Frequently Asked Questions for Concurrent Sessions:

1. Question: I noticed that speaker proposals have closed for this year’s CCME conference. If not, please keep me on the notification list for when the submission window opens for the next conference. Answer: We are currently closed and not accepting any more proposals. We will open for next year’s conference submission window in July 2014.

2. Question: When will you know the date(s) and time(s) of our (my) concurrent session(s)? Answer: A final slate of sessions will be selected by Thanksgiving. Once the symposium schedule is finalized, the main POC for each selected session will be notified of the exact time and location via e-mail. These messages should be sent by the middle of December.

3. Question: If I am ONLY coming to speak and/or present, do I need to pay conference registration fees? Answer: If panelists/speakers for concurrent or general sessions are only coming to do a specific session, they do not need to pay a registration fee, but they will also not have access to any other conference activities/presentation. If speakers/panelists desire to attend other portions of the conference, they would need to pay the appropriate fee for the length of time they plan to attend.

4. Question: I have been selected to do my concurrent session at this year’s CCME conference. What am I required to do now? Answer:

1. Verify the final title of your presentation.

2. Submit presentations final abstract to be included in the program (no more than 75 words). If there are NO changes to your initial submission, confirm that we can use the original.

3. Name and title of presenters (again if there are NO changes in the original submission, confirm that we can use what you sent.

4. List the detailed learning objectives/ outcomes for attendees of your session. All of this information will be going into the conference program and NO Changes can be made after ______. If what you already submitted requires no changes, just confirm no changes are needed.

5. This year we are also requiring that you provide your presentation to us prior to the start of the session (by XX Date). This is to help ensure it is ready to post online after the conference conclusion.

5. Question: What will be in the room for the presentation and what is available.

Answer: As a reminder, for each presentation, one member of your panel will be required to supply a laptop. Each room will have the necessary technology to display the presentation; however no computers will be supplied. In addition, please remember to bring any handouts you wish to share at the conference with you.

6. Question: Is there a discount for presenters attending the conference? Answer: No, the presenters for concurrent sessions make up the main attendees to the conference. They have a choice to present and there is a long history of how we have things set up. We also normally receive twice as many more proposals than we can accommodate on the agenda.

7. Question: What is the process for selecting concurrent sessions and determining how many times they are presented? Answer: We appreciate everyone who takes the time to submit a proposal. Unfortunately, we can't accept all proposals due to space and schedule limitations. A committee individually evaluates every submission using a rubric that is laid out in our submission instructions. All of this information is then presented to the Executive Committee for final vetting and selection. The number of rooms available and the concurrent session slots within the conference schedule are also factored in. Sometimes a session will need to be repeated so that more attendees can attend a highly relevant and current topic.

8. Question: In reviewing the schedule of concurrent sessions I was wondering if it would be possible to schedule my session with another session so they don't go head to head. I think they will both cover very topical information with different approaches and it would be beneficial for those interested to attend both. Answer: We do a great deal of work in scheduling the concurrent sessions to minimize this situation. Reviews include breaking them up based on requirements of the speaker and panelists, size of rooms and a proper distribution of topics. Once the schedule has been arranged, and the program sent to the printer, further scheduling changes are simply not possible.

9. Question: I have a change to my presentation and hopefully I can make the change to the program. My colleague will not be able to present with me, so it will just be me at this point. Are we still in time to remove him from the program? Answer: It depends. If the main program guide has not already gone to the printer we can try to make the change. If it has, we may only be able to change the concurrent session insert. Finally, we will have an ERATTA sheet and we can add changes there at the last minute.

10. Question: Why do I need to turn in learning objectives now? Answer: For many of our colleagues to attend this conference they must show that the sessions they are attending fulfill training and/or education needs. This will greatly help us demonstrate that.

11. Question: Do you have any better sense of the numbers we should expect in the sessions? We need to plan for handouts and sign in sheets for the CEs. Answer: The honest answer is no. There are a number of sessions in which attendees can choose to sit in on. It would be difficult to give you an accurate number ahead of time. Attendance is based on personal interest at the time of the conference. Instead of handing out paper handouts if you provide us your slides we will make available online immediately after the conference.

12. Question: Do you need our presentations prior? Answer: This year we would like it so we have it to post online after the conference.

13. Question: Last year our Dean was on one of the panels similar to one listed in the current session listing. Is it possible to be added to another panel this year? Answer: We can put you in contact with the session moderator, if there is interest. Generally these panel positions are filled at the time of session submissions though.

14. Question: I want to do a concurrent session but I just don’t have time to get everything together for the proposal submission deadline. Is it possible to receive more time? Answer: We do understand that you are busy. However, we are under tight deadlines and to keep it fair for everyone we need to have all required information submitted by the stated deadline.