Guidelines for
Organizing a Successful PNW NExT Session
These are general guidelines that can be used to organize a
NExT session (panel discussion, presentation, etc.), they are not meant to be
restrictions, but suggestions, based on comments from the group over the years.
Some of the suggestions refer to panel discussions, others can be used in
organizing any type of session.
Timeline:
Suggest topics to NExT list, get feedback from the list and
from the program committee. For a panel discussion, have one or two speakers in
mind to start, and solicit names for others (ask the program committee for
suggestions). First-time organizers may wish to have a co-organizer - the program committee may be able to
suggest names.
Make sure all speakers are confirmed. Submit title, brief
abstract for session, AV needs and proposed length of time to program chair
along with the name, affiliation, and contact information (postal and e-mail
address) for each speaker and organizer of the session. Share title and
abstract with speakers.
Confirm details with speakers and talk with them about their
roles, structure, length of panel or talk, other speakers, etc. In planning the
structure of any session, be sure to leave time for discussion. Also, if there
is no discussion, you may wish to have a few leading questions prepared that
might generate some discussion.
Before your session, greet each of your speakers - introduce
yourself if you do not already know the speakers. Also make sure the speakers
know one another. Go over the structure of the session before it begins, check
on AV needs. At the beginning of the session introduce yourself and the
speakers. Share the structure of the session with the audience. When the
session is over thank the speakers.
Be sure to thank all speakers in writing.
Speakers:
3 or 4 speakers per
session is generally appropriate (more on a panel can be overwhelming, and 3-15
min talks fill an hour well with questions).
Get
the name, affiliation and contact info (postal and e-mail) for each speaker.
Go over with each speaker the structure of the panel and what
their role is.
Try to get a variety of speakers - including some that are NOT
in NExT. Often the visiting MAA speakers
are interested in participating in NExT - be sure to ask the program committee
about this as this is a great way to include new speakers from outside the PNW
in our meeting.
If
you need assistance getting speakers, the NExT list, the program committee, and
colleagues are good resources.
For a panel discussion, it is important to leave enough time
for discussion and questions; it should
be stressed that panelists should speak for 3-5 minutes to give a flavour of
who they are and to share their experience/thoughts with this topic. If each
panelists speaks for 10-15 minutes, giving their own presentation, then there
is usually not time for discussion.
Generally, panel moderators should not speak in their own
session.
Written by Nancy Neudauer & Edited by Jenny McNulty