Biotechnology Secretariat
Guide for Program Chairs
Finding participants
Start early!! Three years is a good lead time.
Before each national meeting, send email with your topic and contact information to every divisions program chair and chair, even to non members of the Secretariat. If your topic is relevant to their interests, they may become a member of the secretariat.
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Attend oral and poster sessions of divisions that you think might be interested. Talk with the session chair and program chair. Put printed material out at your regional meetings, and talk with session chairs. Recruit from industries and researchers in the geographic region of the national meeting.
After finding interested divisions, continue with contacts, getting titles and chairs for the BTEC sessions. Compile this material and distribute widely.
Participate in P2C2. Make presentation on symposium and the role of Secretariats..
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Ask for cosponsorship by ACS committees for increased publicity and attendance: Women Chemists Committee, Younger Chemists Committee, Committee on Science, etc.
Ask if the symposium can be a Presidential event. This ensures good publicity. This must be done very early.
Many people do not know what a Secretariat is. Time must be spent explaining the role of a Secretariat, and in particular, the Biotechnology Secretariat.
Advantages to participate in BTEC symposia.
v Publicity for the division program throughout the society.
v All funding for attendance goes to the Divisions, none to the Secretariat
v Broader exchange of ideas
v Higher impact because of cooperative nature of the event.
v Allows additional sessions for a division.
Organizing the program.
Make
agreements with divisions to participate in sessions. ACS requires aggreements only
for programs involving money. See attached agreement. From ACS website
http://www.chemistry.org/portal/a/c/s/1/acsdisplay.html?DOC=localsections%5Cgreenmonster%5Cmisc08.html
A division must be a member of the secretariat to participate in the symposium. Cost $100/year.
Divisions generally are the sponsor of their own sessions. This means that the individual paper titles are listed in the divisions part of the program. If BTEC is the cosponsor, the division, title of the session, and time only are listed in the BTEC part of the program.
If there is a plenary session or a general session, BTEC may elect to be the sponsor, thereby listing the individual papers under BTEC in the program. This must be defined in the agreement with the division. The BTEC general sessions are made interesting by the diversity of subjects and audience participants.
The BTEC program chair must make sure that abstracts are entered in OASYS for sessions that BTEC sponsors.
Posters
ACS can make advertising posters listing the BTEC symposium sessions. The sponsors can be acknowledged on the posters. The posters can be placed on easels in the general registration area, as well as at the participating division sessions. Request that the posters remain displayed for the whole meeting. Otherwise they will be removed after individual sessions. There is a fee for posters (about $40). If you have a complex poster, it might be better to make it yourself and transmit it as an attachment to ACS.
Program
Printing a symposium program is perilous. The ACS standard form for separates does not have space to list separate divisions. The staff cannot seem to read below the line on the form to include all the papers. List number of abstracts, number of divisions. If possible, make a list of divisions with titles in the sessions to precede the abstracts. Acknowledge any financial support in program. Make sure that any separates are proofread before approving for printing. You may also seek alternate funding and printing for the program.
Consider making a CD of the program with search capability.
Publicity
As abstracts are submitted, be sure that the session chair includes something in the publicity section on OASYS. In addition, send brief descriptions to the Public Relations department of ACS, at least six months ahead of time. Get a letter from the state governor to include in the program, high lighting the states interest in biotechnology.
Send press releases to the
local section where the meeting is being help
each division that is participating for their newsletter and website
state public relations departments and the department of economic development at meeting location
local newspapers
Potential Funding
Seeking funding is not required for the program chair; however, much wider participation can be achieved if divisions can be offered some funds to defray their programming expenses. Greater participation is possible if one-day registration fees (approximately $75) can be paid for non ACS members. The diversity of speakers can enhance the program. This one-day registration is available only through program chairs for speakers in their division program. The speaker cannot obtain this rate.
Petroleum Research Fund for international speaker, if you can relate topic to petroleum.
ACS: Committee on Science. Innovative Funding for Divisions. ACS President discretionary fund.
American Association for the Advancement of Science has administered program for the National Science Foundation for EPSCoR states. The Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) is a joint program of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and several U.S. states and territories. EPSCoR operates in those states that have historically received lesser amounts of Federal research and development funding. The program focuses on states that have demonstrated a commitment to develop their research bases and improve the quality of science and engineering research conducted at their universities and colleges. If the national meeting is in any EPSCoR state, funding may be available for plenary lecturers for a one day session, provided the session can be attended by citizens of the state. They can repeat the session at a local venue for the public. Funds may also be available for the one day registration fee for speakers from that state.
National Science Foundation and National have funded some symposia.
Local and state departments of economic development and technology development groups can help. Ask someone from the state where the meeting is to facilitate. Encourage the state to participate in the Exposition. Ask if funding might be available for printing abstracts and program. State economic development departments or technology groups might also be able to fund some program expenses for divisions. They might be able to print the meeting program and abstracts. Ask for funding from state research foundations.
Industries that are involved in the particular technology might be willing to offer speakers and perhaps fund a reception, program printing, or other expenses, in return for using their logo on the symposium literature. Get the division program or session chair that is closest to the industry to contact them.
Social Event - Reception
A social event is not a required activity of the program chair; however if funding is available, a reception provides an excellent opportunity for the exchange of ideas. Often division participants have not had an opportunity to meet contributors from other divisions or plenary sessions. The informality of a reception fulfills this need.
ACS provides excellent service for arranging receptions. They also will list the reception in the program.
Thank everybody who helps
Agreement for a Cooperative Cosponsored Event -
Agreements for a cooperative cosponsored event for the Society, a technical division,
or a local section, including cosponsored symposia at national ACS meetings, should
contain:
A. The proposed budget for the event.
B. A statement clearly defining the financial responsibility of the Society, technical
division, or local section clarifying the distribution of any net revenue or loss
from the meeting. Note that cosponsorship of any specific symposium at an ACS national
meeting does not entitle the other cosponsor to any share of the net proceeds from
the meeting and exposition nor to complimentary space at the exposition held in conjunction
with the meeting.
C. A stipulation that each cosponsoring organization will publish a call for papers
and the program in its official member publication and include an announcement of
the event in its calendar of meetings, if timely. D. A statement clearly defining
publication rights for the papers presented at the event.
E. A statement clarifying the distribution of royalties from such publications. The
ACS Books Department should be granted publication rights at least equal to that of
any cosponsoring organization publishing arm.
F. A stipulation that members of each cosponsoring organization should be permitted
to register for the event at the same rate.
G. A stipulation that one complimentary copy of any book of abstracts or proceedings
published for the meeting will be furnished, if requested, to each cosponsoring organization.
H. A statement that, if requested, mailing labels for each cosponsoring organization
will be provided. ACS mailing labels will be provided at the same rate charged ACS
divisions or local sections. If the address labels for a technical division or local
section are requested, the division's or local section's written approval must be
obtained before the labels are released.
I. A statement specifying who is eligible to contribute papers. The rule regarding
presentation of papers will conform, insofar as possible, with ACS Bylaw VI, Sec 6
(see Appendix).
J. A statement clarifying what membership and other material each cosponsor is permitted
to display in the registration area, outside meeting rooms and in other meeting function
areas. In the case of a cosponsored symposium scheduled as part of an ACS national
meeting, the display of other societies' materials should be limited to membership
information on display outside the assigned meeting room.
K. Cooperative cosponsored events may be entitled to in-house advertising rates in
ACS publications.
Agreement for a Nominal Cosponsored Event - Agreements for a nominal cosponsored event for the Society, a technical division, or a local section should include:
A. A statement that absolves the
nominal cosponsors of any financial liability for the event. ACS General Counsel recommends
the following language:
It is specifically agreed that ACS' responsibility for the event is limited only to
cosponsoring the event and ACS shall have no other responsibility or obligation. It
is further agreed that ACS shall have no legal or financial liability with respect
to the event. The primary sponsors of the event agree to indemnify and hold harmless
ACS and its Directors, officers and employees from any liability, loss, cost or expense
arising from or related in any way to the event.
B. A stipulation that members of each sponsoring organization should be permitted
to register for the event at the same rate.
C. A stipulation that each cosponsoring organization will publish, at no charge, a
call for papers in its official member publication and will include an announcement
of the event in its calendar of meetings, if timely.
D. A stipulation that one complimentary copy of any book of abstracts or proceedings
published for the meeting will be furnished to each cosponsoring organization.
E. A statement that, if requested, mailing labels for each cosponsoring organization
will be provided. The ACS will charge the same rate charged for commercial organizations.
If the address labels for a technical division or local section are requested, the
division's or local section's written approval must be obtained before the labels
are released.
Source: http://www.chemistry.org/portal/a/c/s/1/acsdisplay.html?DOC=localsections%5Cgreenmonster%5Cmisc08.html