TO: Orlando, FL Meeting Symposium Organizers

 

DATE: May 16, 2003

FROM: Elizabeth Brennfleck, Director of Meetings and Exhibits

RE: Orlando Meeting Technical Program Planning

 

As you know, the deadline for the receipt of all Meeting Abstracts is June 2, 2003. The complete listings of all the meeting abstracts received to date have been posted on the Web Site at http://www.electrochem.org/meetings/future/204/organizers.htm and will be updated every day. To access the page enter your username in lower case letters (first initial and last name, i.e. ebrennfleck) and password in lower case letters (symposium code letter and number, i.e a1).  Please note the username has no spaces or hyphens.  For those who are organizing more than one session, use the symposium code that comes first alphabetically.  

 

If you receive any original copies of Meeting Abstracts in the correct format, please check the special Orlando Organizer's Page http:/www.electrochem.org/meetings/future/204/organizers.htm to see if you must send the originals to us at Society Headquarters by express overnight mail (if it does not appear on the list or in the author index - then we need it ASAP!) so that they may be included in the final listing of papers for your symposium. On June 6, 2003, all Symposium Organizers will be sent an email reminder that all the Meeting Abstracts that have been received in the correct format for consideration in your symposium.  If you or an other organizer from your symposium does not have internet access and wishes to receive a hard copy of the web print out, please contact me.

 

We appreciate your assistance in adhering to the deadline dates outlined in this letter and we will be sure to make every effort to accommodate your requests in organizing your symposium. We have enclosed the Preliminary Scheduling Forms to be used for setting up your program of technical papers. These completed forms must be received at Society Headquarters by June 13, 2003. You may fax them to us at (609) 737-2743 or e-mail them to us at elizabeth.brennfleck@electrochem.org. Please refer to the list of instructions on the next page when completing the Preliminary Scheduling Forms. We recognize that there may be delays in the handling of the mail as well as holiday vacation schedules. Therefore, it is important that you contact us immediately if you foresee a problem submitting your Preliminary Scheduling Forms before June 13, 2003.

 

Throughout this process, we encourage you to communicate with your co-organizers to develop the preliminary schedule of papers and expected maximum attendance for your symposium. This schedule should then be forwarded to your Division or Group Chairman, with a copy mailed, faxed, or e-mailed to us at the Society Headquarters Office for receipt by June 13, 2003. We will attempt to satisfy as many of the Symposium Organizer's requests for specific days and room sizes as possible. However, in the event that your schedule is not received by June 13, 2003, or if there is a serious scheduling conflict, we will contact you directly if any changes need to be made to the schedule you submit (realistically, we do not have enough room to enable everyone to begin on Monday for example).

 

Please remember the following when completing your Preliminary Scheduling Forms:

 

1.       The suggested length of papers is fifteen minutes for contributed papers, and thirty minutes for invited papers (we are trying to use fifteen-minute increments). This synchronization enables attendees to move efficiently between sessions and also provides an opportunity to visit the technical exhibit during the morning coffee breaks.

2.       Symposia with fewer than six papers will not be scheduled; in this case, the accepted papers will be included in the most appropriate symposium or general session, and the authors will be notified by the Symposium Organizer(s).

3.       On Monday, October 13, 2003, the Plenary Session is scheduled from 8:30 AM to 10:00 AM; therefore, no technical sessions may start before 10:00 AM on Monday.

4.       On Wednesday, October 15, 2003, the Honors and Awards Session is scheduled from 8:30 AM to 10:00 AM; therefore, no technical sessions may start before 10:00 AM on Wednesday.

5.       In general, the day begins at 8:30 AM and the afternoon session begins at 2:00 PM and it continues until 5:00 PM or 6:00 PM. Leave 12:00 noon to 2:00 PM open for lunch every day. Also leave 9:30 AM - 10:00 AM open for the coffee break.  Try to schedule one 15-minute intermission during each afternoon session.

6.       The Monday Evening Poster Session (A1) has been designated especially for students.  The posters will be judged, and the winner(s) will be presented a cash prize prize.  We would encourage you to consider moving student abstracts from your session to the Student Poster Session (A1 Symposium).

7.       The Poster sessions from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM on Tuesday evening should also be considered as a means to accommodate a large number of papers in a single evening poster session and also to stimulate discussion, interaction, and active participation.

8.       Please consider scheduling your symposium on a day(s) that will not conflict with other symposia on related topics. Therefore, you may have to confer with other Symposium Organizers before completing your Preliminary Scheduling Forms.

9.       Complete one Preliminary Scheduling Form for each half-day session, poster session, or informal discussion. Provide the name of the two Co-Chairs, preferably members of the Society, and include their email address (VERY IMPORTANT) and complete mailing addresses with zip codes and telephone numbers on the Preliminary Scheduling Forms in the spaces provided. Without contact information for the session co-chairs, we may be unable to contact the co-chairs with pertinent information in regards to the meeting and session.

10.   To stimulate the ever increasing quality of papers presented at Electrochemical Society symposia, papers which the organizers deem to be of insufficient originality, quality, or are not relevant to the purposes of the symposium may be rejected or transferred to a General Session. All authors must be notified of all changes by the appropriate Symposium Organizers. Copies of this correspondence must be provided to the Headquarters Office.

 

The technical program will be finalized on Tuesday, June 17, 2003; therefore, no additions, deletions, or alterations will be accepted after this date. We anticipate the receipt of your completed scheduling forms before the June 13th deadline. Should you have any questions or require additional information, please contact me as soon as possible.

 

Thank you for your cooperation and we look forward to working with you toward the success of the 204^th Meeting.

 

Sincerely,