Workshop organization and overview:
The Workshop Coordinator, Dr. Tom Mitchell, will group submitted abstracts into themes of related subject matter and identify chairs for each workshop. Approximately 10 workshops are held concurrently from 2:00-4:15 PM on Saturday and on Sunday. Each workshop is chaired by an expert, such as yourself, who will organize the presentation order for approximately 10 abstracts. It is important that each presentation & discussion should be ≤12 minutes so that ~10 speakers can be accommodated within the 2-hour workshop period. Because workshops precede formal poster viewing, presenters should view their presentations as an opportunity to invite more detailed discussion of their scientific discoveries during the poster/reception session which immediately follows from 4:15-6:15 PM.
Do's
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Students and investigators often visit more than one workshop session, therefore it is important that:
- The presentation order is the same as published in the program booklet
- That the presentations are kept 'on schedule'
- If there is a 'no show' that something brilliant be done to both entertain and keep the schedule
- That you enforce time limits -- the presenters data will be discussed at the poster session
Don'ts
- You want your workshop to be successful, sometimes you will need to intervene, so don't:
- Hesitate to tactfully limit a presentation when it becomes prolonged − others will appreciated your doing so
- Compare the quality of one presentation to another − it's not a competition
- Worry − a major strength of this meeting is to foster interaction between students and investigators, so have fun with the workshop!