060  ORGANIZERS OF ANNUAL CONFERENCES

060-001        Leadership

Overview

The annual conference is the largest event that the Association sponsors. It is, therefore, important to keep the Board of Directors apprised of the progress of organizing efforts.

In addition, it is important for future organizers to have information from previous conferences to help them plan and budget for their meetings.

General Chair

The Executive Director serves as the General Chair of the annual conference.

Conference Chair(s)

The Executive Committee chooses conference chairs two years in advance, if possible. Conference chairs follow the practices and policies described in the Guidelines for ABC Conference Chairs. Each conference chair receives a $1,000 stipend in the year of the conference.

060-002        Reports

Progress Reports

The General Chair (Executive Director) reports progress on the upcoming annual conference and on future annual conferences to the Board of Directors at the annual meeting and to the Executive Committee at the interim meeting.

The General Chair’s (Executive Director’s) reports cover such items as hotel selection and arrangements, budget (including registration fee), and conference correspondence.

The conference chair(s) provides a progress report on the upcoming annual conference to the Board of Directors the year before the conference and again at the interim meeting of the Executive committee before the conference.

The report of the conference chair(s) covers such items as the timetable for conference organization (i.e., dates for call for papers, acceptance letters to speakers), and on-site conference plans (i.e., a timetable for registration, presentations, coffee breaks, luncheon, and receptions).

Financial Reports

Budget Projections. The Executive Director makes budget projections at least three years before each annual conference, using the categories set out below.

Actual Revenue and Expenses. The General Chair (Executive Director) prepares a statement of actual income and expenses within 90 days of the conclusion of the annual conference. The report uses the categories set out below.

The Executive Director distributes copies of the statement of income and expenses to members of the Board.

Income/Expense

Income. The income categories are registration, exhibitors and advertising, and sponsors.

Expenses. The expense categories include total expenses including food/beverage, audio-visual, lodging, miscellaneous charges, program, registration, travel, and board meetings.

Conference File

The Executive Director maintains a conference file that contains all reports submitted by conference organizers, including the actual room “pick-up” (i.e., the number of rooms occupied by ABCers on each night of the conference).

060-003        Expenses to Be Charged to Conference

Purpose

In addition to expenses normally associated with annual conferences, the Board specifies certain expenditures and how they will be accounted for.

Authorized

The Board of Directors specifically authorizes the Executive Director to charge travel, meals, and accommodation expenses to the annual conference for the Executive Committee members and the conference chair(s) as well as all costs associated with the Board of Directors meeting.

Headquarters Staff

The Executive Director budgets for travel, meal, and accommodation expenses for other headquarters staff and reports these as headquarters’ expenses.