The conference

  • Pat yourself on the back: you made it!
  • Do not plan to attend many sessions, particularly early on. Rather plan on being available to put out fires, check that everything is okay, etc. Plan to be mobile, and to have to address minor issues.
  • Prior to Day 1, great to ensure that everything is ready for an orderly and rapid registration; for example, that badges are printed, prepared, and ordered by name, etc., that there’s enough staff onboard to help, etc. Also make sure it’s very clear to everyone who has just registered where to go to attend a particular session.
  • Figure out on Day –1 or Day 1 who to talk to (e.g., from the Local Chairs) in different situations, for example, to resolve A/V issues, to put up signs to better guide people, to deal with food issues, to order more coffee, to assign a student volunteer to something, etc. Get phone numbers or contact details of people if necessary.
  • On Day 1 (or before), also figure out who can print physical award certificates for you. The first awards will be on Day 3, in the Opening Ceremony (typically Dissertation / Test of Time). More awards will be presented in the Closing Ceremony. In case the chairs will not know the awards until it’s too late to print, print awards for all possible candidates/outcomes so they can choose once known and discard the others. Figure out who will be available to sign the awards before printing. Ensure the Track Chairs have a clear plan for choosing a winner, and offer to help in case of disagreement.
  • On the morning of Day 3, try to figure out unannounced no-shows: who has not picked up a badge, etc.
  • Be sure to check for A/V issues, missing session chairs, etc., at the start of sessions.
  • Be sure someone will be ready to announce the end of coffee breaks, that there is enough food/coffee, that there are enough tables to avoid queues, etc. W\&T days can be a good chance to identify and fix bugs.
  • After that, things should hopefully flow smoothly, and you can start to enjoy the event. You’ll have to present in/chair the Opening Ceremony, the Townhall, and the Closing Ceremony. For the Townhall, it’s good for next year’s General Chair, or a representative, to take minutes as the feedback will be most useful to them.
  • Pat yourself on the back again: you did it!