Local_arrangements BASICS AUTHOR: Chris Edmondson-Yurkanan, chris@cs.utexas.edu, +1 512 471 9546 DATE: last modified 5/5/2003 CONTENTS OUTLINE: 1. Role of local arrangements chair 2. Date and Location issues 3. Typical physical layout 4. Hotel(s) selection 5. Auditorium selection 6. Social Event 7. Reception 8. Food: general/lunches/breaks 9. Audio Visual 10. Electronic Mail - see separate file 11. Support rooms: meetings/practice/"birds of a feather"/storage 12. Input to advance program 13. Receipt of proceedings 14. Receipt of ACM publicity info 15. Local activities info 16. Queries from book publishers 17. Photographer for SIGCOMM Award 18. Copies of tutorial notes 19. Onsite assistants 20. Wonderful set of todolists by sigcomm 2000 (Per and Bengt) and handouts from 2001 ******************************************************************************* 1. Role of local arrangements chair a) RESPONSIBILITIES 1) oversee and coordinate the various activities of the local arrange- ments committee and to serve as a focal point for communication between the hotel/convention facility and the conf. committee 2) select meeting facility that balances space requirements with flexibility, and balances the cost to the conference with the cost to attendees 3) get ACM's approval on all contracts ( hotel, social event location ...., social event caterer.... ) 4) develop a contract with the hotel that keeps the hotel's expecta- tions low ( in terms of sleeping rooms and lunches ), yet reserve enough space for a large number of sleeping rooms and meeting space to accomodate a "huge turnout" 5) make lots of lists :-) because this is a "detail-oriented" role 6) If desired, pick a committee of local people to help you, each responsible for easily divided up roles. b) DELIVERABLES with TYPICAL DATES ( to be added ) 1) reserve the meeting facility for the dates requested with enough flexibility to handle smaller than expected turnouts and larger than expected turnouts 2) get ACM's approval on the hotel contract 3) decide on which social events should be part of the conference and select a provider 4) decide if a reception should be part of the conference and select a provider 5) plan the audio visual requirements and select a provider 6) plan the electronic mail requirements and write a plan for providing internet access ( for small conferences, this can be optional ) 7) give the hotel a copy of the advance program, and be sure to coordinate the times of events/breaks/meals with the hotel and the committee 8) plan physical layout a walk through months in advance really helps.... c) AT THE CONFERENCE 1) need signs (depends upon location as to how many and how much the hotel provides.... places such as SIGCOMM 96/97 really needed them) 2) questionnaires (and questionnaire return boxes or staff to pick them up) 3) IF the SIG Program Director attends/assists, this will be a big help to you .... 4) ... ***************************************************************************** 2. Date and Location issues a) See general chair guidelines for lots more discussion here b) Location: * in San Francisco we learned that if the conference hotel has expen- sive rooms and has cheaper hotels nearby, that can cause people to not stay at the conference venue, which can have disastrous financial impacts. c) Attendance by locals: 1) how are they going to get to the conference? 2) does the commute time affect when we should start the conference ***************************************************************************** 3. Typical physical layout a) conference: need a large meeting room per session ( and possible the flexibility to turn a large room into 2 rooms, if the conference program chairs are unsure whether this is to be a 1 or 2 track conference ) Plan on the seating being "classroom style", which is typically long rows of tables with chairs/water/pencils scattered around Seating should NOT just be one long row; at least broken into 2 sections in the middle (or break it up into 3 sections). No smoking is required Check out the viewing of the overhead projector from several different locations in the room ( some hotel mtg space has poles, and some mtg space is too wide, and some are too deep ) b) breaks: ***IMPORTANT*** need to be far enough away from meeting rooms to avoid disturbances, and ideally close to the registration area c) registration area: typical layout: * a table for late registration * a table for preregistrants * some computing support for entering late registration info and ideally printing pretty name tags * ideally near some lockable space ( or hotel provides lockable room ) * tables of local info and announcements brought/sent by other organizations (including ACM's "portable booth") * space for extra proceedings ( sometimes at a different table ) d) need easels for the signs that are provided by registration, direct the newcomer to the appropriate areas e) lunch needs to be near by, but not too close ( noise can impact conference ) and should NOT be planned for the same room as the conference room f) email room --- possibly; does not have to be immediately near the conference room, although "blocks away" causes some complaints g) tutorials: be careful to select a site that can support multiple tutorials in parallel with some flexibility. Some tutorials will be large, and some small; you never know until the week or two before the conference ***************************************************************************** 4. Hotel(s) selection a)Hotels are convenient, but the conference room must be able to hold 250 ( with the ability to hold 400+ if necessary ). It seems to work out well for some conferences and possibly all conferences to have the conference at a University, but that's just not an option for some sites. ADVANTAGES: 1) the student union typically provides the food and is very economical ( re UCL at SIGCOMM94 ) and 2) the seating is typically in a nice lecture hall, with tiered seating. b)Hotel Hotel conference rooms can be problematic if there isn't a great spot for a coffee break ( we unfortunately had to switch plans at the last minute in 93 and the coffee break location was very unsatisfactory and lots of attendees complained ) Hotel conference rooms can have problems with neighboring rooms occupied by other groups, so the ideal choice is a hotel where we have it all, or the room is by itself. In some years ( at least 83,91, and 94 ) the conference site has been at a University ( which is typically less convenient to the meals/sleeping rooms ) but has great acoustics and usually a nice sloping conference room. Email is an issue: the conference has been providing email access since 90. You can get it to hotels, it just needs mucho organization, and some $, and sometimes, some fund raising. In Europe the conference attendees are typically spread out over a number of hotels. ***************************************************************************** 5. Auditorium selection * If the conference is in an auditorium, the sound and visuals and seating will probably be nicer * How close is the auditorium to lunch and to the email room? ( lots of grumbling about distance to the email room in 94 ) ***************************************************************************** 6. Social Event a) MINGLING The purpose of the social event is to allow mingling amongst all parties, so having ONLY a seated dinner doesn't work. We definitely need some time to mingle before dinner. Venues that supported mingling particularly well were Baltimore's Aquarium (92), Boston's History Museum (95), the Cannes Beach (97), Vasa museum (2000) * Venues that split you up for the whole evening.... 1996: 1/2 of us went to the winery one night, the next night the other 1/2 went. While it was great food/wine, the mingling was just with 1/2 (for 2 nights). 1998: we didn't all fit in one Vancouver riverboat, so while delightful evening, the mingling was just with 1/3. * People often get stuck at their table at the end. So, it was nice in 2002, to go back to the dessert area. * The 1999 unique 2hr panel discussion was great mentally, but not that great for mingling. b) How long should this last???? * 2002: Pittsburgh, Carnegie museum: picked up at 6:05 (15 min, bus ride), cocktails 6:30, dinner 7, dessert at end in cocktail area) busses planned to start leaving at 9:30. "we were targeting a total of 4 hours but most of the attendees didn't stay the full time. I would say that the bulk of the attendees left after about 3-3.5 hours. There were a few dozen who stayed until the very end and a bit beyond - we escorted them out at about 4.5 hours." * 2001: San Diego historic beach hotel: 30 min bus ride each way, schedule was leave conf.ctr at 6-6:30, leave beach hotel 9-9:30, back at 10 in the last bus. (so event was reserved for 3hrs total but lots of people left at 9. So, a typical person might have experienced 2.5 hrs plus 1hr transportation) I think everyone was tired on my bus on the way back. * 2000: Vasa Musuem. 6:30-9 (busses took us 1/4 of a mile, and then came back and picked up more attendees.) Nice mingling before hand. People left whenever, and since we were so close, I think lots of people left early. The long tables were kind of nice. Per estimates that 40-50% of attendees walked back. * 1999: Unique event: whole week was planned around it: 4-10 (10th anniversary of lifetime achievement award. 4-5 reception (small area - so hard to get around), 5:15-7:45 panel, 8-10 dinner.... I think people left right after dinner. Evaluations said panel was 30min to 1hr too long. Also said Outrageous Opinions lasted too long. * 1998: 7-11 (boarded the boats immediately outside the hotel) ***************************************************************************** 7. Reception .... * In 94 SIGCOMM's reception was outdoors with drinks (PIMMS/champagne) and music { "local colour" } 7.1) I know that you all have something nice planned on the QUAD; let me just add that if you run into any budget problems, one way SIGCOMM has been able to have a nice reception and have it be affordable, is to have the attendees purchase their beverages from your caterer. I'm not sure that it makes sense here, just wanted to mention it. ..... Special events for just a subset of a group do not work well, ie British Telecom dinner/reception at SIGOCMM 94: Tuesday night. BT is holding the reception to kick off it's University Research Programme and part of the motivation is to permit some technical discussion between BT managers and SIGCOMM VIPs. This means the dinner will be slightly more business like than originally anticipated and BT is not expecting spouses to attend. ***************************************************************************** 8. Food: general/lunches/breaks a) never, never forget the vegetarian attendees (we've got quite a few) double check with "low sodium and kosher" requests to make sure what they really need.... sometimes they can go with vegetarian. .... >>>Both cases are causing a problem: >>> >>>1. We cannot find a caterer who is able >>> to provide one low-sodium meal a day. >>> >>>2. We can find a caterer who is prepared to supply >>>one kosher meal a day, but it's expensive. >>> >>>3. Neither the Zoo nor the Reception caterers can supply >>>low-sodium or kosher. Again, kosher we can have delivered >>>- at a price. >>> >>>Vegetarian is no problem. To avoid problems due to omnivores >>>snatching vegetarians' food and leaving them short, I have ordered >>>50% vegetarian food, rather than odering a specific number >>>of veg meals. Food suitable and not suitable for veg will be >>>set up on separate tables and clearly labelled. b) The TMRF budget is written at a summary level, and I personally (over the years) have found it more helpful to convert the total # of dollars for a meal, into dollars per person. This certainly works for events like lunches ( if the lunch room is free ), and you just have a charge per person ( incl. all taxes and tips ). On the other hand the Wed night social event probably has some fixed costs that are independent of the number of people who actually attend, and the rest then would be a varying amount. c) food that is needed is: FOR "X" people: (assume tutorials on Monday) Mon a.m. coffee break ? 10:30-11 Mon lunch ? 12:30-1:30 Mon p.m. coffee break ? 3:00-3:30 FOR "Y" people: (assume tutorials same times as Monday) Tues a.m. coffee break ( in 2 locations ) Tues lunch Tues p.m. coffee break ( in 2 locations ) FOR "some number less than Z, since not everyone comes" Tues welcoming reception 5:30-8:30 FOR "Z" people with times listed as in advance program ???? optional cont. breakfast???? Wed a.m. coffee break Wed lunch Wed p.m. coffee break ???? optional cont. breakfast???? Thurs a.m. coffee break Thurs lunch Thurs p.m. coffee break ???? optional cont. breakfast???? Fri a.m. coffee break ???? sometimes Fri lunch is provided ???? FOR "around Z" people Wed social ? what hours should this be ? d) Coffee break issues: * Coffee breaks: is the break area going to be in a separate area from the conf. and the tutorials ( I must have mentioned this already, but the number 2 complaint at SIGCOMM93 was that the location of the break area was immediately outside the conference room ---- noise conflict! PS - this was the hotel's doing, not the conference committee. ) When exactly is the "coffee" supposed to be there? *this is your call, but I will let you know that some people like there to be "coffee" there *before* the meeting in the a.m. and to be able to go out during a talk and get some more... whether you provide for continuous service or specific times is up to you and the caterer and how much you can afford. What exactly is provided in the coffee break? The following is typical SIGCOMM US conference food, so please don't feel constrained to follow it exactly; you will need to provide *caffeine* in some form, though :-) *usually coffee/decaf/tea ( sometimes juice in the a.m. ) ? cokes? * and coffee/decaf/tea/cokes/ ( sometimes mineral water in the p.m. ) *if the budget can afford it, then everyone loves a danish or a cookie "continental breakfast" --- I did a survey last year in 93 to see which food service we could do away with if we had to cut back on something and this was the LEAST important to the attendees ( although some people like Craig will argue for it.... ) It isn't in the budget, but with your school caterer, maybe its possible??? On the other hand, you may want to put any extra money in a lunch or coffee break cookie. One way to save a bit of money is to give different estimates for number of people present on Thursday and definitely for Friday, since people have to go home at different times.... Pat McCarren is an - expert at estimating numbers for all SIGCOMM food events. e) Sample lunch plan from SIGCOMM 94 ..... the following is excerpted from A. Sasse's local arrangements plan in 94 Date Time Where What Approx. 29/08 10:30 Pearson Coffee, tea, biscuits, soft drinks 120 12:30 Pearson Lunch 150 15:00 Pearson Coffee, tea, biscuits, soft drinks 120 30/08 10:30 Windeyer Coffee, tea, biscuits, soft drinks 120 Pearson Coffee, tea, biscuits, soft drinks 180 12:30 Windeyer Lunch 300 15:00 Windeyer Coffee, tea, biscuits, soft drinks 120 15:00 Pearson Coffee, tea, biscuits, soft drinks 180 31/08 10:30 Windeyer Coffee, tea, biscuits, soft drinks 300 12:30 Windeyer Lunch 300 15:00 Windeyer Coffee, tea, biscuits, soft drinks 300 01/09 10:30 Windeyer Coffee, tea, biscuits, soft drinks 300 12:30 Windeyer Lunch 300 15:00 Windeyer Coffee, tea, biscuits, soft drinks 300 02/09 10:30 Windeyer Coffee, tea, biscuits, soft drinks 250 12:30 Windeyer Lunch 200 Coffee: please make sure you offer Decaffinated Coffee as well as normal stuff Diet Coke or Pepsi Jugs with iced tap water Lunch: please - vary the lunch offering from day to day - since it's a buffet, ensure there is a plenty of vegetarian food (pretend 1/3 are veggies) clearly labelled (e.g set on a special table or particular plates) - supply iced tap water, mineral water, soft drinks and coffee w/lunch ****************************************************************************** 9. Audio Visual .... POSSIBLE ISSUES: 1) do any of the speakers or tutorial presentors have any special audio/visual requirements? Program Chairs:in your letters to the authors did you tell them what to expect or give them a deadline for notifying you of anything else required? In 93 for instance, one or 2 authors wanted us to provide a computer for a demonstration. The conf. committee decided not to provide it; so one author brought his own ( I believe ), I know of a case where another rented one, and last year our Registration chair ended up loaning his office HP system ( because of contacts ) to the author who then set it all up. ( and it was really a visual demo, for a change ) However, these demos really only work in small room, not large lecture halls. 2) Another important point to consider for the Lecture Theatre, is that there may be sound or lighting problems that require a technician. Hotels usually provide a beeper/phone number for a technician who is on-site and can be called in at any moment. 3) Providing A/V can be costly. 4) Slide projector????? Every year, one - two authors use slides. HISTORY: THE BASICS: In the past, we have provided: 2 overhead projectors and a "travel mike" for the presentor PLUS recently ( in the big conference ) we have provided at least 2 "stationary mikes" for the Question and Answer session. And for the tutorials, we typically have the 2 overhead projectors ( although not all tutorial presentors need one ) and the travel mike, but not the Q/A mikes. ( Plus of course, a few supplies in case bulbs burn out and pens/blank transparencies are needed ). <<