LA Conference Moderators:
Please check out message below and attachment.
Nancy Norris
LA Conference Program Co-Chair
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MEMO TO: All Coordinators, Moderators, and Facilitators of 2001 
ARLIS/NA Conference Sessions, Business and Committee Meetings, 
and Workshops

FROM: Nancy Norris, Amy Ciccone Conference Co-Chairs

RE: Protocol, Procedures, Last-Minute Cautions and Suggestions…

	We feel we have gotten to know many of you via email 
and telephone. It will be nice to meet you in person! One of 
the sadder realities of Conference Chairs is that they are 
unlikely to be able to attend a lot of the Conference sessions, 
but we are going to do the best we can so you may see us 
sneaking quietly in and out the back. We hope that when you 
have a chance, you will introduce yourselves and your speakers 
to us. 

	Most of you are moderating your own session. If someone 
else is serving this function for you, please pass the 
following to him or her. These tips are culled from previous 
conference chairs' suggestions, professional publications on 
organizing meetings, and personal experience. Please share 
whatever is applicable with the speakers in your sessions.

	You have been given an allotted time to begin and to 
end. Both of these times are to be taken seriously - for the 
benefit of your audience, the speakers on your panel, and for 
the sake of the rest of the conference schedule - particularly 
the session that may be following in the same meeting room as 
yours! Knowing how much your total allotment is, you should 
have already divided up this time by the number of speakers you 
have scheduled, included time for yourself to introduce each 
speaker and, perhaps, make some general remarks, and finally, 
to allow time for discussion among panelists, and/or questions 
from the audience. You may find yourself surprised at how 
little time there really is for each individual speaker! It is 
extremely important to let your panelists know (preferably 
before they've completed work on their presentation) how long 
you expect each of them to speak and to let them know you won't 
let them run over their allotted time. Tell them they will 
receive a warning signal of some kind (make sure they know what 
the signal will be) and then (after 3-5 minutes) will be 
expected to give way to the next speaker. You only have to have 
had the experience once of being the last scheduled speaker 
when time has run out to know how very important this principle 
is. If you announce this procedure in front of the audience at 
the beginning of the session, it will be understood by everyone 
and there should be no hard feelings. This is probably your 
most important job as moderator!

Very important: if your Sessions or Workshops are being 
sponsored, please remember to name and thank those sponsors in 
your opening remarks. The fundraisers made this commitment to 
the donors and sponsors and we are grateful for their efforts.

We are using the services of an AV company that has worked with 
the Wilshire Grand for many years. We have already forwarded to 
them your request for any AV equipment - if you sent it. If you 
didn't or you have since discovered another piece of equipment 
that you must have, you'd better let Amy know immediately, as 
it will probably be impossible to obtain it at the last minute 
during the Conference. Please remember that ARLIS is paying 
quite a lot for the equipment, so if it's not essential, please 
don't ask.

	Some speakers are using slides. Be sure they come to 
the session with their slides already placed in their own 
carousel tray. You should make sure your speakers understand 
that you expect them to advance their own slides using the 
remote(s) provided at the speaker's podium. If, for some 
reason, it is not possible for the speaker to do this, it is up 
to you to get someone else to perform this task. (It's probably 
not a good idea to use your Session Recorder for this function; 
he or she is supposed to be recording. More about that later. 
Another essential tip is to have visuals that are large enough 
to read from the back of the room.

	 If you have not had the opportunity to actually meet 
your speakers, consider arranging a time before the start of 
your session, over a drink or a meal (or just in someone's 
hotel room) to gather your group together, introduce them to 
each other and let them chat informally. Be sure they know the 
order of presentation and the general procedure and that they 
are being timed!

	Give some extra thought to preparing your non-ARLIS 
speakers and making them feel welcome. (You might buy them a 
drink, for example, if your personal budget allows.) They will 
have received a preliminary program packet from ARLIS 
Headquarters, with complimentary registration for regular 
sessions on the day they are speaking. You should remind each 
of your speakers that when they arrive at the Wilshire Grand, 
they should stop by the Registration/Information Desk to pick 
up their conference materials, which will include their badge 
and conference program, OR, please pick these things up for 
them. They will not be able to attend the pre-registered events 
unless they have, in fact, pre-registered. And they must pay 
for any pre-registered events that require fees. If they have 
pre-registered for any of these special events, they will find 
their tickets to these events in their registration packet. 

Money matters:
 
If any of your speakers are to receive honoraria, you will need 
to pick up the appropriate check(s) just prior to your session 
at the Registration Desk from ARLIS/NA Headquarters staff. It 
is important for you to give these out (discreetly as not all 
non-ARLIS speakers are getting honoraria) at the end of your 
session. Reminder: Expenses are not reimbursable unless 
previously approved. If an item is in the budget, receipts and 
expense reports should first go to Lorraine Perrotta for 
verification and then to ARLIS/NA HQ for payment. 

Preferably, moderators should bring with them all the copies of 
the handouts that they will need for their session, or have 
prior approval by Amy, Nancy, or Lorraine, or be prepared to 
pay for them out of their personal budget. No one will be 
reimbursed by ARLIS for this kind of last minute copying. Note: 
Unless you or your speaker(s) are covering these expenses 
yourselves, use of the Wilshire Grand Hotel business center by 
moderators or speakers requires prior approval by Elizabeth 
Clarke, ARLIS/NA Executive Director. Business center staff will 
not charge costs to ARLIS/NA without this authorization. Note: 
Reasonably priced copying facilities are available outside the 
hotel (e.g. there is a Kinko's across from the Wilshire Grand 
at 835 Wilshire Blvd.) 

Please take a few minutes before the workshop begins to 
determine that only those who have registered and paid actually 
attend the workshop. Every paid registrant will receive a 
ticket to attend their workshop when they check in at the 
Registration/Information Desk. You must collect a ticket from 
each registrant. You will also have access at the 
Registration/Information Desk to a printout of registered 
attendees. 

	You need to appoint a Session Recorder if you haven't 
already done so. It is their job to record the proceedings of 
your program and to send these proceedings to the conference 
proceedings editor, Ann Lally. The conference proceedings will 
be mounted on the ARLIS/NA web site after the conference. This 
is important as not every member can attend every conference 
and, in fact, usually only about one-third of the membership 
attends. If you value the work you put into organizing your 
meeting, you will want it commemorated.

Finally, please find time right after the conference to write 
thank-you notes to all of your speakers. This is a simple 
gesture but it will mean a lot to the recipient. 




Media tips: 

All sessions will have a speakers' podium and two mikes-one for 
the podium and one for the speakers' table for discussion at 
the end. (Some workshops will also have microphones and/or a 
podium). Skillful use of the microphone can make the difference 
between effectiveness and pointlessness. But it does not take a 
course in public speaking to learn this skill. Just remember 
that it is almost impossible to get too close to the head of 
the microphone. With many microphone systems, you have to 
almost "eat it," indelicate as this may sound. It is truly 
amazing, though, the difference this makes in the power of your 
presentation. If you can't be heard, all your preparation will 
have been for nothing. If you move away from the mike to point 
to something on a projection screen or easel, be sure to 
compensate by raising your voice or take the mike with you, or 
your specific point will be completely lost to your audience.

Business and committee meeting moderators should allow, if 
there is time, each person in attendance to introduce 
themselves and say where they are from. Many meeting leaders 
have taken to posting agendas on ARLIS-L; you should also have 
copies of the agenda to distribute at the beginning of the 
meeting. With an eye to the clock, make sure that anyone who 
wants to contribute to the discussion has a chance to do so, 
and try to prevent one person (including yourself!) from 
dominating the session.

Other professional speakers recommend:
There is no substitute for preparation
Personalize your message
Talk-don't "speak"
Don't use jargon
Use statistics sparingly
Say it and say it again
Practice your remarks
Tell jokes sparingly
Vary the pitch and speed of your voice
Speak clearly and don't rush
Gauge your audience response
Limit your remarks to 15-20 minutes
Enjoy yourself

	Good luck with your Session and please know that the 
Conference Co-Chairs value your contribution to the success of 
the 2001 ARLIS/NA Conference in Los Angeles.	

Sincerely,

Nancy Norris
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Amy Ciccone
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