General Guidelines for Session Chairs
- Plenaries are 45 minutes and include Q&A at the conclusion of the session.
- Concurrent presentations vary in duration. Please refer to the conference program for detailed scheduling. All include 2 minutes Q&A.
- Meet with the speakers in the session room 10 minutes prior to the Session time, as indicated on the program. Confirm the order of presentations shall be as on the program. Inform the speakers of their presentation time limit and that you will cut them off if they exceed their allocated time.
- You are responsible for the smooth running of the Session. Time each speaker and alert the speaker when he/she has 3 minutes remaining and a final warning at 1 minute. Be firm (ruthless) in cutting them off when their time has expired.
- Resist any change from the program order that speakers may wish to make. It is essential to keep to the prescribed order of presentations to allow delegates to be certain that if they arrive during a session, they will be able to hear the topic that they want to hear.
- In the event that a presenter of a paper is not present, allow discussion of the earlier paper until the program is back on schedule. If the first paper of the session is not presented, defer the start of the session by the length of presentation.
- If the speaker finishes earlier than scheduled in the program, allow further time for question and answer.
- Technicians from the venue’s av contractor Scene Change are available at all times. Presenters have been requested to provide their presentations in advance to the technicians in the Speaker Support Centre.
- Identify yourself and your affiliation at the beginning of the session.
- Notify any changes to the program or presenters.
- Thank the speaker and proceed to the questions or to the next speaker’s introduction.
- During the discussion, ask the questioners to identify themselves and affiliation. Ask that questions be brief and to the point.
- At the end of the session, again thank all the speakers.
- Make any important” house-keeping” announcements if required. If you have any questions or concerns during the Conference, contact the Conference registration desk.