Conference Participant Guidelines
Conference Participant Guidelines
The rescheduled 2021 APPAM Fall Research Conference is the first time APPAM will host a hybrid conference. Below you can find important information on how to make the most out of your experience this March whether you’re a speaker or an audience member and if you’re joining us live from Austin or from the comforts of home. All events will take place in US Central Time. Below is an explanation of the four session types being offered at #2021APPAM:
In-Person Sessions – This is the traditional APPAM session format that will take place in an Austin meeting room and will only be available to participants and audience members in Austin. These sessions will not be recorded. These sessions are indicated with a map and pin drop icon to the left of the session title in the Online Program.
Virtual Sessions – All session participants will be virtual and presenting from a location of their choosing via Zoom Meeting. This format will be available to the in-person audience in a dedicated Austin meeting room in Austin, as well as the virtual audience. You can see the room number in the conference app, if you would like to join the virtual session from the virtual room. These sessions will be recorded and made available shortly after the conference.
Included in the virtual session listings are new Lightning Sessions. These sessions were added in 2022 to help include more virtual presenters; there are 9 Lightening Sessions. These virtual panels are based on policy area and will feature a broad range of topics with up to six papers, a session chair, and no discussants. Since there are no discussants, the papers do not need to be shared prior to the start of the conference, but Online Program paper uploads are still recommended so the audience can access them. Please see below for suggested session timing.
These sessions are indicated with a globe icon to the let of the session title in the Online Program.
Hybrid Sessions – These sessions will consist of 50% or more in-person speakers with a select number of virtual speakers, and both in-person and virtual audience members. These sessions will have both a dedicated meeting room in Austin and a Zoom Meeting link. These sessions will be recorded and made available shortly after the conference. These sessions are indicated with both a map & pin drop icon and a globe icon to the left of the session title in the Online Program.
Live Streamed Sessions – The APPAM Membership Breakfast and Awards, the Presidential Address and Awards, and the Super Sessions will take place in an Austin meeting room and will be broadcast out via Zoom Webinar so both in-person and virtual attendees can enjoy these special events. Virtual audience members will ask questions via the Zoom Q&A feature and may be asked to the speakers via APPAM staff. Please note: Not all virtual audience questions may be addressed due to time constraints. These sessions will be recorded and made available shortly after the conference. These sessions are indicated with a video camera with internet signals to the left of the session title in the Online Program.
General Guidelines
These guidelines are for all APPAM conference participants for presenters, chairs, discussants and posters. Below you can find detailed information on each session role and you can find helpful in-person speaker best practices and virtual speaker best practices here.
In order to encourage interdisciplinary discussion among conference participants and audience members, we want to encourage:
- Interaction among session participants beforehand to maximize audience participation on the day of the session.
- Distillation of the research, by the discussant(s), to identify its unique contribution to policy.
- Identification of relationships among the research presented, either by the presenters themselves or by the discussants.
- Give and take among participants—especially between researchers and practitioners.
- Creation of an environment to enhance understanding of issues and the attendant research informing them.
As you prepare for your session at the conference, please keep the following points in mind:
- APPAM members like to talk and react. Members include many experts, session participants consistently praise APPAM conferences for the exceptional amount of professional interaction that occurs. Much of this interaction happens within or is stimulated by the session discussions. Please allow a full 20 minutes for audience questions and commentary. This 20-minute period is separate from the time normally accorded to panelists responding to the discussant's comments.
- Please see below session format grid for recommended presentation time limits and confirm timing with fellow speakers. Session contact information can be found in Confex Speaker Center. The discussant should be granted roughly as much time as a presenter. Multiple discussants should divide this allotted time among themselves.
- If they are to provide useful insight to authors and serve as stimulants for audience follow-on, discussants must receive papers no later than two weeks prior to the conference. This will allow for adequate time for discussants to read the session papers. Presenters will receive instructions on how to upload papers in Confex Speaker Center and are urged to do so by the deadline provided so discussants have enough time to read the papers and prepare comments before the conference.
- An excellent panel session is one in which the presenters focus on the more important issues in their research, and collectively, with the aid of the discussant(s), highlight connections among the presented papers. The conference should be an opportunity for professional development in which presenters and session audiences interact to enhance understanding of the issues. Your cooperation with the guidelines in this memorandum will help create an environment for this to occur.
Below are guidelines for well- timed sessions; these sample sessions run from 10:15 – 11:45 am.
|
Three to Four Paper Panel
|
Two Paper Panel
|
|
10:15 - 10:20 - Chair introduces the participants & topic
10:20 - 10:35 - First paper
10:35 - 10:50 - Second paper
10:50 - 11:05 - Third paper
11:05 - 11:25 - Discussant(s) presents their comment
11:25 - 11:45 - Audience Discussion
Sessions with four papers should allow each 12 minutes for each paper presentation.
|
10:15 - 10:20 - Chair introduces the participants & topic
10:20 - 10:38 - First paper
10:38 - 10:56 - Second paper
10:56 - 11:16 – First discussant presents their comments
11:16 – 11:26 – Second discussant presents their comments
11:26 - 11:45 - Audience Discussion
APPAM typically does not host two paper panels but will accommodate this unique format in March 2022 due to the ongoing pandemic and speaker cancellations.
|
|
Three Speaker Roundtable
|
Six Paper Lightning Session
|
|
10:15 - 10:20 - Moderator introduces speakers & topic
10:20 - 10:35 - First speaker
10:35 - 10:50 - Second speaker
10:50 - 11:05 - Third speaker
11:05 - 11:25 - Moderator presents their comments
11:25 - 11:45 - Audience Discussion
Sessions with four speakers should allow each 12 minutes for each speaker.
|
10:15 - 10:20 – Chair introduces the participants & topic
10:20 - 10:31 – First paper
10:31 - 10:42 – Second paper
10:42 - 10:53 – Third paper
10:53 - 11:04 – Fourth paper
11:04 – 11:15 – Fifth paper
11:15 - 11:26 – Sixth paper
11:26 - 11:45 – Audience Discussion
Lightning sessions with less papers should reserve 5-minutes for introductions, 20-minutes for audience discussion, then split the remaining time evenly amongst the papers. There are no discussants.
|
If you have any questions, please contact conferencesupport@appam.org.
Below are tips on how to make the most out of your attendee experience at #2021APPAM:
In-Person Attendees: If you're attending the conference in Austin, you will have access to all sessions, including fully virtual and hybrid sessions.
- In-person sessions will remain the same this year and will offer no virtual audience interaction. Concurrent sessions will take place at the JW Marriott Austin on the 2nd and 3rd floors. You can access these floors from via elevator or escalator.
- Virtual & hybrid sessions will be broadcast into their designated meeting room via Zoom Meeting. You will have the ability to interact with virtual participants via APPAM-provided laptop, microphone, camera, and projection. The hybrid and virtual session rooms will have a dedicated AV tech in the room to assist with the Zoom Meeting. These sessions will be recorded and made available shortly after the conference.
Virtual Attendees: APPAM virtual registrants can join all virtual, hybrid, and live streamed sessions from a location of their choosing. All sessions will take be in US Central Time. Every virtual, hybrid, and live streamed session will have an Austin meeting room listed under the title, but you will access the session via the "Join Now" button that will be made available shortly the session begins, approximately ten minutes prior, in the Online Program. Below are descriptions of the three virtual access session types:
- Virtual sessions will be held via Zoom Meeting and the virtual audience can interact with the in-person audience, virtual speakers, and the virtual audience via Zoom Meeting audio and video. Virtual sessions consist of all virtual speakers and a mixed audience.
- Hybrid sessions will be held via Zoom Meeting and the virtual audience can interact with both the virtual & in-person speakers and audience members via Zoom Meeting audio and video. Hybrid sessions consist of virtual and in-person speakers and a mixed audience.
- Live stream special events and Super Sessions will be hosted via Zoom Webinar so the virtual audience must use the Q&A feature to submit questions. Not all virtual audience questions may be addressed due to time constraints. Live streamed sessions consist of in-person speakers.
Virtual Attendee Tech Support - Please review this information carefully, have your Zoom password handy, and keep the Online Program open throughout the conference for the best virtual experience. APPAM staff will be at the live event in Austin so response times may be delayed. Email conferencesupport@appam.org with urgent questions and thank you in advance for your patience.
- APPAM provided Zoom links, located in the Online Program ten minutes prior to the start of each session
- Zoom passwords, located in the registration reminder to be send the week of the conference.