directly. Alternatively, there is a phone in each room. If you dial 5555 from the room phone, you’ll reach an operator and you can ask them for “PSAV on-duty” for support with internet, power or AV. They will then send a PSAV technician to that room.
Additional Info for Speed Talk Moderators:
  1. Sessions are grouped according to topic and will consist of a subgroup of ~3-5 presentations (4-minute talk, 1 minute QA), with a 15-minute break for Q&A for all speakers in the subgroup. The session moderator will then introduce/facilitate the next subgroup and group Q&A.
  2. The brevity of speed presentations creates a culture of tight timing that affects the moderation of the session too. For example, time can be saved if the speakers introduce themselves while the volunteer opens the next computer file. Transition time can also be minimized if all the speakers are asked to sit in the front row in the sequence in which they will speak.
  3. Give presenters a clear signal when they have 30 seconds left; stand up when they have 10 seconds left so that you are ready to displace them from the podium when their time is over.
  4. If the full 15-minute discussion time is not used, do not advance to the next subgroup. Pause until the scheduled start of the next talk series.
Posters

The poster session will be held the evening of Monday, July 23 in Pier 2&3, from 5:30 – 7pm to allow in-depth discussion between authors and attendees. Presenting authors are required to attend this session to take advantage of opportunities to discuss their work with Congress participants.

Poster Specifications: Each poster presenter will be provided with a surface and pins on which to mount their poster.

  • In order to accommodate two posters on each side of the board, each poster is limited to a rectangle within 42” (106.7cm) wide by 36” (91.5 cm) tall.
  • The title of the paper, the authors, and author affiliations should appear near the top of the poster in letters approximately 1” (25 mm) high.
  • Poster materials must be legible from a distance of 6.5 feet (2 m). Please see http://colinpurrington.com/tips/academic/posterdesign for tips on designing conference posters.
  • Please print your poster in advance of the conference.

Poster Session Timetable:

Monday, July 23, 1:00-5:00pm Set up posters in Pier 2&3. Place on any vacant board, using no more than ½ of one side of the board (4 posters/board)

Monday, July 23, 5:30-7:00pm Poster Session/Reception (Presenters mandatory attendance)

Tuesday, July 24, by 10:30am Poster removal/clean-up. If you do not remove your poster by 10:30 am, it will be discarded.