IAP Guidelines on Conference Organization

Dr. S.S. Kamath
Dr. Swati Y. Bhave
Dr. G.S. Hathi
Dr. Nitin K. Shah

IAP Conference Guidelines Committee

Chairperson
Dr. Swati Y. Bhave

Members
Dr. T.Jacob John, Dr. S.S. Kamath, Dr. Raju C.Shah, Dr. Nitin K. Shah.

Coopted member
Dr M.K.C. Nair

Ex-Officio
Dr. G.S. Hathi

Address for communication:
Secretary General, Indian Academy of Pediatrics,
Kailas Darshan, Kennedy Bridge, Mumbai 400 007.
Ph: 022-3887906, 3887922, 3889565.
Fax: 022- 3851713
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Foreword

Dear fellow academicians,

It gives me great pleasure to see that this on Conference Guidelines has finally been published. This was very much needed in the Academy.

We had written to many past presidents, past organizing secretaries, past senior members for their suggestions. Based on these, we made a draft which was circulated to the Executive Board members of 1999. This was again given shape and presented to this June 2000 EB meeting, where it was given final approval. I sincerely thank all the members of this committee for the valuable time spent by them in formulation of these guidelines.

I had announced in the General Body Meeting at Hyderabad that during my Presidential tenure, I would make efforts to decentralize many matters so that more branches feel involved and for more effectiveness to deliver IAP matters with many brains and hands working together.

With this in mind, Dr.G.S.Hathi, our Honorary General Secretary and myself decided to entrust this job of publication at Cochin to our chief editor, Dr.S.S. Kamath. This has been brought out in record time by him as anticipated and we would like to place on record the appreciation on the excellent job done. He and Dr. Sivadas who have spent last few weeks going through the proof to finally deliver this attractive package.

A complimentary copy of this book will be sent to all the state, city/district branches, heads of the departments, past presidents and EB members.

With this book in hand, I and sure the organizers will have no ambiguity about IAP policies and we will have smoother management. Though these are primarily created for the Annual National Conference of IAP, they hold true for all conferences updates and seminars conducted by IAP.

This is the first time that IAP has come up with such a detailed book specifically on conference guidelines. I am sure there will be room for improvement. Please go though this and give the feedback. Based on this, we will come out with a second edition if needed.

Yours in Academy Service,
Dr. Swati Y. Bhave
President IAP 2000
Chairperson, Conference Guidelines Committee.

Introduction

The Indian Academy of Pediatrics has been holding the National Conference every year during the month of January/February. It has been the custom so far to organize the conference at different parts of the country so that maximum number of delegates from in and around the place could participate in the conference with least expenses and inconveniences. There is a lot of interaction and fellowship during conference days and it also provides sample opportunity to the delegates, to know the vivacity of the culture and the customs of out vast nation. Hence for the smooth organization and functioning of the conference following suggestion are submitted.

Request for the Conference

Any branch, which in the past has successfully organized, at least of a state level conference shall be eligible to request for the conference provided they satisfy the following condition mentioned below. The request should be submitted two years in advance to the National Executive Board with full details regarding the conduct of the programme, before September. This may be scrutinized by a committee selected by the executive board comprising of National President, Immediate Past President, President-elect, Secretary General and one senior member with organization experience.

Centre for the Conference

As far as possible the places where travel, accommodation and food are expensive and beyond the affordable margin should be avoided. The city where the conference is to be held should be well connected with major zones of India by easy means of transport. The city should have accommodation facilities for 2000-2500 delegates at a moderate rate. The venue of the conference should have a main hall with a capacity of at least 2000-2500 and 5-7 other halls of varying capacity of 200-750, in the same premises. The venue should not be more than 15 km away from the heart of the city.

The organizers should try to provide a cozy, pleasant and comfortable atmosphere in the venue. The audiovisual arrangements should be of excellen quality and should be checked in advance by the organizers in each hall.

Organizing Secretary

He/she should be duly elected by the host branch

Sponsorship

Total ban on sponsorship from infant food and milk substitute companies should be strictly implemented. No banners or posters should be exhibited in the scientific halls to maintain the sanctity of conference as areas of learning.

During a sponsored programme the slides of sponsor should only be projected before and after deliberation. Stalls may be provided to the sponsors in the exhibition area. Gambling or fun games in the stalls should be strictly prohibited. Other recreational activities should be curtailed so that it will not hamper the proceedings of the conference. Mike announcements and other sounds should not spill over into the conference hall.

Inaugural Ceremony of Conference

Inaugural ceremony is the most important and prestigious Central IAP function and is the privilege of the Central secretariat to conduct the function with the help of Local Organizing Committee.

Venue of inauguration ceremony should have 2000 plus sitting capacity. To and fro transport facilities for the delegates should be be provided by the local organizing committee from the conference venue to the inaugural site and back to hotels. Food and beverages should not be served before the inaugural function is over. Sitting positions on the stage shall be as follows:

President
I.P.President, Chief Guest
President-Elect, Guest of Honour
Secretary General, Organizing Chairperson
Organizing Secretary, Optional Persons

There shall not be more than 2 guests at the inaugural function. One will be Chief Guest and the other Guest of Honour.

The inaugural ceremony time table will be as follows:
Secretary announces over the mike on the dais that the inaugural Ceremony is starting and requests the compere to take over (1 minute)
The compere welcomes the dignitaries on the stage and requests the volunteers to offer bouquets to them. The dignitaries are invited in the same order as the sitting arrangements. (3 minutes)
Invocation (3 minutes)
Welcome address by Chairman of the organizing committee (3 minutes)
Secretary general's report including declaration and presentation of all IAP Awards (30 minutes)
Installation ofo incoming president and change of medallion (3 minutes)
Remarks by immediate past president (3 minutes)
Presidential address (15 minutes).
Release of souvenir by the guest of honour (3 minutes)
Address by guest of honour (3 minutes)
Introduction of chief guest and his address (15 minutes)
Mementos to dignitaries on stage (2 minutes)
Vote of thanks by the organizing secretary (5 minutes)

The inaugural ceremony should not exceed total of 90 minutes.

Seating arrangements for audience: The first three rows should be reserved for VIPs including executive board members, past presidents, media people and senior citizen members of IAP. The next two rows on one side should be reserved for FIAP awardees and award winners.

Role of Local Organizing Committee: Local organizing committee shall help finalize venue, finalize chief guest and guest of honour in concurrence with president and secretary general, arrange for food, beverages, mementos to dignitaries on dais, bouquets , compering and security. The compere should be well aware of IAP dignitaries and designations and should accordingly introduce them when inviting them to the stage. He/she should also be well aware about IAP and its procedures, hence preferably a pediatrician.

General CME

There will be no specialty chapter CME and there will be only general CME on day 1 of conference.
There will be no separate registration or registration fee for the general CME. Topics for general CME should be of general paediatrics. 50% of the topics should cater to the practicing pediatricians.
Faculty speakers and chairpersons for the general CME shall be decided by the local scientific committee of the conference.
At least 50% of faculty speakers shall be national faculty speakers.
There should not be any inauguration ceremony for the general CME. If at all it is held, it should not exceed 30 minutes.
The general CME shall end at least two hours before the inaugural ceremony.
Topics and the speakers for the CME should be decided and conveyed to central secretariat at least six months in advance to avoid repetition of topics during main conference.
There should not be more than three speakers in each session and at least 30 minutes should be kept at the end of each such session for question/answer.

Awarding CME Credit Hours for delegates can be decided in future.

Scientific Programme

There should be a theme for every conference.

Speaker for the Shantilal C. Sheth Oration will be approved by the executive board based on suggestions by a nomination committee consisting of the president, president-elect, immediate past president, vice president and the secretary general. Nominations will be asked for by way of announcements in the Academy Today, the Indian Pediatrics and Indian Journal of Practical Pediatrics. Nomination should be submitted in the prescribed format, available on request from the central secretariat.

Non-IAP faculty speakers for the main conference and CME are entitled for travel and accommodation from local organizing committee. The non-IAP invited speakers of the sub-specialty chapters will be borne by the respective sub-specialty chapters.

All IAP faculty speakers and chairpersons have to register for the conference. The main conference scientific sessions like plenary sessions, guest lectures, sponsored symposia and dialogue sessions will be decided by the scientific committee comprising of president, president-elect, immediate past president, vice president, secretary general, organizing secretary and the chairman of the scientific committee of the national conference.

Plenary sessions: There will be two plenary sessions on day 3 and 4 of conference. One of the plenary sessions will be on the theme of the national conference and the other on the subject dealing with technological advances in the field of pediatrics and related subjects. Each plenary session will be of 90 minutes. There will be no question/answer session during the plenary sessions.

Guest lectures: 50% of guest lectures should be on practical paediatric topics. Each lecture will be of 45 minutes, out of which minimum 15 minutes should be for question/answer session.

Sponsored symposia: These will be held on day 3 of the national conference concurrently. Main hall should not be given to any of these symposia. The symposia shall be of 90 minutes each. There should not be more than three speakers speaking for total of 60 minutes and 30 minutes should be for question/answer session at the end of the session. Only one of the speakers can be decided by the sponsors and registration, TA/DA of such speaker should be borne by the sponsors and name of such a speaker should be intimated to the central secretariat at least a month in advance.

A workshop on the theme of the immediate past president can be conducted on day 1 of the national conference during post lunch session for invited members. It should end two hours before the inaugural function.

A workshop on day 3 on the theme of the president can be conducted at 8.00 a.m. to 9.30 a.m.

IAP-specialty Chapters will hold symposium or meet the expert session during the national conference. Half of them will hold symposia and remaining half will hold "Meet the Experts Session" in one conference and the order will reverse in the next conference.
The sub-specialty chapter symposia will be held concurrently on day 2 and day 4. They will each be of 90 minutes of which 30 minutes will be for question/answer session at the end and 60 minutes for the speakers. The faculty speakers and the topics will be decided by the chairperson/secretary of that particular chapter. One of the chairpersons for the symposium will be decided by the chapter and the other chairperson will be decided by the central scientific committee.

Meet the Experts session will be held concurrently on day 2 and day 4 at 8.00 a.m. It will be a 90 minutes session. There will be one moderator and not more than four faculty experts. It should be more interactive with the attending delegates.

Venue Infrastructure

Main Hall: It should have 2000 plus sitting capacity. It should have good audiovisual arrangements without echoing. It should preferably be air-conditioned and should have comfortable sitting arrangements.

Subsidiary Halls: They should be 7-10 in number. Each should have sitting capacity of 300-500. They should not be far off from main hall. They should have good audiovisual arrangements without echoing. They should be preferably air-conditioned.

Audiovisual arrangements: LCD projector with computer should be available in at least three halls.
Each hall should have double projection facilities with slide projectors.
Each hall should have one OHP.
The preview room should have LCD projection with computer, double projection facilities and OHP. One competent person in each hall should be in-charge to collect and return the projection material from the speakers.
Preview room should be available from previous day of the conference. Each day it should start at least one hour before the conference time.

There should be echo free audio arrangements. Each hall should have one collar mike, one mike for chairperson, two floor mikes. For meet the experts session/dialogue session there should be one mike for the moderator, two mikes for the panelists and two floor mikes for the delegates.

Cloakroom & Toilet facilities: There should be reasonable number of cloakrooms and toilets, which should be spread over the venue and nearby the halls. They should be clean, hygienic, have running water and be cleaned at regular intervals.

Telecommunication: There should be facilities for fax, photocopiers, local phone, STD, ISD, email etc on payment.

Organizing committee office: There should be an organizing committee office at a suitable place in the venue to help delegates, faculty speakers, chairpersons and for receiving emergency messages for the delegates. It should be manned by at least one competent local organizing committee member and by one IAP staff member.

Scientific Exhibition: IAP trade brochure is available from central secretariat and should be strictly followed. To emphasize again, the following activities should be prohibited strictly in the exhibition area:
Gambling activities
Open housy type games during conference time.
Live animals for any purpose.
Mascots of any type outside the exhibition area
Personal advertisement of handouts outside the exhibition area.
Lottery type incentives and sale.
Sale based lottery/lucky dips.
Noise or sound pollution by way of audio.

One prominent stall should be reserved for IAP office in the main scientific area.

Registration Area & Details

Fee structure for the conference will be decided by the executive board. All delegates shall have to register for the conference.
All faculty speakers and chairpersons who are IAP members shall have to register for the conference.

Non-IAP faculty members who are pediatricians shall have to register for the conference as decided by the executive board.

Registration should start two hours before the conference time on day 1 of the conference and shall continue till last day of the conference. Participation certificate, food coupons and invitation cards for various functions and the delegate badge should be handed over to the delegates along with the delegate kit at the time of registration. Delegate badge should have sufficient place to write the name and place of delegate.

Awards & Mementos

FIAP certificates, branch awards, chapter awards, mementos to outgoing IAP office bearers, president's medallion will be arranged by the central secretariat. Mementos for dignitaries on dais for inaugural function, faculty speakers and chairperson and for valedictory function should be organized by the local organizing committee.

Certificates

Certificate of participation, certificate for speaker and chairperson, poster and oral paper presentations shall be printed by the organizing committee. The certificate of participation shall be signed by the president, secretary general, chairperson of organizing committee, organizing secretary and the chairperson of reception committee of the national conference. The certificate for poster, oral paper presentation, speakers and chairpersons will be signed by president, secretary general, chairperson of organizing committee, organizing secretary and the chairperson of scientific committee of the national conf4erence.

Poster Presentation

Area for poster presentation should be able to accommodate at least 150 posters and preferably should have 3 rooms or a large hall for further discussion on posters. Provisions for boards, pins, clips, tapes etc. should be made and volunteers to direct and help the poster presenters should be available at the site
.

Food Arrangement

At the venue of the conference and the various functions, enough space should be available for food arrangements. The site should have sufficient counters to avoid queue. The vegetarian and non-vegetarian counters should be separate. Clean potable water should be available.

Requisites of Central IAP

Executive Board Meeting: A mini conference hall with capacity of minimum 50 with preferably round conference table and seating arrangements with good audio system and three mikes. The venue of the meeting should be fixed and informed in advance to the central secretariat. Lunch and dinner should be provided by the organizers.

President and spouse, secretary general and spouse will be the guests of the organizing committee. The central secretariat staff should be given free accommodation at a convenient place and local transport should also be provided.

Sufficient space and arrangements should be made for functioning of the central secretariat at the venue at a prominent place and for storing the publications and other materials.

Valedictory Function

It is a function held to thank the organizing committee.

The sitting arrangements on the stage will be as follows:
President
Chief Guest Vice President
Chairman President-Elect
Org.Committee Chairman
Organizing Secretary I.P.President
Reception Committee
Treasurer Secretary General

The actual function will be as follows:
Secretary general makes opening remarks
The dignitaries are invited to the stage with floral greetings (if any) in the order of sitting arrangements.
President will thank and give away mementos to the important persons of the local organizing committee.
Response from organizing chairman.
Response from organizing secretary
Response from delegates (not more than 3)
Address from Chief guest
Vote of thanks by the Secretary General

Accounts and Report

A detailed report and the audited accounts of the conference should be presented to the executive board.

At least Rs. 100 per delegate or 50% of the surplus of the conference or Rs. 2 lakhs, which is higher, should be handed over to the Central Secretariat. The final settlement of the account should be done before the next year's conference. (At least 50% of the profit made through the conference should be handed over to the central secretariat). This will be modified by the executive board from time to time.

Guidelines for Holding International Conferences

(Special Addendum)

All the guidelines of the IAP's national conferences must be strictly followed in addition to the foregoing guidelines:

Bidding for the International Conference:

No individual can bid for an international conference to be held under the banner of IAP unless:
Prior written permission of the Central secretariat of IAP is obtained in advance.
Prior concurrence of the concerned IAP Subspeciality chapter is obtained in writing.
If no IAP subspeciality chapter is involved, prior concurrence of the local IAP branch is obtained in writing.

Once the bid is won the modalities of the organizing of the conference will be as follows:
The elections of the organizing chairman, organizing secretary, treasurer and whenever required the zonal representatives to the executive committee of the conference shall be held by secret postal ballot by the central secretariat of IAP.
If the IAP subspeciality chapter has won the bid, the elections of the organizing chairman, the organizing secretary and the treasurer of the conference shall be held from amongst the IAP eligible voters of the concerned chapter.

If the conference is being held by central IAP (without any of the IAP subspeciality chapter involved) the organizing chairman, organizing secretary and the treasurer of the conference shall be elected from amongst the eligible IAP voters on all India basis. The zonal representative to the executive committee of the conference shall be elected from amongst the IAP eligible voters of their particular zone.

The organizing secretary and the treasurer of the conference shall be from the host city and the organizing chairman can be from any part of the country. The zonal representative to the executive committee of the conference if any shall be from the concerned zone.

If the IAP member who presents and wins the bid for the international conference does not get elected as chairperson or secretary he/she should be co-opted into the organizing committee.

Accounts of the conference

Opening of a bank account: The bank account for the conference should be opened only in the name of "Indian Academy of Pediatrics (Name or title of conference)" after obtaining prior permission from the central secretariat IAP.

The bank account shall be operated by any two of the following three i.e. organizing chairman, organizing secretary , the treasurer of the conference.

Scientific Programme

When the international conference is held combined with the national conference of IAP of that year, the second day of the conference should be reserved as the IAP day.

Inaugural Function

During the inaugural function of the international conference the IAP President, IAP President-elect, IAP immediate past president and the secretary general of IAP shall be on the dais. The president of IAP shall be seated next to the Chief guest. In case the conference is conducted by the subspeciality chapter of IAP, the president and one of the office bearers of the central IAP will be on the dais during the inaugural function of the conference.

Profit Sharing:

In case of loss, the central IAP shall not be liable for any financial implications. The central IAP will also not be liable for any legal implications of the conference. Both of these will be the responsibility of the local organizing committee.
The profits if any will be shared as 25% for the organizing local IAP branch and 75% of the profit or Rs. 150 per delegate whichever is higher to the central IAP. In case sub-specialty chapter is hosting the conference, it will keep 75% of the profit and central IAP will get 25% This will be reviewed and modified by the executive board from time to time.