We are pleased that you have accepted to be a Session Chair at the Joint Navigation Conference (JNC) being held in Colorado Springs, Colorado, June 27-30, 2011. On this page you will find important information concerning your responsibility as a session chair. Please review these items carefully and feel free to contact me if you have questions.
As the Meeting Approaches
If you have not already done so, I would encourage you to send authors presenting in your session a letter of introduction and provide them with your contact information so that they know how to reach you should the need arise. A list of authors presenting in your session is attached.
In early May please make contact with each of the authors scheduled to present in your session to verify that:
1. Any required presentation authorization cycle has been completed.
2. All authors scheduled to present in your session are still planning to attend and present.
- Please review the Speaker’s Kit. The Speaker’s Kit contains information concerning the publication of FOUO presentations. Please review this information so that you are familiar with it. A copy of this is attached for your convenience.
- Please notify the ION National Office of any program changes that are brought to your attention so that we can ensure that your session’s signage and other on-site materials are as accurate as possible. Any program correction/changes received by the ION prior to May 30 will be reflected in the on-site program and we strive to make the on-site program as accurate as possible.
- E-mail (meetings@ion.org) a brief biographical sketch (100 words or less) of yourself to aid the Meeting’s Program Committee with your introduction at the commencement of your session.
- Register for the JNC 2011 Meeting. The last day to postmark conference registration without a late fee is May 30. Please note that Session Chairs are required to pay registration fees.
- Have hotel reservations made at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Colorado Springs, Colorado, by May 30 to receive the special JNC rate of $84 single per night. Call 1-800-981-4012 to make your reservation. Program brochure containing reservation information is also posted on the Joint Navigation website.
Speakers’ Breakfast
Session Chairs are required to attend the Speakers' Breakfast on the morning of your session. The Speakers' Breakfast will be held in the Summit Ballroom (4th floor) from 7:30 a.m. – 8:15 a.m. on the morning of your session. If your session is scheduled for Monday afternoon (June 27), Speakers' Luncheon will be held from 12:30 p.m. to 1:15 p.m. in the Centennial Room (1st floor).
You will be seated at the breakfast with the speakers making oral presentations during your session and with those speakers prepared to step in as alternates should the need arise. All speakers have been asked to provide you with some brief biographical information. You may use this information for introduction purposes prior to each presentation.
The purpose of this breakfast is to allow the Session Chairs to meet each of the presenters, to collect speaker’s biographical information and coordinate any last minute details. This is also the time that audio-visual equipment and the timing lights will be demonstrated.
The Speakers' Breakfast is a MANDATORY event for each author responsible for a scheduled presentation that day. The speaker representing each oral presentation, as well as the speaker representing each alternate presentation, should attend. The speakers have been notified in the speaker’s kit if they are not in attendance, or have not made prior arrangements with you, their session chairs; you may be forced to allocate their presentation time to another presentation. Alternate speakers must be in attendance and prepared to present if called upon. If an alternate speaker is not present at the breakfast, and/or not prepared to make an oral presentation if called upon, their presentation will not be published in the FOUO conference proceedings. (See Author Kit for complete author instructions.) If this occurs please alert a member of the ION staff so we are aware the presentation should not be included in the conference proceedings.
It would also be helpful if you would e-mail (meetings@ion.org) a brief biographical sketch (100 words or less) of yourself to aid the Meeting’s Program Committee with your introduction at the commencement of your session.
Alternate Speakers
Alternate speakers have been instructed to attend the Speakers' Breakfast and be ready to make an oral presentation in the event of one or more cancellations of primary presentations. Complete presentations for all alternate speakers will appear in the meeting proceedings as long as the alternate speaker attended their assigned session and was prepared to present if needed.
Program & Scheduling
The complete program brochure is available on the JNC website: www.jointnavigation.org. You may refer to the program for presentation schedules. (If you would like to request a copy of the program via e-mail (PDF file) or U.S. Postal Service please send an e-mail to meetings@ion.org). There will be a final on-site conference program available. We would like this program to be as accurate as possible. Any program corrections/changes received by the National Office prior to May 30, 2011 will be reflected in the on-site program.
We are making a concentrated effort to keep sessions on a structured time schedule. This will make it possible for registrants to schedule their day and flow from session to session. Each presentation will be given a specific starting time that will be printed in the on-site program. We will need your assistance in making sure that the printed schedule is strictly adhered to. To assist us in this objective, we will be asking you to operate a timed lighting device (this lighting device will be demonstrated during the Speakers' Breakfast (Luncheon for Monday sessions)). The system has been designed with a red, yellow and green light.
1) The GREEN light will go on at the beginning of the scheduled presentation time and will remain on for 15 minutes.
2) The YELLOW light will then come on signifying that the presenter has 3 minutes left. The yellow light will remain on for 3 minutes.
3) The RED light will signify that the presenters 18 minutes are up and that they are to immediately return the floor to the Session Chair.
Speakers have been instructed that their microphone will be shut off once they have gone 30 seconds over their allotted time, or 30 seconds after the red light illuminates.
Time between the conclusion of one presentation and the scheduled commencement of the following presentation may be used at your discretion for questions and answers, or, for the introduction of the next presenter. Please limit your introductions as to make sure that they do not overlap into the speaker’s presentation time. Remember that the objective is to keep multiple sessions running on the same time schedule.
There will be an audio visual technician close to your session room at all times. Do not hesitate to call on this person should you need assistance during your session. This technician will also provide you with a lavaliere microphone and laser pointer for author presentations and a wireless hand-held microphone for question and answer periods. We would ask that you circulate the hand-held microphone for question and answer periods.
How to Deal with Presentation Cancellations/Substitutions
If you should experience a cancellation in your session and you are able to replace the cancellation with an alternate presentation, it is imperative that the alternate presentation be substituted in the canceled presentation’s original time slot. For example, if the third scheduled presentation is canceled, or a presenter fails to show, then the replacement presentation should also present in the third time slot.
If, for any reason, an alternate presentation is not available then the canceled presentation’s original time slot should remain vacant. Under no circumstances should you reschedule the remaining presentations scheduled in the published program as this greatly aggravates conference participants who have scheduled their day based on the posted times.
If you are made aware of any presentations cancellations and/or replacements in your session, please announce these changes at the beginning of your session. We would also ask that you note any presentation cancellations or no-shows, and any alternates that fill these vacancies directly on the session signage located outside the session room door. These signs are collected and changes recorded at the end of each day in order to ensure the conference proceedings accurately reflect what transpired during your session. Your assistance in getting this information accurately communicated will be greatly appreciated and will assist the National Office in correctly assembling the conference proceedings.
Your Responsibilities as a JNC Session Chair
As a Session Chair your goal should be to manage the session to the satisfaction of the conference participants.
- Remember that most conference attendees justify their attendance on the basis of the published program. Please ensure that each presentation commences on time, and request that a presenter who goes beyond their scheduled time vacate the floor. If you do not wish to be in the potentially difficult position of having to deal firmly with a speaker you should let the meeting’s Program Chair know in advance so that an alternate Chair can be found.
- Under no circumstances should Session Chairs use their privileged position to propagate their own views, especially at the expense of the published schedule.
- Please be advised that photographs and/or the audio or video taping of the sessions is prohibited.