You will spend a lot of time together--spend some time to get to know one another as you dive into the work! People learn they will co-chair at different times. Take the time prior to launching the conference theme to lay as much of the foundation as possible. You will also want to familiarize yourself with the budget.
Conference Co-Chairs' To-Do List:
Identify a primary contact for the Conference Coordinator
Establish a centralized conference email for all Co-chairs to monitor
Develop a theme
Create a logo
Draft a Call for Papers to consider how the theme may manifest throughout the conference
Select Track Chairs
Select Program Committee Members (think broadly--regions, schools, career trajectory)
Site Visit
ACR Website
How are you going to integrate virtual conference elements into the conference? This will really help with accessibility for people who aren't able to attend.
Conference Coordinator - Designate a primary contact person for the Conference Coordinator. All tasks for the Conference Coordinator should be assigned by a single chairperson.
One of your critical conversations will be with the Conference Coordinator, currently Paula Rigling. As the person with primary responsibility for managing the non-academic aspect of the conference, it is essential that you run any ideas on major changes to the conference structure with her as early as possible so she can plan accordingly. Decide how often you want to schedule conference calls with Paula throughout the planning process.
Conference Email - Conference Chairs should monitor their email (can be monitored by a student assistant hired by chairs)
Set up a conference email that all co-chairs can access. If possible, make it is an ‘.edu’ or ‘.com’ account, because GMAIL gets blocked by too many institutional email filters. Make this your primary means of communicating with the world for a few reasons. First, you need to all have access to the same account, to cover for holidays or sickness or whatever. Second, if you use a work email, it’ll be overwhelmed. It’s a good way to keep on top of what is going on with reviewers, submitters etc.
& 4. Conference Theme & Logo - Work with a graphic designer to develop a conference logo to unveil at Friday's luncheon business meeting the year prior to your conference year. This will start the promotion of your conference (logo, PowerPoint slides, etc.) You will want to think about how to employ the logo on the ACR website as well.
Send slides to Rajiv at rvaidyan@d.umn.edu
Announce Conference theme and logo (slides) at Friday lunch meeting
Meet with the program committee while onsite at current year's conference.
5. Create the Call for Papers - There are certain things that are typical--think out the box to include aspects to increase engagement.
6. & 7. Select Track Chairs and Program Committee
8. Site Visit
Identify dates for the site visit (usually December-February) with conference chairs, executive director, and conference coordinator
Ask Rajiv to purchase flights for site visit (optional - you may buy your own and seek reimbursement)
Ask the Executive Director for a copy of the hotel contract and review it for concessions, and restrictions. The Executive Director will also be able to answer any questions you have regarding the contract. All contract-related questions should go to the Executive Director and not to the Conference Coordinator.
9. ACR Website - Review current year's ACR conference webpages to begin planning for your conference webpages. www.acrwebsite.org
The majority of your web content will come from your call for papers, however, information on location, hotel, gala, sponsor/exhibitor, and FAQ will also come from the Conference Coordinator, ACR's Executive Assistant, and members of your Program Committee.
Learn about the conference city--not only the hotel contract (that is important too) but also what makes that city interesting and how might that help inform the conference theme and associated events.
ACR Reimbursement Per Diem Reimbursement Form
Need help or clarification? Email: acr@acrwebsite.org