CREATING A FISHERIES MOSAIC 23 RD WAKEFIELD FISHERIES SYMPOSIUM ON PACIFIC ROCKFISHES AFS WESTERN DIVISION & ALASKA CHAPTER ANNUAL MEETINGS ANNUAL CHAPTER ALASKA AFS WESTERN DIVISION & AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY 135TH ANNUAL MEETING . SEPTEMBER 11-15, 2005 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA ARTWORK BY RAY TROLL ©2004 . GRAPHIC DESIGN BY KAREN LYBRAND Final Report Number Common Name Scientifi c Name 1 Arctic grayling Thymallus arcticus 2 rex sole Glyptocephalus zachirus 3 wolf-eel Anarrhichthys ocellatus 4 Pacifi c sandfi sh Trichodon trichodon 5 big skates Raja binoculata 6 fourhorn poacher Hypsagonus quadricornis 7 king crab Paralithodes camtschaticus 8 Dungeness crab Cancer magister 9 Alaskan spot shrimp Pandalus platycerus 10 Atka mackerel Pleurogrammus monopterygius 11 North Pacifi c daggertooth Anotopterus nikparini 12 sablefi sh (black cod) Anoplopoma fi mbria 13 silverspotted sculpin Blepsias cirrhosus 14 threespine stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus 15 slimy snailfi sh Liparis mucosus 16 sheefi sh or inconnu Stenodus leucichthys 17 male kelp greenling Hexagrammos decagrammus 18 Pacifi c herring Clupea pallasii 19 Pacifi c spiny lumpsucker Eumicrotremus orbis 20 king-of-the-salmon Trachipterus altivelis 21 walleye pollock Theragra chalcogramma 22 Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha 23 wolf-eel Anarrhichthys ocellatus 24 spotted ratfi sh Hydrolagus colliei 25 salmon shark Lamna ditropis 26 sockeye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka 27 tiger rockfi sh Sebastes nigrocinctus 28 starry fl ounder Platichthys stellatus 29 yelloweye rockfi sh Sebastes ruberrimus 30 lingcod Ophiodon elongatus 31 giant grenadier Albatossia pectoralis 32 decorated warbonnet Chirolophis decoratus 33 coho salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch 34 Pacifi c halibut Hippoglossus stenolepis 35 for fun American Fisheries Society 135th Annual Meeting September 11–15, 2005

Creating a Fisheries Mosaic: Connections Across Jurisdictions, Disciplines, and Cultures

Final Report

Anchorage Alaska April 2006 In Memory of Molly O. Ahlgren Nov. 27, 1957–Nov. 30, 2004

Report Design and Layout by Andrea Medeiros Publications Specialist U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Offi ce of Subsistence Management 3601 C Street, Suite 1030 Anchorage, AK 99503 Précis

Précis

It is traditional for the General Chair of each American Fisheries Society annual meeting to prepare a report on the meeting’s program and local arrangements. The annual meeting report serves as an historical summary of the events that led up to, and occurred during, each of these meetings. The Anchorage, Alaska meeting, AFS’ 135th, was held during the week of September 11–15, 2005. The meeting was AFS’ largest to date, and included some initially worrisome features including meeting in a potentially expensive location, convening the meeting for a full four days, and meeting during the early/mid September time period which, for Anchorage, could be either the end of fall or a very early winter. But we obtained very reasonable hotel room rates, air fares were competitive with other locations in North America, and we were lucky with weather as the meeting week was warm and sunny with fall colors in full array in Southcentral Alaska. By many measures the 135th annual meeting was successful. The program was broad and technically rigorous, two poster sessions accommodated hundreds of poster papers, att endance was incredible, and opportunities for networking and advancing careers were plentiful. The following report documents the details of planning and execution of the 135th annual meeting. An introductory section by the General Chairman is followed by details on the program and local arrangements. These sections were prepared by the Chairs or members of various subcommitt ees of the Local Arrangements Committ ee. As we greatly benefi ted from the valuable information provided in the 2003 Quebec City and 2004 Madison, Wisconsin meeting annual reports, we too hope that this document will provide insights and helpful information for future AFS meetings.

Bill Wilson General Chairman

Final Report iii Contents

CONTENTS

GENERAL CHAIRMAN’S MEETING OVERVIEW ...... 9 INTRODUCTION ...... 9 THE ROLE OF THE COMMITTEE ...... 9 COMMITTEE MEETINGS ...... 10 MEETING ROOM AND A/V SURVEY ...... 12 GENERAL CHAIRMAN ...... 12 MEETING FEEDBACK...... 13 AN EXPERIMENT ...... 14 IN MEMORY OF MOLLY O. AHLGREN ...... 15 AT THE END OF THE MEETING ...... 16 MEETING PROGRAM ...... 19 INTRODUCTORY COMMENTS (BILL WILSON) ...... 19 MEETING THEME (BARBARA KNUTH) ...... 19 THE PROGRAM COMMITTEE ...... 19 PLENARY SESSION (BARBARA KNUTH AND STEVE GRABACKI) ...... 20 WELCOME PRESENTATION (BILL WILSON) ...... 21 PROGRAM DEADLINES (ERIC KNUDSEN) ...... 22 DETERMINING SPACE AVAILABLE (ERIC KNUDSEN) ...... 22 SYMPOSIA PROPOSALS (ERIC KNUDSEN) ...... 22 ABSTRACT REVIEW (ERIC KNUDSEN) ...... 24 ABSTRACTS CD (BILL WILSON) ...... 24 AFS ABSTRACTS COORDINATOR (CHRISTINE FLETCHER, ERIC KNUDSEN, MARLA HOOD) ...... 24 Database ...... 24 ORAL PRESENTATIONS (ERIC KNUDSEN) ...... 26 Symposia and Contributed Papers ...... 26 POSTERS (CAROL KERKVLIET, TED OTIS) ...... 26 WAKEFIELD SYMPOSIUM (SHERRI PRISTASH) ...... 30 WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGEMENT (BILL WILSON, MARY WHALEN) ...... 31 Recommendations ...... 32 PROGRAM GUIDE (BILL WILSON, ANDREA MEDEIROS) ...... 32 Recommendations ...... 33 BUDGET AND FINANCE ...... 35 BUDGET INTRODUCTORY COMMENTS (BILL WILSON) ...... 35 FUNDRAISING INTRODUCTORY COMMENTS (BILL WILSON) ...... 40 FUNDRAISING COMPONENTS (LARRY PELTZ) ...... 42 Financial Sponsors: ...... 42 Tote Bag Sponsorships ...... 43 In-kind Donations ...... 43 Seafood Donations (Bill Wilson) ...... 43 Recommendations ...... 44 SILENT AUCTION AND DOOR PRIZES (BOB LAFFERTY) ...... 44 Overview ...... 44 Preparations ...... 44 Communications ...... 44 Donations ...... 45 Trade Show Booth Organization ...... 45 Silent Auction and Booth Operations ...... 46 Recommendations ...... 47

iv American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Contents

BUDGET AND ACCOUNTING (LARRY PELTZ) ...... 47 Income ...... 47 Expenses (See Appendix 5, Estimated Budget and Income) ...... 47 Recommendations ...... 48 FINAL ACCOUNTING (BILL WILSON, LARRY PELTZ) ...... 49 Disposition of Profi ts ...... 49 REGISTRATION ...... 51 INTRODUCTORY COMMENTS (BILL WILSON) ...... 51 Name tags ...... 51 Registration logistics ...... 51 Anticipated number of registrants ...... 52 REGISTRATION PROCESS (ALLEN BINGHAM) ...... 52 Pre-registration ...... 52 Name badge printing and stuffi ng ...... 53 On-site Registration Activities...... 54 Meeting bags (Bill Wilson) ...... 54 Bag Stuffi ng (Jane DiCosimo, Allen Bingham) ...... 55 ACCOMMODATIONS ...... 57 INTRODUCTORY COMMENTS (BILL WILSON) ...... 57 Many Venues—Many Details ...... 57 ACCOMMODATIONS (BILL HAUSER) ...... 58 OTHER HOTELS (BILL HAUSER, BILL WILSON) ...... 59 CONVENTION VENUES (BILL HAUSER) ...... 59 MASTER SCHEDULE (BILL HAUSER, MARY WHALEN, ALLEN BINGHAM) ...... 61 TRADE SHOW PLANNING AND LOGISTICS (KATHERINE ROWELL) ...... 63 INTERNET CAFÉ AND BUSINESS OFFICE (VINCE MCCLAIN, SETH DARR) ...... 65 MEETING ROOMS (BILL HAUSER) ...... 66 REGISTRATION AREA (BILL HAUSER) ...... 66 Recommendations ...... 67 MEETING BREAKS AND CATERING (BILL HAUSER) ...... 67 Meeting Breaks ...... 67 Catering ...... 69 Recommendations ...... 69 AFS BUSINESS MEETING (BILL HAUSER) ...... 70 SIGNAGE AND MAPPING (BILL HAUSER, MARY WHALEN) ...... 70 Signage for Technical Sessions (Eric Knudsen, Bill Hauser, Mary Whalen) ...... 70 Artwork (Mary Whalen) ...... 70 Recommendations ...... 71 ACCOMMODATIONS FOR ATTENDEES WITH DISABILITIES (BILL HAUSER) ...... 72 Recommendations ...... 72 SOCIAL EVENTS ...... 73 INTRODUCTORY COMMENTS (BILL WILSON) ...... 73 SOCIALS (DAVE TRUDGEN) ...... 74 General Comment Regarding Food and Beverage Quantities ...... 75 AFS PRESIDENT AND LOCAL ARRANGEMENTS COMMITTEE SUITES (DAVE TRUDGEN) ...... 76 President’s Suite ...... 76 Local Arrangements Committee Suite ...... 76 SUITE COSTS AND VENDORS (DAVE TRUDGEN) ...... 76 OPENING NIGHT SOCIAL (DAVE TRUDGEN) ...... 77 TRADE SHOW SOCIAL (DAVE TRUDGEN, KATHERINE ROWELL) ...... 78

Final Report v Contents

STUDENT SOCIAL (DAVE TRUDGEN) ...... 80 ALASKA NATIVE HERITAGE CENTER SOCIAL (DAVE TRUDGEN)...... 82 CLOSING SOCIAL (DAVE TRUDGEN) ...... 85 2005 AFS SPAWNING RUN (DEBBY BURWEN, DAN BOSCH) ...... 85 GUEST HOSPITALITY (LEE ANN GARDNER) ...... 87 Hospitality Room Set Up ...... 87 Hospitality Room Volunteers & Attendance ...... 87 Recommendations ...... 87 TOURISM AND TOURIST INFORMATION (LEE ANN GARDNER) ...... 88 Prior to the Meeting ...... 88 During the Meeting ...... 88 Tours and Sightseeing ...... 88 Recommendations ...... 89 WILD SALMON ON PARADE (LEE ANN GARDNER) ...... 91 Recommendations ...... 92 STUDENT PROGRAM ...... 93 INTRODUCTORY COMMENTS (BILL WILSON) ...... 93 ORGANIZATION AND OUTCOMES (COURTENAY PEIRCE) ...... 93 Recommendations ...... 94 STUDENT PAPER JUDGING (MIKE HOLLIMAN) ...... 95 Poster Judging ...... 95 Oral Presentation Judging ...... 95 Results of the Judging ...... 95 TECHNICAL SUPPORT ...... 97 MEETING POSTER DESIGN AND ARTWORK (KATHERINE ROWELL)...... 97 T-SHIRTS ...... 99 Introductory Comments (Bill Wilson)...... 99 T-shirts and Committee Shirts (Bill Hauser)...... 99 Recommendations ...... 101 VOLUNTEER COORDINATORS (LISA SEEB, JOE SULLIVAN) ...... 101 PUBLICITY AND FISHERIES ARTICLES ...... 103 Introductory Comments (Bill Wilson)...... 103 Publicity and Media Relations (Kate Wedemeyer, Lisa Olson) ...... 103 Media Activities (Kate Wedemeyer) ...... 106 Recommendations ...... 107 COMMITTEE COMMUNICATIONS (KATHY ORZECHOWSKI, BILL WILSON) ...... 108 Recommendations ...... 108 A/V (STEVE ZEMKE, JERRY BERG) ...... 108 General ...... 108 Contract Development ...... 108 Costs ...... 109 A/V Check in and Download of Presentations ...... 109 A/V Setup for the Rooms ...... 112 Speaker Practice Rooms ...... 114 STUDENT EMPLOYMENT FOR A/V SUPPORT (EVELYN BROWN) ...... 114 Summary Data ...... 114 Recommendations ...... 115 TRANSPORTATION (LYNNE SANTOS) ...... 115 Welcome Transportation ...... 115 Charters ...... 115

vi American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Contents

Pickups/Vans ...... 115 Communications ...... 115 RECYCLING (JERRY BERG) ...... 116

APPENDIX 1—DIRECTORY OF PLANNING CONTACTS ...... 117 APPENDIX 2—MEETING ROOM AND A/V SURVEY RESPONSES ...... 125 APPENDIX 3—PLENARY SESSION PLAN ...... 134 APPENDIX 4—EXAMPLE OF CONTRIBUTION THANK YOU LETTER ...... 135 APPENDIX 5—ESTIMATED BUDGET AND INCOME ...... 136 APPENDIX 6—EXAMPLE CONTRIBUTION REQUEST LETTER ...... 140 APPENDIX 7—REGISTRATION FORECAST MODEL ...... 144 APPENDIX 8—PREPRINTED NAME BADGE FORM ...... 146 APPENDIX 9—VENUE MAPS/ILLUSTRATIONS ...... 147 APPENDIX 10—MEETING SPACE ASSIGNMENTS—LIST FORMAT ...... 151 APPENDIX 11—MEETING SPACE ASSIGNMENTS—GRAPHICAL FORMAT ...... 155 APPENDIX 12—VOLUNTEER SPREADSHEET ...... 156 APPENDIX 13—A/V STUDENT ASSIGNMENTS ...... 160

Final Report vii

General Chairman’s Meeting Overview

General Chairman’s Meeting Overview

Introduction particular to Julie Dodds, Glee Anderson, and Jim Henderson from the Anchorage Convention and “I began as a child…” is one of my favorite quotes Visitors Bureau’s Convention Sales Department from comedian Bill Cosby. I felt like that some and to Diana Arthur from the Hilton. times when thinking about the planning that went into the 135th Annual Before going to Phoenix, Meeting of AFS. It was the Alaska Chapter such a long time ago that assembled a group of we began the journey, people into a preliminary and although it has been Local Arrangements every adjective you can Committ ee. We identifi ed think of, all in all I think people willing to take the our Local Arrangements responsibility for various Committ ee enjoyed the aspects of the meeting work. We feel glad that planning, and several it’s over, for certain, but att ended the Phoenix we also feel a sense of meeting and helped accomplishment that the present the bid. Those meeting was successful folks, for the most part, from many perspectives: Bill Wilson, General Chairman of the 2005 stuck with it to the end. We professional quality Meeting. also received some lett ers of papers, breadth of of support from various coverage of fi sheries science, and of course the agencies in the State, and amenities that went along such as social events, a felt we had a plan that would lead to a successful great trade show, and plenty of student activities, meeting, and we convinced AFS of that and to name some. Of course, this meeting also received the bid. benefi tt ed Alaska resident AFS members who otherwise might not be able to att end a national The Role of the Committee meeting. The initial planning for the AFS 2005 meeting We started with an idea formed in the minds started under a Local Arrangements Committ ee, of Alaska Chapter members Cindy Hartmann, a term we never quite let go. There were some National Marine Fisheries Service, Juneau, interim names for our group, including “Planning and Carol Ann Woody, U.S. Geological Survey, Committ ee”, but as the years went by Local Anchorage. Both approached the Chapter and Arrangements seemed to stick. When Dr. Barbara the idea snowballed into a full court press to bid Knuth, who was the AFS President in 2005, asked on the 2005 annual meeting with an Anchorage me to be the General Chairman, the person who location and a September time slot. September is would take responsibility for the overall meeting, the shoulder of the tourist season in Alaska, and I felt it appropriate to have under that general hotel room rates go way down then and airplane responsibility two main areas of activity: program fl ights start to have space again. The Anchorage and local arrangements. I always considered that Convention and Visitors Bureau and the my main job was to ensure the local arrangements Anchorage Hilton Hotel teamed with the Alaska were covered, as I knew Barb already appointed Chapter to make a bid before the Time & Place a competent and well functioning Program Committ ee at the 2001 Phoenix, Arizona annual Committ ee. Although AFS policy now is to vest meeting. The Anchorage Convention and Visitors in the General Chairman overall responsibility for Bureau and the Hilton were outstanding in the meeting, in practice the General Chairman, supporting our bid. They stole the show, thanks in in my view, needs to leave many of the details of

Final Report 9 General Chairman’s Meeting Overview

program development to the Program Committ ee three members who helped with the above and and integrate those people and their activities into particularly worked on sorting through all the the work of the Local Arrangements Committ ee abstracts and helped to organize the program who are there primarily to ensure that the meeting sessions. activities will be placed in adequate facilities and those who att end will be comfortable and Committee Meetings have ample opportunity to network and enjoy Once our committ ee was formed and a group of the meeting. The list of committ ee members is on people agreed to take on specifi c responsibilities, the following page; a detailed list of committ ee we started with only a couple meetings through assignments with phone number and e-mail 2001 and 2002. We secured our venues several address for each of our committ ee members is in years out, and in fact had guarantees for the main Appendix 1. convention center and hotel space four years in In a very real way this is a three-way advance—we had those commitments when the collaboration: local arrangements, program, and Chapter made a presentation to the Time & Place the AFS President and her/his theme and overall Committ ee in 2001. plan for the annual meeting. The President Through 2002 and into 2003, we only met every presides over the meeting, and thus is a very 3–4 months. In 2004 we started trying to meet real “director” and we were fortunate to have an every 2–3 months as needed to be sure all the actively involved President in Barb Knuth. Barb diff erent areas of local arrangements were gave us her overall goals and opinions when on track. These were opportunities to bett er asked, and then let us develop a meeting that understand each other’s responsibilities, and to we felt would accomplish those goals. Barb was trouble shoot issues as they came up. Att endance an integral member of the Local Arrangements was important, but mainly I relied on 6-8 people Committ ee as were the co-chairs of the oral for most of the longer lead-time issues (social symposia and poster paper programs. I oft en events, facilities, hotel arrangements, artwork and looked to Eric Knudsen to provide input from the meeting poster, registration, poster sessions, the program side, and frequently asked Barb for and trade show) and they were present at most input, advice, and direction. The lines between, meetings. All of the general areas of activity had and connecting, these general areas of putt ing multiple subgroups that eventually came into on the meeting are not particularly clear, but it action during the last year of planning. seemed to work well for me to be sure that these three were part of most major decisions along the At the beginning of 2005, we held monthly way. meetings. As the 2005 AFS meeting drew near, we met every two weeks, then every week for Probably the most important aspect of this the last several weeks. We relied a great deal on triumvirate is the need to integrate program needs e-mail for communications, and had frequent and expectations into the local arrangements teleconferences among smaller subgroups. planning. Many times during the four years of planning for AFS 2005, the Program Committ ee The Program Committ ee met for three days provided essential information to the Local shortly aft er the call for papers closed. That was Arrangements Committ ee, especially regarding a critical meeting during which all the abstracts space layout and function. For the 2005 meeting, for oral and poster papers were reviewed, and we had four co-chairs: two for the oral papers the constraints for space were the reality check and two for the poster papers. Eric Knudsen and on how many oral papers we could accept. The Joe Margraf co-chaired “Program” which meant Program Committ ee sorted, made the hard all the organized symposia and contributed decisions, and determined the space needs for the oral papers, while Ted Otis and Carol Kerkvliet various symposia and contributed paper sessions. co-chaired the Poster Sessions. With these four This was one of the most critical decisions—what were two members of the Program Committ ee sessions to place in each meeting room. that focused on scheduling, and an additional

10 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting General Chairman’s Meeting Overview

Local Arrangements Committee Members See Appendix 1 for contact information Bill Wilson - General Chairman Debby Burwen and Dan Bosch - Spawning Run Lee Ann Gardner - Companion Hospitality and Program and Posters Options Night Eric Knudsen - Program Co-Chair Joe Margraf - Program Co-Chair Accommodations Carol Kerkvliet - Posters Co-Chair Bill Hauser - Chairman Ted Otis - Posters Co-Chair Mary Whalen - Signage Joe Hennessy - Program Technical Support Bill Hauser - Hilton, Egan, PAC, Other Hotels, Master Marla Hood - Program Technical Support Schedule, Box Lunches, ADA, Coho Salmon Fishing, Christine Fletcher - AFS Abstracts Coordinator Mapping, Shirts Rich Cannon - Program Committee Anne Grist - Trade Show Hal Geiger - Program Committee Lynne Santos - Poster Session Box Lunches, Mason Bryant - Program Committee Transportation Barb Knuth - Plenary Katherine Rowell - Local Trade Show Coordination Jim Long - Continuing Education Vince McClain - Internet Café, AFS Business Offi ce Dolly Garza, Bill Wilson, Kyle Deerkop, and Brenda Jeff Childs - Facility Mapping Norcross - Molly Ahlgren Memorial Elaine Mayer - Catering

Collaborators Student Program Tim Joyce - Alaska Chapter Liaison Courtenay Peirce - Chair Hal Geiger - Alaska Chapter President Molly Ahlgren - In Memoriam Tom McMahon - Western Division Liaison Courtenay Peirce, Katherine Rowell, and Bill Hauser Lynn Starnes - Western Division President - T-shirts Sherri Pristash - Wakefi eld Symposium Artwork, Graphics, and Design Budget and Finance Katherine Rowell - Co-Chair Larry Peltz - Chairman Mary Whalen - Co-Chair Bill Wilson, Steve Klein, and Phil Mundy - Mary Whalen - Signage Design, Artwork Fundraising Katherine Rowell - Poster Design, Ray Troll Liaison Tim Joyce, Glenn Reed, Joe Sullivan, and Brian Sue Walker and Katherine Rowell - Facilities Artwork Allee - Seafood Donations Elaine Mayer, Katherine Rowell, and Sue Walker Saree Timmons and Bob Lafferty - Silent Auction - Memorabilia Co-Chairs Ray Troll - Poster and Artist Extraordinaire Bob Lafferty, Saree Timmons, and Lou Carufel - Karen Lybrand - Artwork Adaptation, Graphic Design Door Prizes Technical Support Casey Harthorn and Bill Bradshaw - WDAFS Lisa Seeb and Joe Sullivan - Volunteer Coordinators Fundraising Lee Ann Gardner - Tours and Sightseeing Registration Andrea Medeiros and Mary Whalen - Program Allen Bingham - Chairman Guide Mary Whalen - Website Kate Wedemeyer and Lisa Olson - Publicity, Sue Walker and Elaine Mayer - Registration Bags Advertising, Media Relations Jane DiCosimo - Registration Packets Steve Grabacki - Plenary Coordination, Media Relations Socials and Hospitality Kathy Orzechowski - Communications Dave Trudgen - Chairman Steve Zemke and Jerry Berg - Audio/Visual Allison Erickson - Hilton Social Evelyn Brown - Student Audio/Visual Training and Dave Trudgen - Off-site Social Coordination Courtenay Peirce - Student Social Jerry Berg - Recycling Katherine Rowell - Trade Show Social Bill Hauser and Katherine Rowell - Meeting Shirts

Final Report 11 General Chairman’s Meeting Overview

We divided the convention center into 11 sections, 3. Was the A/V set-up and management of the smallest accommodating 40 people and the the PowerPoint presentations good, bad, or largest 130 people, all in theatre-style seating. We mediocre? also were fortunate to have the Alaska Center for 4. General comments. Performing Arts as a venue connected to the Egan Convention Center, and it had three large concert We received responses from the session chairs or halls that could seat 350, 725, and 2000 people organizers of 43 of 65 oral presentation sessions and a practice hall that could seat about 150. The or a response rate of 66 percent. We were pleased Hilton was used for a half-day session on Monday with this high return rate and we hope this aft ernoon (seating for 200), and then the Wakefi eld information will be helpful to future meeting Symposium on Pacifi c Rockfi shes was convened planners, particularly the comments about room in the Hilton for the remainder of the meeting space, screen size, and A/V procedures. (three full days). With the Hilton and all the other To summarize, of 43 responses, 15 reported rooms, we convened 16 concurrent sessions until their room was too small, 4 said the space was Thursday. On Thursday the Trade Show closed, tight, 6 indicated their room was too large, and freeing up enough space in the Egan Convention the remainder indicated room space was okay. Center for two additional meeting rooms (each Regarding screen size, 5 of 37 responses indicated accommodating 150–200 theatre style), which we the screen was too small. also used, thus convening 18 concurrent sessions on that fi nal day. A/V equipment, maintenance, and operations are always a diffi cult part of any meeting. The In other words—we used every available Anchorage meeting was no exception. Of 43 space we could locate in the core downtown responses, 5 had a bad experience, 15 experienced area in Anchorage to accommodate what we some kind of problem, and the rest reported that believed would be a large turnout for the 2005 A/V operations went well. The comments provide meeting. Some spaces were perfectly matched more detail on the A/V issue. to the symposium or session popularity, while others were sparsely att ended and still others The full text of the responses is provided in a had overfl ow crowds. I haven’t been to an AFS table in Appendix 2. We think it would be very meeting yet that didn’t experience this problem, helpful to session chairs, and particularly the local and regardless of the planning eff ort put into arrangements committ ee’s A/V chair, to consider trying to match anticipated popularity of a session some of the comments and suggestions contained to the room size, I doubt it can ever be done in these responses. perfectly. We didn’t hear too much grumbling, but I personally experienced the crowding and General Chairman wished we could have avoided it. I did not “sign on” to be General Chair; it just Meeting Room and A/V Survey happened. In early 2003, Dr. Barb Knuth, who was slated to be President of AFS in 2005, asked me Aft er the 2005 meeting ended, we decided to to take on this job. Given the “job description,” e-mail a questionnaire to the oral presentation I needed to clear it with my employer. To quote session chairs. We wanted to know if the room Barb: size and other amenities in the meeting rooms The General Meeting Chairman (or co- were appropriate for the actual realized turnout chairs) is in charge of facilities, local activities, for each session. and budgets—bridging between Program We asked the following questions: and Local Arrangements functions (really, overseeing the entire process for the meeting). 1. Was the room size too small, too large, or The General Meeting Chairman develops about right? budgets and subcommittee assignments, and 2. Was the A/V screen appropriate for your oversees subcommittee chairs to make sure meeting room? they are following an agreed-upon timeline

12 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting General Chairman’s Meeting Overview

and plans are progressing on schedule, or members of the sport and commercial fi shing are being modifi ed as appropriate should industry, rural residents, educators, and students the context change or new needs arise. The all were complimentary about AFS 2005. I General Meeting Chairman coordinates think most were pleased with the quality of interactions between the Program and Local the scientifi c program. We Local Arrangements Arrangements functions, and helps ensure Committ ee members focused on the logistics of the President (me) is kept informed about the meeting primarily, but tried not to loose sight important elements of meeting plans, including of the purpose for the meeting arrangements—to the budget and major activities. The General make it comfortable and enjoyable for those Meeting Chairman also serves as the point-of- att ending to hear and read scientifi c papers and contact with the Bethesda offi ce. The General to network with their colleagues and to develop Meeting Chairman will have dialogue as new connections. We succeeded in that regard, I needed with the AFS Director of Finance believe. (Betsy) regarding annual meeting budgetary matters, and she will provide an oversight role Barb Knuth’s theme was apropos for the state in approving annual meeting-related facility of fi sheries and particularly for the American contracts. Fisheries Society going into the early years of the 21st Century. And we tried to integrate her theme I agreed to these responsibilities, and continued into the many facets of assembling the program to develop a committ ee structure that I thought and accommodating those who att ended. I excerpt would work best for me. Initially, I thought we below an article published in the Alaska Chapter’s would have about 5–6 people in charge of larger, newslett er as writt en by one of our Chapter general areas of activity such as registration, offi cers: budget and fi nance, accommodations, etc. and I “Successfully Creating a Fisheries Mosaic” proceeded to place people who had volunteered into areas they were willing to chair. For the most Scott Maclean part this worked, although I had intended to have a Chair of Technical Support but could not fi nd a Anyone who attended this year’s National volunteer to take it on. So I did that coordination AFS meeting in Anchorage can testify that it myself. It was a time-consuming task, however, was big, as suggested by the theme of the and I wish I could have fi lled that spot. Under that meeting and the title of this article. Many of person would have been: tours and sightseeing, you also know the conference was dedicated volunteer coordinators, program layout and to Dr. Molly Ahlgren. Molly was remembered printing, maps, publicity and advertising (and and honored at the Plenary session, and we Fisheries inserts), on-site communications, A/V, were all honored when her parents received computer/projector training and management, the Western Division AFS Award of Excellence transportation, recycling, and our poster design on her behalf. and artwork adaptations. However, I had My hat is off to those that organized excellent people taking on each of these tasks, so this meeting as it went off with out a hitch. my job coordinating these various activities was Bringing over 2,600 scientists together under actually not a big issue. three separate roofs, having over 50 excellent As it worked out, we had very litt le turnover symposia with 18 concurrent sessions, 640 in our committ ee, and nearly all who signed poster presentations and a variety of social up years ahead of the meeting remained on the events certainly was not an easy task, but committ ee through it all. those involved did it. These volunteers not only succeed in their efforts but did it with Meeting Feedback enthusiasm and it showed. I have received many comments from meeting The continuing education workshops att endees that the meeting was very successful. offered something for everyone and were Comments from biologists and fi shery managers, followed by an opening night social including

Final Report 13 General Chairman’s Meeting Overview

an incredible Alaskan seafood spread. part of the reason for the success of the Anchorage Ray Troll’s contribution to the conference meeting. Eric and co-Program Chair Joe Margraf, began with his art-work displayed on the and their co-chairs for Posters Ted Otis and program guides, brief cases, convention Carol Kerkvliet, accomplished what we thought center walls, T-shirts, and even the wrappers might be the impossible—a program that would for chocolate bars. Ray Troll’s contributions accommodate as many papers as possible, yet continued with a humorous review of fi sh and not overwhelm our facilities. They creatively art during the Plenary Session and into the integrated two poster sessions, and boldly set night as one of the Ratfi sh Brothers singing ground rules for how many oral papers they “Lumpsuckers of Love”. The student social would accept. was held in the historic 4th Avenue Theatre and offered students the opportunity to meet Eric and his committ ee set up a rationale and a with prospective employers, and university clear procedure for submission of abstracts, and professors while having fun in a relaxed then followed it through to the development of a atmosphere. It’s always a good bet that there program that included a record number of papers. will be students nearby when there is free We visibly and repeatedly informed the AFS food, beverages, and live entertainment. A membership and others who submitt ed abstracts large crowd attended the Off-site Social at that poster papers would be treated equally to the Alaska Native Heritage Center providing oral papers, and that both methods of giving a folks the opportunity to observe many cultural paper were considered equivalent in “prestige”. items, events, and activities that are unique to President Barb Knuth articulated the same policy Alaska. These are only a few examples of the to many presenters and to their employers who events that took place in which I feel fortunate needed some periodic reminders that the work to have been able to attend. I believe these that goes into a poster paper, and the weight AFS social events are an important aspect to these gives to this method of scientifi c communication, meetings because they provide the most direct is equal to and carries the same “weight” as an opportunity for interchange of ideas between oral paper. We think we succeeded, but future large numbers of scientists in a relaxed AFS meeting Program Committ ees will meet this atmosphere. challenge for many years into the future. However, the success of the meeting We believe it is worth the eff ort to elevate the is not simply measured by the fact that importance of poster papers as our annual the attendance surpassed the old record meetings grow in size. Program and arrangements by more than 700 people but rather by committ ees must accommodate a large number of the convergence of people from across poster papers if they wish to att ract large numbers jurisdictions, disciplines and cultures. People of people. In turn, by providing opportunities with similar interest and issues that come from for larger numbers of people to present at an different parts of the world are able to meet annual meeting, AFS meetings can grow in size and talk, each bringing with them a slightly without appreciably increasing the number of different perspective. Sharing knowledge and concurrent oral sessions. To some, a large meeting experience is what these meetings are really does not equate to a successful meeting; to others, about. Every participant gained something in a large meeting provides more inclusiveness, Alaska this year and I am sure that they will opportunity, and diversity in the nature of do the same in Lake Placid in 2006. presentations and other activities. To do the latt er, AFS must devise a way to accommodate a large I thank Scott for his kind words, and the entire att endance, and increasing the numbers of posters Local Arrangements Committ ee feels the is a reasonable way to do it. gratifi cation that comes from such remarks. An Experiment As mentioned above, the primary reason for a successful meeting is the quality of the program. One of our goals was to extend the 2005 meeting Eric Knudsen and his Program Committ ee are through a full four days—to the end of Thursday,

14 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting General Chairman’s Meeting Overview

September 15. If we did this, we could squeeze in as do hundreds of her fi sheries colleagues in an additional group of oral presentations, increase Alaska, especially the staff , faculty, and students att endance, and hopefully encourage audiences at Sheldon Jackson College where Molly was to stay for the last papers. So oft en at past annual Associate Professor of Fisheries and Aquatic AFS meetings people get tired at the end and the Resources. temptation to leave and go home (or elsewhere) is Molly was a vivacious and wonderful person large. Thus att endance at the last paper sessions who enjoyed every minute of life. She was can be grim, which we wanted to avoid. enthusiastic about her profession and about So we very early in the planning intended to her work, and particularly about her students. entice people to stay to the end, and we scheduled She was a respected and completely devoted some events to keep att endance as high as teacher, and her excitement for learning spilled possible on the last day. A closing social, with out of her classroom into the laps of everyone free food and beverage, worked well. Upwards she encountered. Her students were a big part of 1000 att ended, which we think kept people in of her life, and she graciously accepted the the symposia and other sessions. We also “end challenge to coordinate Student Programs for loaded” the program, intentionally placing high- the 2005 meeting. Molly told me oft en how interest symposia on Thursday, the last day. We awesome the challenge was going to be, but she also planned a “hand off ” to Lake Placid to be a coveted the job and had an incredible array of closing ceremony for Anchorage and an opening ideas she planned to “test” on “her students” at ceremony for Lake Placid. All of these summed to this meeting. Students att ending the Anchorage a somewhat successful strategy. Many Thursday meeting experienced many of these ideas which aft ernoon sessions were sparsely att ended, while Molly intended to benefi t the students and all AFS others were well att ended. You can lead them to members. water, but you can’t make them fi sh. The Alaska Chapter decided to set up the In Memory of Molly O. Ahlgren Molly O. Ahlgren Scholarship Fund, which will be administered by the Alaska Chapter. This As we were starting our fi nal year of preparations scholarship fund will be endowed and invested for the 2005 meeting, we learned of the death to generate funds to support students in Alaska. of one of our Local Arrangements Committ ee, Helping students was Molly’s principal mission, Dr. Molly Ahlgren. Molly had just taken over as and hopefully this dedication will motivate her President of the Alaska Chapter of AFS and was friends and others that knew her, or people who in charge of planning the student program for the Anchorage meeting. Molly was also our friend and colleague, as well as a renowned teacher, fi sheries leader, humorist, and sea cucumber specialist. Molly died in a boating accident on November 30, 2004, just 3 days aft er her 47th birthday, and just weeks aft er she presided at the annual meeting of the Alaska Chapter in Sitka, Alaska. A certifi ed Emergency Medical Technician, Molly was responding to an EMS call with the Sitka Volunteer Fire Department when her boat struck a rock. Molly sustained a serious head injury, and she was gone. I knew Molly well. We were both marine biologists, we were both active members of the Alaska Chapter, and we were both on the Local Arrangements Committ ee which planned Molly Ahlgren with Nikki. this 135th Annual Meeting. I miss her greatly,

Final Report 15 General Chairman’s Meeting Overview

week. We had worked for about four years to make the meeting as successful as we could, and were now facing the let-down as the event ended. The committ ee faced an abundance of chores that still needed completion, including the inevitable large amounts of “meeting left overs”. What to do with: ● Posters and foam core board (we learned, too late, that a teacher or a school may have been able to use these) ● Packing materials from vendor supplies, silent auction prizes, etc. ● Unclaimed poster papers ● Unclaimed door prizes and silent auction items ● Hundreds of artwork items that we had used to decorate the meeting venues Molly at work in the Sheldon Jackson ● Lost and found items College lab. Thankfully our Recycling Committ ee aggressively wished they had met her, to do something removed recyclable materials throughout the challenging and contribute to this fund for meeting week, and they continued to clean up “Molly’s students”. such items at the end of the meeting. Some items Molly’s parents Cliff and Isabel traveled to left at registration were either discarded or given Anchorage and were honored at the Plenary away if they had some value. More personal items Session. Her mother, Isabel Ahlgren, spoke for a were retained in the lost and found storage areas few minutes at the Plenary and received an award at the meeting venues in case people wanted to for Molly posthumously. She also stunned many claim their property aft er the meeting was over. by announcing that the proceeds from Molly’s Being as mercenary as we were in our fundraising estate would be placed into the scholarship fund eff orts, we chose to sell—actually we asked for as well as half the estates of Isabel and Cliff upon donations of any amount—the artwork items used their passing. This was a moving moment. to decorate the various venues. These funds were contributed to the Molly O. Ahlgren Scholarship So it seems fi tt ing to close my introductory Fund, and hundreds of dollars were raised remarks by recalling the memories we all have of through this eff ort—thanks particularly to Randy Molly Ahlgren. The Molly O. Ahlgren Scholarship Bailey who unashamedly obtained substantial Fund is managed by the Alaska Chapter, and contributions from many individuals for many more information on the fund or how to donate such items. can be found at the Chapter’s website—htt p:// www.fi sheries.org/afs-ak/ I have oft en been asked why the att endance at the 2005 meeting was so large. Refl ecting on At the End of the Meeting this resulted in a list, which I provide below. In As they say, all good things must come to an end, 2005 this was a combination of many reasons. and while putt ing on an AFS annual meeting Obviously we were pleased with the numbers of might not be considered by some to be a “good people coming to Anchorage and the satisfaction thing” nonetheless it is a relief when the meeting they received from the meeting program and ends. I could feel the tensions abate as members of amenities off ered. Our local convention and the Local Arrangements and Program Committ ees visitors bureau asked us this question, and thus I gradually relaxed toward the end of the meeting produced this list. 16 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting General Chairman’s Meeting Overview

Why was AFS 2005 so well att ended? to bring the family or a spouse and take a special vacation together. 1) Many of our AFS members att end the national annual meeting no matt er where 9) Our technical program was very broad and it is held; this is a core group upon which of high quality; we off ered opportunities additional att endance was built. for almost anyone to present a paper (mostly through poster presentations), thus 2) The special mystique of Alaska drew many justifying att ending the meeting. Other people who otherwise might not have opportunities off ered during the meeting traveled to Alaska; the beauty, the lure of week were att ractive as well: continuing Alaska. education classes, special organized tours, 3) I heard many state “I always wanted to go programs for spouses, socials, and other to Alaska” and this was their opportunity— amenities (T-shirts, posters, memorabilia). the trip of a lifetime. Fulfi lling that desire— 10) Ray Troll artwork—used in the poster, here was the chance. advertising, Fisheries articles, and our 4) For many, their employer—oft en a State website—was att ractive and of interest to a or Federal agency—paid their expenses, fi shery biologist. making it a no-brainer. Some of these An essential part of fundraising is the process people are in categories above. of thanking those who contributed. We chose 5) Our advertising att racted some who might to send lett ers to every individual or group that not have att ended—i.e. we made the contributed money, in-kind supplies, and seafood. meeting more appealing through: Our door prize and silent auction donors were a. Articles in Fisheries, especially the June thanked personally, by e-mail, or by lett er by that insert committ ee. This is a time-consuming process, but b. The slide show presented at the Madison we felt it necessary to do so. Fortunately we kept (AFS 2004) business meeting track of all names and addresses of these people and groups and were able to generate several c. Our AFS 2005 meeting website master lett ers and get the mailings out within a 6) Other advertising kindled the decision to couple months aft er the meeting ended. A draft att end: thank you lett er is in Appendix 4. a. Anchorage Convention and Visitors We also chose to thank the members of the Local Bureau and Alaska tourism websites and Arrangements Committ ee by throwing a party. advertising We did this several months later, and set aside b. The Anchorage Convention and Visitors funds from the meeting proceeds to pay for the Bureau presentations at the Phoenix party. We catered an informal dinner, purchased meeting in 2001 beverages and some door prizes, and enjoyed an c. The Anchorage Convention and Visitors evening of reminiscing. Bureau visits to AFS in Bethesda and The message: be sure to say “thanks”—perhaps the trickle down of enthusiasm into the several times and in a variety of ways—to all who membership contributed to the meeting, either by giving their 7) People did their own research into the costs time and talent or contributing goods, services, or and other aspects of coming to Alaska. cash. They found it was aff ordable—hotel prices were very reasonable and fl ights were not Bill Wilson as expensive as people had expected. Program Chairman 8) The vacation tie-in; the opportunity to add AFS 2005 a vacation: a trip to McKinley or the Kenai, or a long-desired fi shing trip made the meeting more att ractive. An opportunity

Final Report 17

Meeting Program

Meeting Program

Introductory Comments (Bill Wilson) The program for the annual meeting is its heart. This is why people att end the meeting—to hear The Program Committee papers, read posters, participate in symposia, Eric Knudsen listen to the Plenary Session, and connect and Co-Chair network with peers in a professional scientifi c Program and Symposium sett ing. Other activities are ancillary to this Presentations primary purpose for the annual meeting, in my view. And the work eff ort to put on the annual Joe Margraf meeting should not lose sight of this goal—to Co-Chair facilitate the program for that meeting. Our job as Program and Contributed Paper members of the Local Arrangements Committ ee, Presentations and the overall responsibility of the General Ted Otis Chairman for the annual meeting, is to ensure the Co-Chair program can be accommodated comfortably and Poster Paper Presentations with the appropriate level of technical support. Carol Kerkvliet The program for an annual meeting is developed Co-Chair and carried out by a Program Committ ee. This Poster Paper Presentations group sets the nature of the program and receives abstracts, decides on program content, and then Christine Fletcher ensures the program is carried out. Dr. Eric AFS Abstracts Coordinator Knudsen was co-chair of that committ ee and Marla Hood was the principal force behind the 2005 meeting Scheduling program. It was a pleasure working with Eric as he had a vision for an outstanding scientifi c Joe Hennessy program and ably carried it out. Scheduling The program was organized around a theme Richard Cannon chosen by President Barb Knuth. Symposia and Hal Geiger contributed paper sessions, and two separate Mason Bryant poster sessions, were organized around this theme. The 23rd Lowell Wakefi eld Fisheries Symposium on Pacifi c Rockfi shes was organized Chairman Bill Wilson provided advice about by the Alaska Sea Grant Program and co- wording. convened with AFS. The 2005 meeting theme grew from the President’s Meeting Theme (Barbara Knuth) interest in emphasizing the multi-disciplinary nature of fi sheries science and management, and The meeting theme should be selected at least built on some of the characteristics of the meeting three years prior to the meeting. The ultimate venue, Alaska (e.g., multiple cultures, multiple responsibility for selecting the meeting theme jurisdictions). Design of the meeting poster fl owed lies with the President. For 2005, the President from the theme, as did the development of the discussed the “mosaic” theme with a variety of content of the Plenary Session—including the AFS leaders (offi cers, Executive Director, Section speakers and topics as well as the “Welcome to and Division Presidents) as she fi ne-tuned the Alaska” by the meeting General Chairman and language of the theme statement. In addition, the Native song and dance featured during the Program Chair Eric Knudsen and General introductory portion of the Plenary Session.

Final Report 19 Meeting Program

Plenary Session (Barbara Knuth and Steve in generalities, and oft en cancel at the last Grabacki) minute. We aimed for diversity of ideas and of speakers. All three speakers we invited agreed Advance planning is key to putt ing together a to att end, with enthusiasm. Each represented provocative and smoothly-implemented Plenary a diff erent part of the overall meeting theme, Session, given the complexity of orchestrating the “Creating a Fisheries Mosaic: Connections speakers, awards, and other aspects of the session. Across Jurisdictions, Disciplines, and Cultures.” Planning for the Plenary Session began as soon Patricia Cochran bridged between cultures and as the meeting theme was selected—two to three disciplines, addressing Traditional Knowledge years in advance of the meeting is not too soon to and its relevance for fi sheries science and start. Plenary speakers are oft en in high demand management. Heather Tausig bridged between in other venues as well, so it is important to get jurisdictions and disciplines, describing them committ ed to your meeting schedule. partnerships between industry and non-profi ts, Responsibility for planning the Plenary Session, and eff orts to use market-related mechanisms particularly the invited Plenary speakers, is to foster sustainable fi sheries. Ray Troll bridged ultimately the responsibility of the President. across the disciplines of art and science. Aft er This is the President’s opportunity to help the the Plenary, many meeting att endees noted meeting theme come alive, and to set the stage their appreciation for the diversity of the for the technical sessions and other aspects of the session—in terms of topics covered, as well as the AFS annual meeting. In some years, the President demographics of the speakers. has only provided guidance to the Program The President, the A/V staff for the Plenary Committ ee, and the Program Committ ee has Session, other stage personnel from the venue actually put together the Plenary Session. and the Plenary Session Local Arrangements For the 2005 meeting, President Barbara Knuth Liaison (if there is one) should plan to meet on assumed the majority of the responsibility for Sunday night, in the Plenary Session venue, to planning the Plenary Session. Support and advice, review logistics (microphones, lights, timing, LCD particularly regarding topics and speakers, was projection, location of awards table, etc.). The 2005 provided by the Program Committ ee Chair Plenary was fairly complex (see detailed schedule (Eric Knudsen) and the General Chairman (Bill below prepared by S. Grabacki), and required a Wilson), who later assigned a Local Arrangements dry-run within the theatre to make sure all knew Committ ee member to support the Plenary their parts. The singers/dancers, the President, the Session, as his sole duty (Steve Grabacki). This A/V leaders, and the Plenary Session Liaison were really helped in the last two months prior to the present. It is unlikely that the Plenary speakers Plenary Session, and on-site at the meeting, to would be available for this run-through, so don’t make sure someone was overseeing all the various plan on that. pieces that needed to come together that morning. The Plenary Session was held in the Atwood From the time of the fi rst invitation until the week Theatre of the Alaska Center for the Performing prior to the meeting, the President contacted the Arts, a large theatre capable of seating over 2,000 Plenary speakers periodically with information (the theatre was no where near capacity, even and updates about the meeting and to fi ne- at the peak of att endance). Seating should be tune the topics to be covered at the Plenary reserved in the fi rst 2–3 rows for the AFS offi cers, Session. The conference organizer (Director of the Plenary Session speakers, and the award Administration and Finance) at AFS is responsible winners and their families. The Plenary Session for booking the Plenary speaker hotel rooms, started at 8:15 a.m. and ended at noon. There was reimbursing travel costs, and arranging for a refreshment break at approximately 10:00 a.m. waived registration. The Plenary Session was preceded by a We made an explicit decision to not include continental breakfast in a private room for politicians and high-ranking agency chiefs as Plenary speakers and selected VIPs, and by Plenary speakers. Such individuals oft en speak general refreshments in the lobby for att endees. 20 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Meeting Program

The VIPs included all AFS offi cers, and all award one speaker this year. Thus, the Plenary Session winners to be recognized at the Plenary Session. Local Arrangements Liaison and the A/V crew The continental breakfast is important – not only should be prepared to handle the loading of does it provide the Plenary speakers and VIPs Plenary presentations that arrive Sunday evening with a good start to the day, but it ensures the key or Monday morning. The continental breakfast people for the session will be there on time. It also prior to the Plenary is an opportunity to receive allows an opportunity for the President and the the PowerPoint fi le from each speaker. other offi cers (who present awards at the Plenary All stage management was professionally done Session) to meet the award-winners, check on by a contractor, Crossroads Productions, who name pronunciation, etc. is thoroughly experienced in this theatre. This Steve Zemke’s A/V Committ ee engaged IMIG crew arranged the stage equipment (table, Audio/Video (a local contractor) to provide microphones, spotlights, stairs, etc.). The caterer and operate laptop computers, projectors, and arranged the breakfast and refreshment sessions. other equipment. That arrangement worked These also appeared to function smoothly. very well. The A/V team received one Plenary The Unit Services Coordinator in the AFS speaker’s presentation two days in advance; central offi ce (Carolina Franco/Gail Goldberg) is one (on the speaker’s own computer) arrived on responsible for preparing the “Plenary Session Sunday aft ernoon and checked out fi ne in terms Podium Book” prior to the meeting. The Book of compatibility with the A/V equipment on is given to each offi cer who will be introducing Sunday. The third Plenary speaker brought her award winners, and includes a detailed presentation with her on Monday morning to description of each Plenary Session activity, and be loaded. The General Chairman’s presentation who is responsible for or involved in each. The (slides/video of Alaska with music background) meeting General Chairman, the A/V person, was loaded onto the computer system in advance. and the Plenary Session Liaison from the Local In addition to the Plenary speakers, the major Arrangements Committ ee should all request a AFS awards are presented at various points in the copy of this book as a reference to help prepare for Plenary Session, illustrated with a PowerPoint the Plenary Session, and to follow along during show. The A/V team should be prepared to work the session. with the AFS person who puts together the Award The AFS Unit Services Coordinator is responsible Winners’ PowerPoint (illustrating the awards for bringing all the awards to the Plenary Session, and the short bios of the winners). This is usually and laying them out on two tables on stage, in done by Christine Moffi tt , AFS Past-President, on the order in which they will be given. The table her own computer. Thus, her computer needs to should be positioned so that it does not block the be able to be switched into the main projection projection screen. system between Plenary speakers. Christine sits in the audience, fi rst row, and requires an electric The bott om line with the Plenary Session—have connection as well as the ability to view the fun, and be creative; plan as much as possible in screen and the speaker lectern. Some of the award advance; and stay fl exible and be ready for needs winners’ information is not available until right that arise at the last minute! The Plenary can really before the meeting, so it is usually not possible for set the tone for the rest of the meeting. Christine to send in the (rather large) PowerPoint fi le prior to the conference. Plan on having to Welcome Presentation (Bill Wilson) connect her computer to the system just prior to I decided to produce a “Welcome to Alaska” the Plenary Session on Monday morning. presentation which we’d use at the Plenary Ideally, all Plenary Session presentations would to greet people and welcome everyone to the be submitt ed a few days in advance. Given the 2005 meeting, many of whom probably had nature of Plenary speakers, this is probably not never been to Alaska. I wanted this to highlight realistic to expect—and some speakers may need Alaska’s beauty and also to feature the diversity to use their own equipment, as was the case for of Alaska’s fi sheries. Steve Grabacki lent his Final Report 21 Meeting Program

talents and connections in the fi sheries industry Determining Space Available (Eric Knudsen) to acquire some very high quality photographs. An important aspect of Program Committ ee We worked with Blueberry Productions, a local planning is determining exactly how much space video production company, to develop a nine- and time is available for both oral presentations minute series of color slides that were blended and posters. This process sets the outer bounds together with a music background. I provided and determines whether some contributions the live narrative to accompany the photography. might need to be rejected or directed from talks I was pleased with the result. My intent was to to posters or vice versa. For 2005, it was obvious highlight the theme of the meeting—mosaics— from early submissions of abstracts and a large and I used this theme in the presentation to number of symposia proposals that we might highlight the many faces of Alaska and Alaska’s not have suffi cient space for all contributors. To fi sheries. My intent also was to evolve this theme increase the number of speaker slots, we started of faces into one face that we did not have at our the fi rst talk at 8 a.m. and ended the last talk at meeting—the face of Molly Ahlgren, one of our 5:40 p.m., adding three talks per full day per committ ee members who died in late 2004. As a venue, relative to previous years. The committ ee bridge from the welcoming slide show to Barb then worked with the Accommodations Chair to Knuth’s presidential address, Dolly Garza sang a assess the total number of rooms available per day traditional Tlingit song honoring “those who have (and their seating capacities for later use). In this gone before us” as a tribute to Molly. process, we determined there were a total of 1,214 The opening slide show “happened” literally the speaker slots. This process also needs to be done night before the Plenary. Steve and I worked for early enough so that the number of slots per half- weeks gathering the photographs and working day session can be communicated to symposium with Blueberry Productions in Anchorage to organizers as they are planning for the number of develop the presentation, and on Sunday evening talks in their sessions. I developed a narrative to accompany the slides I would present the next morning. An idea planned Symposia Proposals (Eric Knudsen) years before only hatched the night before the Proposals appropriate to the meeting theme and meeting began. location were encouraged from several sources Program Deadlines (Eric Knudsen) prior to the deadline, but numerous unsolicited proposals were received. Prior to the deadline, The traditional schedule for submissions was it became obvious there would be too many advanced by about one month in 2005 because symposium proposals for the space and time of the belief that, with electronic management, available, or that they might be redundant, so the former deadlines did not need to be as early several suggested symposia were discouraged. as they were. This proved to be workable, but Following the January 14 deadline, the Program we do not recommend advancing the deadlines Committ ee had 59 proposals to consider. Realizing any further until additional improvements that accepting all proposals would not leave room are made in the internal management of the for contributed talks, the committ ee decided to database, abstracts, and scheduling of outputs. A allocate 265 speaker slots to Contributed Papers chronology of Program Committ ee activities and and 949 slots to symposia. This resulted in a deadlines is provided in Table 1. The deadlines decision to limit the selected symposia to 50 through the March 22–24, 2005 meeting were met out of the 59 proposed and to limit all but a few but all deadlines aft er that slipped substantially symposia to one day or less. due to internal management diffi culties and the large volume of sessions and abstracts. We We then divided the 59 proposals so that each recommend that future committ ees try to adhere Program Committ ee member reviewed about to the deadlines noted. one third of the proposals and all proposals received three reviews, using uniform criteria developed by the committ ee. The reviewers ranked the proposals and then all three ranks for 22 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Meeting Program

Table 1. Program submission deadlines.

Date Event 2004 Jul Help draft fi rst call for symposia and papers Early Aug Help draft second call for papers Aug Program Committee attends annual AFS meeting in Madison as observers and meets with 2004 Program Committee Early Sept Contribute to third Fisheries article for November issue Sept Verify that abstract submission website is up and running Early Oct Contribute to fourth Fisheries article (fi nal call) for December issue Early Nov Contribute to fi fth Fisheries article Early Dec List symposia titles with organizer’s contact information (if they want additional contributed papers) on the meeting website Early Dec Contribute to sixth Fisheries article 2005 Jan 14 Deadline for symposia proposals Jany 18 Chair distributed all symposia proposals to Program Committee members and AFS President for their review Jan 18-20 Program Committee members reviewed symposium proposals Jan 20 First Program Committee teleconference to discuss symposium proposals (allow time to negotiate with symposium organizers as necessary) Jan 21-25 Program Committee Chair negotiates with symposium organizers as necessary Jan 26 Second Program Committee teleconference to decide which symposium proposals to accept/reject Late Jan Refi ne Program website as necessary to indicate symposia needing additional papers Feb 4 Deadline for Program Committee to notify symposia organizers of acceptance/rejection Feb 7 Program Committee Chair gives list of symposium titles to Bethesda webmaster to update list of sessions Feb 11 Contributed paper and poster abstract deadline Early Feb Contribution to April Fisheries article Feb 25 Symposia organizers submit fi nal list of presenters and titles Mar 4 Deadline for symposia paper abstracts Mar 9–11 Program Committee Co-chairs assign groups of abstracts to committee members for quality review Mar 14–18 Program Committee members review abstracts for quality and assignment to broad categories Mar 22–24 Program Committee meets in Anchorage to organize all papers into sessions and assign times and places Early Apr Contribution to June Fisheries article Apr 20 Send E-mail to contributors that includes time and place assignments and guidelines to presenters Apr 20 Populate website with symposia and contributed sessions and papers Late May Identify contributed session moderators June 10 Tentative program info available for Program at a Glance, printed program, abstract CD, web updates, and sign committees to plan their activities Summer Support changes as necessary, keeping web up to date as primary planning reference for Committee, contributors, and attendees July Coordinate with registration to ID those speakers not preregistered and send reminder Continued on next page

Final Report 23 Meeting Program

Table 1. (Continued).

Date Event August 1 Second e-mail to contributors, reminding of responsibilities and Guidelines for presenters

August 25 Final submission of outputs for printed program, CDs, signs, A/V Committee Just prior to meeting Coordinate with A/V, signs At meeting Update signs with last-minute changes each proposal were summed. The entire list of produced an excellent CD that is searchable and 59 was then recombined by total rank score. The very helpful. We provided some artwork, and AFS top proposals on the list were easily accepted by took it from there. Worked like a charm. We had the Program Committ ee, but we discussed and some CDs left over, but many people contacted us came to agreement on the bott om half of the list to aft er the meeting asking for extra copies of a CD determine that we would ask several proponents to replace one they lost. to shorten their symposium and we rejected nine The downside of providing the abstracts in proposals. electronic format is the lack of a place to keep Abstract Review (Eric Knudsen) notes when listening to presentations. We printed a few extra blank pages in the Program The Program Committ ee received over 1,900 Guide for such a purpose. I’m not sure if this abstracts for symposia, contributed papers, and was satisfactory, however. But we received no posters, making it nearly impossible to review complaints. every one of them. During our 3-day March meeting, we agreed to assume that symposium AFS Abstracts Coordinator (Christine Fletcher, abstracts were the responsibility of the authors Eric Knudsen, Marla Hood) and the organizers, so we did not review those. We did, however, review all contributed talk and Christine Fletcher did excellent work throughout poster abstracts, primarily to understand their the entire process and Danielle Hawkins provided content for grouping into topical sessions. We a smooth transition when Christine departed. used this opportunity to scan for inappropriate This position is essential in coordinating all the or poor quality abstracts and rejected two on this abstracts for consistency, for ensuring the database basis. content refl ects the Program Committ ee’s intent, and in keeping up with the myriad changes in the Abstracts CD (Bill Wilson) abstracts and scheduling. We chose to heed Madison’s advice and not Database print paper copies of the abstracts, but rather The database is central to effi ciency for the provide the abstracts on a CD. This was a great Program Committ ee and the AFS Abstracts decision. It saved money, it saved paper, and it Coordinator. It was the central repository for all saved the backs and suitcases of registrants that information on each presentation and, ultimately, would need to haul a ton of extra weight back the scheduling information. The Access database home…or worse, would just throw it all away is not being used to its fullest potential and before leaving. We think this is a good practice for needs to be redesigned by an experienced Access future meetings. We held out the option to print programmer. a paper copy for anyone who absolutely insisted on receiving one. Out of the 2800 or so folks who Web-based Input Form—The abstract input form registered, we received no requests for printed works smoothly. (However, we experienced abstracts. a major glitch just as the abstract deadline approached, due to an error caused by the AFS The CDs containing all abstracts were produced internet provider—this appears to have been in Bethesda. This practice should continue. They

24 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Meeting Program

remedied, but needs to be prevented in the must be produced from the database, along future.) One major improvement in the input with the appropriate e-mail addresses, form and database would be to allow presenters because the e-mails need to be customized to access their records to change things like according to presentation type. The recipient presenter names, addresses, etc., under some kind can be directed to the web-based abstract of password protection. They could also use it search engine and program to fi nd their to withdraw, with the system sending an e-mail presentation and the assigned session and fl ag to the abstract coordinator. This is done by time. The seven categories of e-mails sent a number of other professional organizations. included: symposium oral; symposium It would save the Program Chair, symposium poster; contributed “oral only”; contributed organizers, and especially the Abstracts “oral only” accepted as posters; contributed Coordinator tremendous amounts of time and “oral preferred” accepted as posters (all); and work. contributed posters. Database Program Framework—The database should 2. Program website—The initial program be revamped so that it ultimately results in a layout can be completed by about late April. framework resembling the program, i.e., time slot, If the database is redesigned as described location A, B, C, etc. This organization would be above, it should be very amenable to linking extremely helpful to the Program Co-Chairs and to a program website that shows the days, the Abstracts Coordinator, as well as set the stage sessions, rooms, times, speakers, titles, for outputs listed below. Marla Hood of USGS in and links to the abstracts. This becomes Anchorage has good experience in Access and the “living” program, that is, changes are linking to websites, etc. Having created the web updated regularly as they occur in the links for this year’s program, she now has specifi c database. This benefi ts all participants for recommendations for reorganizing the database planning: the Program Committ ee, Abstracts so that it will be more useful. Coordinator, all symposium organizers, all presenters, and all att endees who can make Program Chair Access to Database—If the database their decisions about att endance and travel. In were refi ned as above, the Program Committ ee 2005, due primarily to diffi culties in database could more easily sort the presentations into their design and secondarily to the large number of respective slots. This would save signifi cant work contributions, this web product was delayed and time of having to manually type the time substantially until about mid-July. It would be and space into every record, as had to be done by much more eff ective if it’s on-line beginning Christine Fletcher at the March 22–24 meeting. about May 1. Outputs—The outputs from the abstract database 3. Printed program—The layout of the oral are: and poster presentations are printed in the 1. E-mails to contributors—A critical product program book. The information comes from of the Program Committ ee are the e-mails to the database. As it stands the oral talks are contributors informing them of acceptance, laid out in the “program grid” which is a table their type of presentation, the time and place with venue across the top and times down the of their presentation, and providing the side. The process of moving information from appropriate “Guidelines to Presenters”. If the database to the printed format is presently the database were upgraded, this should be done via an Excel program created by Joe possible in one communication approximately Hennessey of the 2004 Planning Commitee. four weeks aft er the March committ ee It’s partly automated and partly manual. As meeting. For 2005, this step was delayed the database is updated, this step needs to signifi cantly because of database diffi culties. be refi ned so that it is more automated – this Late April presenter notifi cation is important will depend on improvements in the Access so that travelers can get approval in advance. database queries (output) and a method for The information on the presentation type formatt ing to the printing soft ware. This

Final Report 25 Meeting Program

product needs to be produced in time for the deadlines for abstracts, but some prodding the printed program deadline—aft er that, was necessary from the Chair to get all abstracts the database and website are the defi nitive submitt ed. This year, all A/V presentations were program records, from which the program submitt ed the same way, regardless of whether errata sheet must be generated. they were contributed or symposia. In the future, it might be preferable to ask the symposium 4. CDs—The abstract CDs were produced organizers to coordinate the submission of A/V directly from the database at AFS. presentations within their respective sessions. 5. Signs—The program signs (poster size) can (However, see other suggestions in the A/V be printed just prior to the meeting, from the report). updated database. In 2005, the information Guidelines to Oral Presenters—These are an was taken from the website, since there was integral part of success. They should be e-mailed no sign query in the database. This should to each contributor with the fi rst notifi cation be made more effi cient by developing the and should be posted prominently in the appropriate query from the database. Needed Program section of the website. In 2005, we had is a direct output from the Access database to to wait until the last few weeks to advertise the a sign printing program. specifi cs of A/V management because of poor 6. A/V—The program framework from the communication and lack of preparation with the database, as refl ected by the program web lay- A/V contractor (see A/V report). out (same query as for signs), can be directly Posters (Carol Kerkvliet, Ted Otis) helpful for A/V management. This year, we used a feature in PowerPoint that allowed The poster program for the 2005 meeting was the organization of all the presentations onto one largest in AFS history. Although initial planning computer for each room, by half-day session. for posters started years in advance, it wasn’t until The half-day program layout was copied to the “Call for Abstracts” March (2005) deadline PowerPoint and each talk title was linked to passed that detailed planning could begin the PowerPoint fi le provided by the presenter. (Table 2). Systematic planning by the Program This provided a clear organization of the Committ ee was essential because venue space was sessions to the A/V contractor, and especially limited with respect to the number of symposia for the moderator and the A/V assistant, once and the number of contributed oral and poster the computer was brought to the room by an presentations the venues could accommodate. As A/V runner. Since all the talks were loaded the number of proposed symposia and abstracts onto one computer and organized by the surpassed historic levels, systematic planning preplanned program outline, the transition became even more crucial. from one talk to the next was extremely smooth. It is very important that the Program The popularity of the meeting was realized when Chair coordinate with the A/V Committ ee the Program Committ ee received proposals for to be sure there is an agreed-to process for 59 symposia, and there was space for far fewer. uploading talks that is clearly communicated Therefore, before we could determine space in the Guidelines to Presenters (see also the requirements for symposia posters, the Program A/V report). Committ ee fi rst needed to rank the proposed symposia to determine which would be accepted. Oral Presentations (Eric Knudsen) Aft er a list of accepted symposia was decided, symposia organizers could then fi nalize their list Symposia and Contributed Papers of oral and poster presenters. In 2005, the Program Committ ee relied on the symposium organizers to provide a list of all their The second step in the planning process followed speakers, in order of appearance, at the same time the March deadline for abstract submission. that abstracts were due. Symposium organizers Following this deadline, eight members of the were relied upon to ensure their presenters met Program Committ ee met in Anchorage from March 22–24, 2005 to review abstracts. Over 26 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Meeting Program

Table 2. Poster planning timeline for the 2005 AFS meeting. Date Activity 2003 May• Visited venues to evaluate space. Oct• Visited venues to evaluate space; made fi rst contact with Alaska Event Services; fi rst poster fl oor plan drafted. 2005 Jan• Program Committee rated 63 symposia for acceptance to fi ll 30 time slots. Feb–Mar• Posted Guidelines for Poster Presenters on the meeting website and included a link to the guidelines and poster updates in Fisheries. Mar Program Committee met for 3 days to work on the following: Symposia Sessions • Determined the initial count of posters associated with symposia • Assigned symposia to venue space Contributed Sessions • Reviewed contributed abstracts and offered oral presenters the opportunity to present their work in posters • Assigned contributed oral presentations to venue space. • Determined subgroupings for organizing posters. Poster Floor Plan • Met with Alaska Event Services to consider poster fl oor plan alternatives for symposia and contributed posters. Apr• Distributed a Comprehensive “Poster Plan” to Program and Planning Committees. • E-mailed acceptance letters to all poster presenters and encouraged them to review poster guidelines on the web. May• Mailed more detailed guidelines to poster presenters, also posted to web Apr–Sept• Worked with Abstracts Coordinator to manage and update the poster list relative to deletions and changes. • Recruited volunteers for poster sessions. Aug 10• E-mailed detailed poster setup/take-down instructions and poster fl oor plan maps to all poster presenters Aug 10• Floor plans for each poster session submitted for Program Guide and web posting; printed abstract numbers, signs, and maps for venues. Sept 11–15• 2005 AFS Annual Meeting in Anchorage

1,900 combined symposia and contributed paper meeting. Fortunately, we anticipated this situation abstracts were submitt ed and there was only and had worked with AFS administrative staff enough room for about 1,200 oral presentations. to contract with a professional event planner (Joe McLallen, Alaska Events Services) to supply The decision was made to fi nd poster space for the poster billboards and help lay out the poster the remaining 700 abstracts, rather than turn away fl oor plans. Joe’s established working relationship any presenter, because of concerns that these with the management staff at each venue and individuals would not get travel funding if they his experience coordinating similar-sized events weren’t presenting. This created quite a challenge proved invaluable. We recommend professional for the poster co-chairs given the space limitations for posters in each of the three venues hosting the

Final Report 27 Meeting Program

assistance for future meetings facing limited space were hung concurrently outside their respective and high att endance challenges. symposia meeting rooms within each of the three venues hosting symposia. In order to accommodate all the posters, we implemented strict size limits (32” x 46”), made To our knowledge, this multiple poster session use of all available carpeted wall space in each confi guration was a fi rst for an AFS meeting, venue, and hung two posters on each side of the and while it did allow us to accommodate the 4’x 8’ billboards we leased. The largest single tremendous turnout in 2005, it was not without space that was available to us (Egan Convention its diffi culties. For example, it was very important Center, Explorer Room) had the capacity to to provide “equal billing” to each of the poster handle up to 250 posters at one time, while still sessions. The featured viewing period for Session I allowing for adequate walkways. The combined occurred during the traditional Trade Show/Poster space available for posters at all three venues Social Monday evening. Thus, it was important could accommodate approximately 430 posters, to provide a similar “event” for Poster Session far short of our initial program estimate of 700+ II. Since we were determined not to double posters. However, working with Joe McLallen and book the second poster event with competing the Program Committ ee, we developed a strategy activities (e.g., technical sessions during the day to accommodate the 632 poster presenters who or other socials in the evening), we opted to host ultimately committ ed to att end the meeting (467 an extended Poster Lunch Social with free box contributed, 165 symposium). We decided to lunches provided to encourage participation. break the contributed posters into two separate Meeting att endees had nearly an hour and forty Contributed Poster Sessions, each to be held in minutes of access to poster presenters at this the Egan Explorer Room. The symposium posters hosted lunch, only slightly less than the two hours

Meeting attendees view posters during one of the poster sessions in the Egan Convention Center.

28 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Meeting Program

provided at Session I. More information on the aspects of the program. We all did our best box lunches off ered during the poster sessions is to avoid scheduling competing activities to provided under the socials section of this report. encourage strong att endance for each major event. Symposium posters were necessarily treated Presenters were allowed to select from a list which diff erently. Because these posters were associated category their paper best fi t when they submitt ed with a variety of symposia occurring at diff erent their abstract on-line. This saved the Program times and locations throughout the week, we Committ ee from having to review all 700 abstracts opted to give symposia organizers the fl exibility in order to organize posters by topic. Posters were to schedule the “featured viewing times” for sorted by category and then fi rst author’s last their session’s posters independently. Some name to determine abstract numbering within symposia organizers held small scale poster each poster session. Each poster was assigned a socials (e.g., the Wakefi eld Symposium on Pacifi c unique abstract number that designated it as a Rockfi shes and Carol Ann Woody’s Sockeye symposium or contributed poster, the session, Salmon poster symposium), while the majority the venue, and fi nally, where in the venue it was did not. To compensate for the lack of a dedicated located (e.g., CP1-EEX-001 was the fi rst poster symposium poster social, we made the following in Contributed Poster Session I in the Egan accommodations for symposia poster presenters: Convention Center Explorer Room). Detailed fl oor plans were developed for each venue showing ● Posters were displayed near the venue where poster billboards were located and what associated with their specifi c symposium billboards held which poster abstract number. to increase their accessibility to their target These maps were e-mailed to poster presenters audience. one month before the meeting so they’d know ● All symposia posters in the Egan where to hang their poster. The fl oor plan maps Convention Center and Alaska Center were also posted in each venue and included in for Performing Arts were displayed for the meeting Program Guide so att endees could four days, while contributed posters were locate the posters they were interested in. The displayed for only two days. 2005 venue maps are included as Appendix 9. ● Symposia organizers were encouraged Because there were multiple, sometimes to advertise posters associated with their concurrent, poster sessions spread across three session. venues, we recruited a number of volunteers ● Box lunches were available (for a fee) each to help us at the meeting. We generally posted day in the Egan Convention Center so two volunteers at each venue during setup and people interested in posters could stay at takedown times, except for Tuesday evening the venues without missing lunch. at the Egan Explorer when we scheduled four This arrangement appeared to work well, but volunteers to help with the big exchange between we suspect some symposia poster presenters Contributed Poster Sessions I and II. may have felt “short-changed” by the lack of a Volunteers directed presenters to their poster dedicated poster social and featured viewing time. space, provided push pins to those who forgot Given the large number of posters spread across to bring their own (as directed), and removed three venues and the added complexity of holding “orphaned” posters when their author neglected multiple poster sessions, we decided to develop to do so during the scheduled takedown periods. a comprehensive “Poster Plan”. The plan was Orphaned posters were rolled up, labeled with intended to capture relevant details (e.g., poster the author’s last name, and fi led in boxes near session setup, takedown, and social schedules, the registration desk for pickup. Due to the large fl oor plans/layouts for poster sessions, poster number of posters and the need for smooth numbers and topics, etc.) associated with the transitions between poster sessions, presenters multiple poster sessions so the Program and were e-mailed well in advance that they needed to Local Arrangements Committ ees would have adhere to the poster takedown schedules and that a document to refer to when scheduling other we would not be responsible for lost posters. Final Report 29 Meeting Program

Overall, the 2005 AFS Poster Program went a major sponsor of the AFS meeting and seafood smoothly, considering the large poster turnout reception. and the limited space available. Substantial Our keynote speaker was Dr. Milton Love from credit should go to Christine Fletcher and the University of California at Santa Barbara. The Danielle Hawkins (past and present AFS room was packed, standing room only! I estimate Abstracts Coordinators, respectively) for their we had over 220 people in att endance. Over the smooth handling of the myriad changes and course of the oral presentations (48 speakers over late cancellations made to the program leading three days), we had about 150 participants the up to the meeting. Over 150 posters were either fi rst day, 60 to 100 the second day, and down to cancelled or moved to oral presentation between 40 or 50 the third day. This does not happen at April and September, and we’re aware of only the Wakefi eld meetings—most participants stay one poster presenter who “slipped through the to the end of the meeting since annual Wakefi eld cracks” and had to be assigned a new abstract meetings do not have concurrent sessions. Some number at the meeting so they could present their dilution of the 2005 Wakefi eld symposium work. att endance occurred as a consequence of multiple Wakefi eld Symposium (Sherri Pristash) concurrent sessions. The 2005 AFS meeting co-convened with the The fi rst evening, the Wakefi eld meeting hosted Alaska Sea Grant Program’s annual Lowell a poster social and book signing. A number of Wakefi eld Fisheries Symposium series. For 2005, people came to purchase the book Rockfi sh of the symposium featured Pacifi c rockfi shes. The the Eastern Pacifi c and have it signed by Milton 23rd Wakefi eld Fisheries Symposium was entitled Love, Mary Yoklavich, and the artist, Ray Troll. “Biology, Assessment, and Management of North Alaska Sea Grant also featured its book Guide to Pacifi c Rockfi shes.” Alaska Sea Grant worked Rockfi shes of the Eastern North Pacifi c. The poster with the AFS Local Arrangements Committ ee to social had a good turnout with much att ention to integrate the Wakefi eld meeting into the larger the posters and lots of networking. We had some framework of the AFS meeting, as well as being additional visitors who came for the food from

Milton Love, Mary Yoklavich, and the artist, Ray Troll sign copies of The Rockfi shes of the Eastern Pacifi c.

30 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Meeting Program

the neighboring poster session, but that was not which is hosted with One World Hosting. a surprise. People do not seem to be ashamed of Mary set up the directory structure under taking food wherever they fi nd it. the WDAFS website and the URL was: htt p://www.wdafs.org/anchorage2005/index.htm. Being part of the AFS annual meeting had its WDAFS had plenty of web space and the ability positive and less positive aspects. On the positive to handle a decent amount of web traffi c. WDAFS side, Alaska Sea Grant gained some good did not charge us for the web space. visibility, we had the opportunity to network with the other organizers and participants, and Mary designed the site based on the meeting some of those att ending Wakefi eld sessions were poster and used some of Ray Troll’s artwork there in part for the larger meeting and other throughout the site to make it att ractive. The symposia. On the other hand, it was hard for design was made consistent by using the participants to focus specifi cally on the Wakefi eld same banner at the top of all pages. She used meeting, there was noticeable commotion in the Macromedia Dreamweaver as the soft ware to meeting room when one speaker ended and the develop the website. next began to speak as participants came and We wanted the navigation structure to be simple went, and several participants said they prefer the so it would be easy to get around the site. The Wakefi eld meeting to be a stand alone event as it original structure included pages for registration, usually is. Also, some believe more international program, lodging, activities, planning your speakers would have been drawn if the Wakefi eld trip (travel info), student activities, continuing symposium were a stand alone meeting. education, trade show, committ ee information, Overall, Alaska Sea Grant felt it was more sponsors, links, meeting poster, and contact us for benefi cial than not to be part of such a large, more information. Mary continually improved the well-organized, and recognized event. It was site as the months went by. very exciting and we learned a lot. Thank you to It is important that the webmaster have plenty of the AFS organizing committ ee and AFS for the time to keep the meeting website updated. This opportunity to be part of such a great event! is particularly important during the last month In addition to the Wakefi eld Symposium, Alaska or two before the meeting. There were continual Sea Grant had a booth at the trade show. We changes that required att ention, including wanted to show past Wakefi eld symposium sponsorship additions, announcements about proceedings, general interest books and teaching hotel space, and updates on events. Updates were materials produced by Alaska Sea Grant. Sales dependent on gett ing information from other were fair and enough people stopped by the booth committ ee members. For the most part, updates to make it worth our while to be there. to the website were made in a timely manner, especially as the meeting date approached. Website Development and Management (Bill Wilson, Mary Whalen) We wanted to make the Meeting Program interactive on our website so that it could Mary Whalen (webmaster of the WDAFS) was be searched and viewed in a number of our webmaster and was indispensable. Period. diff erent formats (e.g., by session, by author). She designed our website about two years before Accomplishing this proved challenging. We we really needed it, and was ready to have it recruited Marla Hood, a database programmer operational literally the day aft er the Madison from USGS, to help us put the program database meeting. We were asked to not make the site live into web format and make it interactive. Marla until the previous year’s meeting was over. We graciously helped us with this task. She had a agreed, but did have it operational immediately number of problems converting the existing AFS thereaft er. database to work effi ciently with the web code About 16 months before the meeting, because the AFS database did not utilize relational we started to serve the meeting website tables as well as it could have. For example, there from the Western Division AFS website were over 16 author fi elds (with associated fi rst

Final Report 31 Meeting Program

names, middle initials and other info) inside the large spreadsheet of the program as well as main program database. A relational table with tons of information about the meeting, socials, only authors should have been made. Marla transportation, etc. We decided to try to print the worked through the problems with the AFS guide as late as possible so we could minimize database and identifi ed the way it needed to be the number of last-minute program changes changed to work with the web code. There were we’d have to print separately. This worked well, many hours spent by Marla because she had to although our publisher required three weeks to convert the original database to a workable one print the guide, so the defi nition of “last minute” for the web every time it was updated from AFS included this three-week period. We had to print in Bethesda. an addendum, which we were able to produce literally the day before the meeting started. The In addition to developing and maintaining the Program Guide and addendum were both stuff ed 2005 AFS meeting website, Mary Whalen also into the registration bags. Any additional program set up a website for the Local Arrangements changes were posted on the signs at the entry to Committ ee to use to share information. This each of the meeting rooms or on the easels in the website was operational for two years prior to the poster sessions. 2005 meeting website. We each had a password to access the site, and there we posted the Andrea Medeiros provided the talent and energy committ ee member names and contact numbers, to produce our Program Guide. She has incredible minutes from committ ee meetings, notices, pleas skills in using the computer programs we used for volunteer helpers, etc. We had grand plans for laying out the guide, and we really needed for using the site for meeting planning and Andrea’s expertise to produce a high quality updates, but that did not pan out due to lack of guide. She used some of Ray Troll’s artwork participation. throughout the document which added to its appearance. We used our meeting poster artwork Recommendations on the front cover, and opted for a fairly plain ● The webmaster should be skilled at creating back cover that complemented the front. No other and maintaining a website effi ciently; color was used in the publication to save cost. otherwise it may take an inordinate amount of time to get necessary information on the We decided to use a fl exible spiral binding based web in a timely manner. There were times on the type of binding used for the Quebec City in which information HAD to be put online and Madison program guides. These guides fast and it would be unacceptable to have proved to be very user friendly because they to wait for someone to learn the methods. lay fl at when opened. Using the fl exible spiral binding added about $1000 to the printing cost ● The original AFS program database should but we felt it was worth the extra money. be overhauled into multiple relational tables to help web programmers pull out The development of the Program Guide took place the data for web use and searching ability. over a four-month period. The process began ● The webmaster should att end as many with the identifi cation of the guide’s contents; planning meetings as possible because this was based on previous meeting guides. just about every subject discussed at Various people were assigned responsibility for the meetings had web implications. It draft ing sections of the document. The Schedule was handy to have the notes from these of Oral Presentations, List of Symposia, List of meetings and to be able to provide input or Contributed Posters, and the Index of Authors ask questions about what can and cannot were all derived from the American Fisheries go on the website. Society database and proofed by the 2005 AFS meeting webmaster. Program Guide (Bill Wilson, Andrea Medeiros) The Program Guide was assembled using the This is perhaps the most important document desktop publishing soft ware Adobe Indesign CS2. we produced. The Program Guide contains a This soft ware has Table of Contents, Paragraph

32 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Meeting Program

Styles, Master Pages, Links, and Book features had been involved in its development. A fi nal that helped to manage and streamline production. review meeting was held on August 10 to discuss Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator were edits and ensure all participants agreed on the used to convert photos and illustrations to gray- fi nal changes. The 135th Annual Meeting Program scale or save them in press quality format (tiff ). Guide was provided to the publisher on the morning of August 12. The publisher was to print The overall look of the book was established by 2,500 copies of the program and deliver them to developing paragraph styles and master pages one of the meeting venues by September 6. The that could be applied during the layout process. publisher met this expectation. Draft s of the Overview and Schedule-at-a-Glance were provided as early as April to allow time to As registrations continued to increase, we decided work on formatt ing and design ideas. to do a second printing of the Program Guide, but in black and white. Several hundred additional Work to assemble the book began in June with a copies were printed “at the last minute” goal of having a page count by the third week of to accommodate a larger-than-anticipated July so publication bids could be solicited. Each registration and to provide extra copies for the section of the book was created in a separate press, VIPs, staff at the convention center and Indesign fi le. The separate fi les were pulled hotel venues, and for people who lost their guide together using the Book feature of the soft ware. and asked for another. The black and white This made managing the book easier and allowed copies were very legible and were bound with an for fl exibility in arranging the book sections. As inexpensive glued tape. each section of the book was completed, it was sent for review via e-mail as a PDF fi le to the Recommendations person who had provided the information for the ● Use desktop publishing soft ware such as section. Adobe Indesign to pull together the guide. The Schedule of Oral Presentations was the largest Make use of the soft ware’s features to section of the book and was therefore important effi ciently manage production. for establishing a page count. It was also a section ● Start formatt ing the sections of the guide as that required the most last-minute changes. The soon as text is available. fi le for this section of the book was provided ● Call several prospective publishers once in Excel format and was derived from the AFS a page count and the number of copies database. The Excel fi le was converted to a PDF required has been determined to fi nd out and placed into Indesign; this established a link the time frame for publishing the guide and to the fi le. Once the link was established, the PDF to seek bids. fi le could be updated which in turn would update the Indesign fi le for the Program Guide. This made accommodating last-minute changes to the Schedule of Oral Presentations relatively easy. Once the page count could be established, bids were solicited from four publishers. This occurred during the last week of July, approximately one month before we anticipated sending the Program Guide to the publisher. One of the four prospective publishers thought the job would be too small for them to submit a competitive bid. Three bids were submitt ed and ranged from $16,000 to $25,000 demonstrating the importance of obtaining multiple bids. On August 9, printed copies of the Program Guide were provided for review to those who Final Report 33

Budget and Finance

Budget and Finance

Budget Introductory Comments (Bill Wilson) August 5 was the cut-off date for early registration (the meeting started September 11). We charged The budget for the 2005 meeting was developed $35 for a guest att ending each of the social over a four-year period and continually evolved events (three events were assigned this guest as costs were fi rmed. The defi nition of “evolved” fee). Betsy established a special fee of $125 for is “went up”. Preparing and maintaining this staff which included our committ ee members. budget was the General Chairman’s responsibility, I gave complimentary registration to our with frequent consultation with Betsy Fritz committ ee members who did not have employer and Gus Rassam. Both periodically suggested sponsorship, and negotiated reduced fees for modifi cations, but largely AFS let us prepare some committ ee members and certain VIPs. for the meeting on our own. I enjoyed a great working relationship with all AFS Bethesda staff , The issue of profi t was addressed early in the particularly Betsy and Gus, which made the process. Traditionally there is a split of profi ts fi nancial side of my job so much easier. from the meeting, if any are realized, between the host Chapter and the Parent Society. Whenever a Early in the process we made a request to the Division co-convenes with the annual meeting, the AFS Governing Board and Gus Rassam to raise AFS Division that is co-hosting, the Chapter, and the early registration fee for AFS members from the Parent Society split the profi ts (10/10/80 %). $295 to $325, and keep other fees the same as at This formula is based on a Governing Board the 2004 meeting. We had much support for this, motion approved in August 2003: as the fee for many of the past AFS meetings had been $295 and we felt it was time to increase “... whenever a Division co-convenes its the fee, partly because we feared the Anchorage annual meeting with the parent Society, the meeting costs would be higher and partly because Division shall receive 10% of the net proceeds infl ation had eroded the value of the U.S. dollar derived from that meeting, provided the and $325 would be a reasonable increase based on Division plays an active role in the Program infl ation alone. We started discussing this in 2003 planning and fund-raising to support the and early 2004, but Gus wanted to retain the $295 meeting.” but suggested the nonmember fees go up. At the However, the Western Division, who co-hosted Governing Board meeting at Madison in 2004, I the 2005 meeting, proposed an alternative profi t presented our proposed budget for their approval; sharing formula based on their desires to have a it contained the $295 registration fee structure and guaranteed return from the meeting. WDAFS was a new $450 registration fee for early-registering concerned that by giving up their annual meeting, nonmembers, per Gus’ recommendation. The they would loose some of the revenues from that Board approved the fee structure and the budget. meeting that they needed for expenses for the I made it clear it was a planning document and coming year. WDAFS offi cers therefore asked that the costs for various elements would likely change they be relieved of this formula for 2005 and be by the time the meeting was actually held. allowed to keep the fi rst $10,000 raised in their The fee structure approved for 2005: fundraising eff orts, and Gus agreed to this and AFS members registering early $295 established a profi t split of 90/10 % to the Parent AFS members registering late $395 Society and the Alaska Chapter, respectively. Nonmembers registering early $450 I started working on a serious budget in early Nonmembers registering late $550 2003. I structured this fi rst budget and its Student members $95 Nonmember students $125 allocations of spending into categories based Retired AFS members $150 partly on the budgets from the past four meetings: One-day registration $150 Madison, Quebec City, Baltimore, and Phoenix. Some of the budget categories for these meetings

Final Report 35 Budget and Finance

were not applicable to the Anchorage meeting. could realize the number we used for our initial Many were, however, and the general level of slogan for the Anchorage meeting: “2005 in 2005”. spending in certain main categories was helpful We hit that number a month before the meeting to know. I att ended all of those prior annual convened. meetings, and this helped me relate to and As the years progressed and more detailed understand some of the spending diff erences information was available, I revised the budget between cities that hosted the meeting. fi gures for various categories. I wasn’t surprised My fi rst budget was assembled in 2003 and to see change and expected it. Social events totaled $480,000, and as it evolved the “fi nal” were our largest budget category; in the end we working budget used just the week prior to needed to budget nearly $300,000 for socials. the meeting was $708,000 (Table 3). Over the This included seafood that was mostly off set by years 2003 through 2005, I continually refi ned contributions obtained specifi cally for seafood the numbers used to estimate costs as bett er products and also included an allowance for the information became available. I built in a $30,000 Western Division’s and Alaska Chapter’s annual contingency and didn’t need to dip into that meeting luncheons. Those two events were in until the last few months prior to the meeting. our meeting budget because both entities lost Although not surprising, but yet disconcerting, revenues they would have received from their was the continual escalation in costs of almost annual meetings because they co-convened with every item or service as the last weeks unfolded. the AFS annual meeting. We agreed to help A/V was a great deal more than anticipated, and sponsor both events, but required a separate lunch social events costs increased a fair amount in the payment to defray part of the costs. Each lunch last few months. Much of this was due to a need was supported in our budget at $15 and att endees to accommodate the incredible registration that would pay an additional $10; the $25 lunch materialized. I buff ered those cost increases with included gratuity. Att endance at the luncheons the contingency budget amount. was greatly lower than expected. Fortunately we knew the anticipated att endance early enough to We initially planned a budget based on a reset the catering plans; we only had to pay for projected meeting att endance of 1,500 persons. the numbers we guaranteed for lunch; about 125 During the Madison meeting, at which we had att ended the WDAFS luncheon (we originally a trade show booth to advertise Anchorage and budgeted for up to 600) and about 50–75 att ended our plans for the 2005 meeting, we learned of the Alaska Chapter lunch (we budgeted for about people’s enthusiasm for coming to Alaska in 200). 2005. And in early 2005, we started hearing from folks around the country and we revised the Our $708,000 budget included expected revenues expected registration number to 1,700. During from fundraising, the Trade Show and Continuing the summer of 2005, the on-line registrations Education classes, and of course registration started to build, and registrations rushed in as the fees. As the meeting dates were upon us, we August 5 date for early registration neared. Based thought we’d see a registration of up to 2,300, on the numbers as of August 5, we increased our and we thought this would adequately buff er any planning number to 2,000. This number continued contingencies we would encounter during the to increase as late registrations continued to come week prior to, and the week of, the meeting. My in. Our fi nal planning number, just weeks before fi nal draft budget with more detailed annotations the meeting convened, was 2,300, although we as it existed the week of the meeting is in printed programs for 2,500. Final registration was Appendix 5. over 2,800! Finally, I was lucky to have a capable, Our Local Arrangements Committ ee always unfl appable, competent chairman of our budget thought that Anchorage would be a destination and fi nance program. I give enormous credit to that many would want to visit, and we presumed Larry Peltz who kept me sane during the years that we might easily surpass the registration levels of preparations. Larry’s calm way of dealing with of the past few meetings. We also were hoping we issues was the opposite of my approach, and 36 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Budget and Finance

Table 3. Estimated budget and actual expenditures for the 2005 American Fisheries Society meeting in Anchorage Alaska. 2005 Budget 2005 Actual Percent Categories ($) ($) of Total General Chair General Chair Expenses 2,000.00 -1,921.88 Planning Committee Retreat 2,000.00 Welcoming CD Production 1,000.00 -1,549.50 Administrative Assistance 1,000.00 -1,000.00 Worker Breaks 3,272.00 -5,168.76 Memorabilia (to be offset by sales) 11,000.00 -10,272.47 Committee Parking 1,000.00 Committee Housing Contingency 0 Ahlgren Memorial 1,000.00 -910.00 Subtotal 22,272.00 -20,822.61 3.0%

Accommodations Performing Arts Center 20,320.00 -2,716.50 Labor for Performing Arts Center 9,713.00 -12,162.50 Overtime Labor for Performing Arts Center 1,152.00 Labor for Egan Center 7,000.00 -9,759.60 Meeting Breaks - a.m. and p.m. 54,000.00 -69,296.65 Additional Coffee Service - 7 a.m. Breaks 9,000.00 Business Meeting Refreshments 3,200.00 Guest Services/Spouse and Companion Room 1,000.00 -1,248.00 Local Hospitality 2,000.00 -2,366.67 Communications 0 Egan Drapery Rental 1,000.00 -2,755.00 Box Lunches - Optional for 3 Days 3,375.00 Box Lunches - Catered for Wed Posters 8,106.00 -6,870.00 Tour Cost Recovery 1,000.00 Internet Café -3,715.25 Subtotal 120,866.00 -110,890.17 15.1%

Budget And Fundraising Credit Card Fees 12,000.00 -15,368.38 Rebate AK Chapter Seed Money 5,000.00 -5,000.00 Continued on next page

Final Report 37 Budget and Finance

Table 3. Continued. 2005 Budget 2005 Actual Percent Categories ($) ($) of Total Misc Fees/supplies/offi ce 2,500.00 -2,193.97 Fundraising Costs 1,500.00 -500.00 Travel - Committee 11,500.00 -6,840.63 Travel - AFS Headquarters Staff 18,000.00 -26,000.00 Continuing Ed Expenses 8,000.00 -20,693.60 Contingency 5,000.00 Silent Auction Expenses -1,624.34 Subtotal 63,500.00 -78,220.92 10.6%

Program Program Committee Travel To Anchorage 5,800.00 -3,122.51 Travel for Plenary Speakers 6,000.00 -618.90 Honoraria for Plenary 1,000.00 -1,076.33 A/V 43,000.00 -55,928.75 Photography 1,000.00 Fisheries Insert/Publicity 9,000.00 -5,321.00 Program Printing 14,450.00 -14,499.96 Abstracts CDs 1,950.00 -2,977.10 Poster Easels and Supplies 7,000.00 -4,966.13 Signage/Displays 16,000.00 -3,527.01 Poster Artwork - Commission/troll 4,000.00 -4,000.00 Poster Logos and Other Artwork 2,000.00 -1,050.00 Poster Printing and Mailing 2,200.00 -1,991.69 Shirts for Program Committee 6,000.00 -8,022.85 Shirts for Meeting Workers 2,100.00 Interpreter for Plenary -400.00 Subtotal 121,500.00 -107,502.23 14.6%

Registration Registration Totes 21,000.00 -26,227.50 Tote Supplement 8,500.00 Student Help (Tentative - May Increase) 6,890.00 Registration Computers 2,000.00 Registration Materials 9,000.00 -1,353.69 Lanyards and Badges 2,000.00 -1,887.01 Continued on next page

38 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Budget and Finance

Table 3. Continued. 2005 Budget 2005 Actual Percent Categories ($) ($) of Total Convention Registration -8,323.40 Subtotal 49,390.00 -37,791.60 5.1%

Socials Trade Show And Poster Social 55,500.00 -46,609.41 Welcoming Social 82,000.00 -89,294.85 Off-Site Social 100,000.00 -108,020.50 Closing Social 6,625.00 -8,500.00 Student Social 10,000.00 -13,690.22 Spawning Run 3,100.00 -1,835.03 Entertainment 600.00 -400.00 Entertainment Set-Up In Egan 2,500.00 -2,800.00 Local Arrangements Social 3,000.00 -3,000.00 Division and Chapter Meeting Luncheons 12,000.00 -7,384.80 Seafood Costs 24,000.00 -27,944.82 Subtotal 299,325.00 -309,479.63 42.1%

Technical Support/miscellaneous Tech Support 4,000.00 -2,989.00 Student T-Shirts/expenses 7,200.00 -5,721.01 Wdafs Cost Recovery 10,000.00 Speaker Travel Reimbursement -5,783.88 Sea Grant Cost Recovery 10,000.00 -7,967.15 Student Labor -4,391.50 Tours -43,200.00 Subtotal 31,200.00 -70,052.54 9.5%

Grand Total 708,053.00 -734,760.00 100.0%

Final Report 39 Budget and Finance

we complemented each other very well. I was The AFS 2005 meeting also was sponsored by the frequently concerned about details, while Larry Western Division, whose fundraising goal was gently reminded me to get out of the way of our initially $50,000, but we lowered that to $40,000 various committ ee chairs and let them do their to be more realistic (based on past experience job. That advice was hard to take occasionally, with fundraising, Division offi cers suggested as I’m a person who gets into the weeds without that $30,000 likely could be att ained, and all hesitation. Larry kept the books, kept us all on agreed). The Alaska Sea Grant Program also was a task without loosing sight of the ultimate goal, sponsor, since they convened their annual Lowell and took on the huge job of paying bills and Wakefi eld Fisheries Symposium together with reconciling receipts and dozens of fi nancial AFS 2005. Alaska Sea Grant agreed to contribute details. His work peaked during the week of the $10,000 and to help with fundraising, and meeting and continued at a high level for weeks particularly to help with donations of seafood for thereaft er. our social events. More on that below. In total, our overall fundraising goal was $200,000 (Chapter We opened an account at our local Wells Fargo $80,000; WDAFS $40,000; Sea Grant $10,000; bank and set up a checking account that required Parent $70,000). two signatures for each check. Four people were authorized to sign: Larry Peltz, Ray Hander (the We initially assembled a list of potential people Alaska Chapter treasurer), the recent past Chapter and groups we would ask for support. Some President Carol Kerkvliet, or me. This worked would be requests for in-kind support, but for well, although I believe every check we wrote the most part this list contained groups from was signed only by Larry and me, but having which we would ask for a monetary contribution additional authorized persons gave us some including State and Federal agencies, fi shing backup and insurance. companies, other private businesses, and the oil and gas industry given Alaska’s prominence in Fundraising Introductory Comments (Bill Wilson) that area of commercial activity. We identifi ed a Every meeting General Chairman must face the specifi c person in each group, obtained addresses, responsibility for raising funds to help defray the phone numbers, and e-mail addresses, and wrote costs of the meeting. This was the job I dreaded each a lett er. most. As General Chairman, I felt that the success Two types of lett ers were draft ed: one for of the Anchorage meeting would partly hinge on corporate entities and one for agencies. We having suffi cient working funds to pay for the included in the lett er a list of potential in-kind many logistical, social, and commercial costs we contributions that could be made, and a form to would have to incur. We were meeting in Alaska fi ll out indicating the name and address of the where costs would be higher than in other states sponsor, what areas they wanted to support, or provinces, and I was sensitive to our mandate etc. (Appendix 6). We also included a one-page to not raise the registration fee. I knew that past description of the meeting. These lett ers were General Chairs had raised upwards of $100,000, signed by me or our Fundraising co-Chair, Phil and the pressure on me to do something similar Mundy. We added next to our signature a hand- was prett y large. Some of that was self-induced writt en note to whom the lett er was addressed, pressure, as Gus Rassam our AFS Executive indicating our hope that their group would Director reminded me that we only needed to contribute to help make the 2005 meeting a put on a comfortable meeting, and that making success. a profi t was not a major factor. I also knew that the Parent Society would raise about $70,000, These lett ers resulted in only two or three and along with registration receipts, I felt that we responses and those responses were from agencies could meet a budget for a good meeting, and thus that would have sponsored the meeting any how. my goal would be about the same as the Parent In short, writing a lett er to a potential sponsor was Society’s goal; we set that goal at $100,000 initially, almost a total waste of time and resources. We of but decided this might be too ambitious and reset course didn’t know this at the time and blissfully the goal at $80,000. proceeded to send out dozens and dozens of 40 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Budget and Finance

lett ers. A copy of the draft agency lett er prototype Funds were primarily sent to me at my offi ce is Appendix 6 . We did make a few phone calls to address. I recorded the amounts and then follow up, but we soon realized this wasn’t going physically handed the checks to our Finance to work, and aft er many months of waiting I Chair, Larry Peltz, since Larry’s offi ce was just decided to be more involved personally. a few blocks away. Larry banked the checks and kept records as well so we both could track I have lived in Alaska for over 30 years, and felt our successes and failures. AFS in Bethesda I had enough personal acquaintances in many periodically sent me a progress report on their agencies and potential corporate sponsors that fundraising in the Washington, D.C. area. The I would try another tactic. What worked for me Parent Society annually contacts Federal agencies was personally visiting the agency and its director and a few other groups in the D.C. area, and for or key person. If I didn’t know who the director the most part consistently receives donations or key person was, I would fi nd a contact within from each of these contacts year aft er year. We the agency that one of my committ ee members in Alaska agreed to not contact any Federal could talk to and fi nd out the name of the “right agency headquarters—just local or regional person”. In nearly all cases, it was the face to face offi ces—for donations. In many cases we received contact that led to our success. I would call the a contribution for the meeting from the national contact I knew or that a committ ee member knew, offi ce and the local/regional offi ce. or I would contact the secretary to the director of the group, and ask for an appointment to explain Our fundraising started about a year and a half the upcoming AFS meeting. before the meeting. This was a good time to start for agencies, as this gave them the lead time to I brought to each meeting a poster (the Ray Troll spread a contribution over two fi scal years to art work was extremely popular and this was help them aff ord it. We found that private donors a great icebreaker and a nice token of our hope were less likely to want to help this far out—the for support to leave behind—plus it was great meeting just wasn’t “real” enough a year or more advertisement for the group’s offi ce walls) and ahead of time. So fundraising continued for about a lett er addressed to the person I was meeting 16–18 months, although I got more focused and with expressing our wishes that the group would active in the last 8–10 months. Since the Western help sponsor the 2005 AFS annual meeting with a Division of AFS also sponsored this meeting, they fi nancial donation. During the meeting, I would followed a similar patt ern for their fundraising, talk about the plans for the 2005 meeting: the but they only contacted potential sponsors in the program we were preparing, the theme, our plans Western Division States and Provinces. for Plenary speakers, the various socials and other programs we had planned, and the att endance The eff orts to complete our fundraising intensifi ed we expected. I would ask for a specifi c amount of a few months before the meeting, and although money—usually $5,000 or $10,000. we had promises from groups that, collectively, would meet our goal, many were just not I was successful with probably 75% of the materializing. We had to make repeated phone personal contacts I made. When one agency calls or other contacts to check on the status knew that a sister agency was already on board, of promised donations. The Western Division that seemed to help spur them to contribute. We ramped up their eff orts during the last three off ered agencies the opportunity to contribute months, and were fortunate to fi nd a sponsor over two fi scal years, and that helped some. I willing to set up a $10,000 challenge grant and didn’t “promise” any signifi cant return on their that made it a bit easier for them to raise a number donation, although we indicated that they would of smaller donations that collectively would get receive recognition in the program, at the Plenary them close to their target of $30,000. Session, on posters scatt ered through the venues, and on our website. I asked for their logo, in In the last weeks before the meeting, Larry Peltz digital form, and we followed through with these took over the “reminding” responsibilities as promises. I became more and more involved in logistics. Larry successfully obtained all of the outstanding Final Report 41 Budget and Finance

promised donations, and we reached our goal Sponsorship fundraising was quite successful. The literally during the fi nal few days before the Local Arrangements Committ ee raised $167,414. meeting convened. We waited for many weeks AFS Bethesda raised $79,400 and the Western aft er the meeting for some donations from the Division raised $17,000. This totals $263,814 in Western Division, but in total reached our goal cash contributions raised by the three entities. All and actually surpassed it handily. three were “offi cial” AFS sponsors for the 2005 meeting. The Alaska Sea Grant Program also Fundraising Components (Larry Peltz) att ained their goal. Fundraising consisted of four components: Financial Sponsors: sponsorships, tote bag sponsorships, in-kind donations, and seafood donations. Sponsorships Platinum Level ($10,000+) were used to supplement registration income U.S Geological Survey – Alaska Science Center and pay for general meeting expenses. Tote bags U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service sponsorships were used to pay for the direct costs National Marine Fisheries Service – Alaska Region of the tote bags. In-kind donations paid for a North Pacifi c Fishery Management Council variety of items in our budget. Seafood donations U.S. Geological Survey – Biological Resources were used to buy seafood primarily for the Division (AFS) opening night social. NOAA Fisheries (AFS) Alaska Sea Grant Sponsorships—Sponsorship solicitation was NOAA – National Ocean Service (AFS) focused in three broad geographic areas. The Exxon-Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council AFS Offi ce in Bethesda solicited sponsors at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game national level. The Western Division solicited Gold Level ($5,000+) sponsors located in the geographic area of the ConocoPhillips Division. The Local Arrangements Committ ee U.S. Geological Survey – Western Fisheries focused on obtaining sponsors from Alaska. The Research Center (WD) following discussion only covers the activities of Sustainable Fisheries Foundation (WD) the Local Arrangements Committ ee. Bureau of Land Management (AFS) A master mailing list of potential sponsors was USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (AFS) developed by the Local Arrangements Committ ee. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (AFS) Alaska has large Federal resource management Minerals Management Service (AFS) oversight in the state and numerous large USDA Forest Service corporations involved in resource development NOAA – Sea Grant (AFS) or fi sh harvest. Therefore the focal point of the Kenai River Sportfi shing Association mailing list was Federal and State agencies with International Pacifi c Halibut Commission fi sheries ties and large businesses associated Meacham Foundation with the fi shing industry in Alaska that had the NOAA/NURP – West Coast and Polar Regions potential to donate $5,000–$10,000. Our rationale Undersea Research Center (AFS) was a few large donors would generate more North Pacifi c Research Board income than lots of small donors. Marine Conservation Alliance As mentioned previously, of the 40+ mailings Silver Level ($1,000+) sent out only a few resulted in a sponsorship as a Oceana (AFS) Alaska Fly Fishers result of the mailing. Most sponsorships were the American Forest and Paper Association (AFS) result of personal contacts made as a follow-up Kachemak Bay Research Reserve – ADF&G/SF to the lett ers or contacts to an agency or business NOAA – Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (AFS) that didn’t receive a lett er. Personal contacts are by Pacifi c States Marine Fisheries Commission (WD) far the best mechanism to obtain sponsorships at Colorado/Wyoming Chapter of the American the local organizing level. Blanket mailings are a Fisheries Society (WD) waste of eff ort! Golder Associates (WD) Pacifi c Southwest Research Station – USDA Forest

42 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Budget and Finance

Service (WD) Seafood Donations (Bill Wilson) Patron Level (up to $1,000) One area of fundraising involved acquisition Frigid Units (WD) of Alaskan seafood products. Our plan was to HDR Alaska Inc. showcase Alaska’s fi shery products at the opening Aquatic Consultants Inc. social. Tim Joyce and Brian Allee, both long-time Alaskans with contacts in the fi shing industry, Tote Bag Sponsorships co-chaired our Seafood Donations Committ ee. Sponsorships were solicited to pay for the tote We wanted to have the Hilton put on a seafood bags that were passed out with the registration spread that everyone would enjoy and remember. packets. Stan Moberly with Northwest Marine Initially, we contacted a number of seafood Technology conducted this fundraising eff ort companies for donations, but didn’t get much for us. He is a persuasive person. The exterior response. I was fortunate to have a number of of the bags the planning committ ee selected had contacts within the seafood industry, and one room to display six logos. Based on an estimated individual, Glenn Reed, Executive Director of the production cost of $21,000, 6 sponsorships of Pacifi c Seafood Processors Association, agreed $3,500 were sold on a fi rst come basis. One to help. Glenn’s suggestion was to raise the sponsor contributed $4,000 so the total collected funds necessary to purchase seafood products was $21,500. The tote bag sponsors were: at wholesale prices. Our Socials Committ ee Northwest Marine Technology assembled a menu for the Sunday social, and Lotek the Hilton chefs compiled a list of seafood they BioSonics needed. We provided that to Glenn, and he then Smith-Root Inc. raised $19,000 in a few weeks, and we were able to University of Alaska Fairbanks, School of Fisheries put on an extravaganza that exceeded our hopes. and Ocean Sciences We obtained the help from a local seafood broker, Great Lakes Fishery Commission FAVCO, who was able to acquire the products and deliver them to the Hilton. Tim Joyce obtained In-kind Donations Copper River sockeye salmon and rockfi sh In-kind donations paid for planning of the and halibut from his Cordova fi shermen and meeting as well as select components of the processor sources, and Brian obtained Dungeness meeting. Examples include: cell phones for crab and some oysters and mussels from the communication during the meeting, storage space Pacifi c Northwest. Joe Sullivan, our Volunteers for meeting supplies, logistics planning, meeting Committ ee co-Chair, obtained Yukon River king planning, extra program pringing, refreshments salmon to further enhance our seafood selections. and decorations. The in-kind donors were: Actually pulling all this off wasn’t easy, and it didn’t really come together until days before the Eric Knudsen, Consulting Fishery Scientist social. But it happened, thanks to the assistance Fish Talk, Consulting of many individuals, particularly Allison GCI Erickson who coordinated with the Hilton, Dave North Pacifi c Fishery Management Council Trudgen who worked with our caterers for the DataFlow Alaska, Inc. Wednesday and Tuesday socials, Steve Grabacki Biopar who coordinated with FAVCO, and Tim Joyce Oasis Environmental, Inc. and Brian Allee who obtained products from their Glacier Brewhouse sources. The eff ective value of all of this eff ort was Alaska IBEW Local 1547 about $80,000 in seafood we were able to procure Wild Salmon on Parade from donated funds or product. Anchorage Hilton Hotel Anchorage Convention and Visitors Bureau The seafood donors were: Marine Conservation Alliance At-Sea Processors Association

Final Report 43 Budget and Finance

Pacifi c Seafood Processors Association fundraising for the Skinner and Hutt on funds was Ocean Beauty Seafoods a bit diff erent from past years’ fundraising events. Copper River Seafoods North Pacifi c Longline Association The traditional AFS fundraising raffl e was Icicle Seafoods not feasible because of Alaska’s complex and United States Seafoods restrictive gaming laws, so a silent auction was Norton Sound Economic Development Corporation planned and implemented during the Anchorage NorQuest meeting – actually there were two silent auctions. Alaska Marine Lines AFS members att ending the meeting were Aleutian Islands Brown King Crab Coalition informed of the silent auctions by a single page Aleutian-Pribilof Islands Community Development fl yer included in their registration materials. The Association fl yer provided details for both silent auctions and Central Bering Sea Fishermens Association how they would benefi t the Skinner Fund and the Lynden Transport Hutt on Fund; the Skinner Fund was to receive the United Catcher Boats benefi ts from the primary auction and the Hutt on Yukon River Drainage Fisheries Association Fund would receive proceeds from the secondary Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission auction. For easy recognition both silent auctions Alaska Sea Grant College Program were diff erentiated by diff erent color bidding Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program sheets. Silent Auction net proceeds were $9,252, Glenn Reed with the Skinner Fund receiving $6,939 and the Hutt on Fund receiving $2,313. Recommendations The Silent Auction Subcommitt ee started early— ● Don’t waste your time with mass mailings about 2–3 years prior to the 2005 meeting—but in of lett ers. Personal contacts are needed reality that committ ee’s activities are most intense to get sponsors. You need to engage your during the year of the annual meeting. The 2005 membership so that people with contacts committ ee developed the procedures for the can help line up sponsors. It is much easier silent auctions so the event could “fi t” with the to get money from people you know than meeting’s schedule and venues. The committ ee complete strangers. also collected door prizes which were given away ● Focus fundraising on large donors. Small as a special incentive to att ract people to the donors will eat up lots of energy and result meeting and to add a litt le levity. in insignifi cant amounts of money. Ten Preparations $5,000 donors are less work than a hundred $500 donors. Committ ee participation and planning are essential throughout the fundraising eff orts. Begin ● Agency donations sometimes come with as early as practical; a year in advance is not that strings (lots of paperwork, fi nal report, uncommon for many non-profi t fundraisers. State etc.). Make sure you have adequate help to non-profi t gaming laws and regulations vary, so do everything that is required. investigate early on in the process how raffl es, A master spreadsheet listing the donors that drawings, and auctions are treated in local laws were contacted and the results of all fundraising to ensure appropriate permits are obtained and conducted by the Local Arrangements Committ ee determine if any reporting is necessary to state and the WDAFS is available from Bill Wilson. authorities. Fundraising reporting requirements Silent Auction and Door Prizes (Bob Lafferty) by state agencies can be highly detailed, and defi nitely cumbersome with national non-profi t Overview organizations. Every year AFS puts on a raffl e or other kind of Communications fundraising event in association with the annual It was very benefi cial to our Silent Auction meeting. This event is to raise money to support group to coordinate with the fundraising chair several student programs. The AFS 2005 meeting

44 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Budget and Finance

during Local Arrangements Committ ee meetings. the congestion and noise levels at such events Progress reports on planning milestones, would not be conducive to announcements of budgeting, and donations were provided to that prize winners, so we decided instead to distribute committ ee on a regular basis. Several members of door prizes in a new way. Our registration the Local Arrangements Committ ee assisted with chairman, Allen Bingham, developed a procedure suggestions and donation contacts for the silent to identify every registrant with a unique number, auction. which was printed on every person’s name tag. Through a random numbers generator, we pre- Donations selected door prize recipients from the universe Contributions from past Trade Show vendors of registration numbers. A random drawing as well as from local businesses provided most was conducted in advance by over estimating of the fundraising items for the 2005 silent the number of registrants. Winning nametag auctions. Many AFS vendors continue a strong numbers were then posted and displayed for easy tradition of supporting meeting fundraising. The recognition. The display was in the Trade Show committ ee is extremely appreciative of Northwest at the silent auction booth; this further att racted Marine Technology, Mercury Outboards and YSI people into the Trade Show area and also att racted Instruments for their contributions and sustained people to the auction area where they could support. A variety of items was contributed to view the prizes and hopefully bid on items in the 2005 auctions from many Alaskan artists the auction. All children accompanying parents and vendors. Several AFS chapters contributed received a door prize poster. It took the committ ee items or supporting funds. Very few items were approximately a half a day to bag and staple door purchased, but the committ ee felt strongly that prizes bags. Storing and handling over 250 door some balance in the auction items was needed, so prizes can be cumbersome; using wheel totes that two small hand-made quilts were commissioned could be stored under auction tables was very and a few items were purchased at cost. These useful to move them from storage to the silent purchases were small and thus helped to maintain auction booth. a low overhead. Several local fi shing charters were donated for the Soliciting for donations is a time consuming and silent auctions. And the committ ee off ered Trade daunting task; starting early with an introduction Show vendors the option to underwrite a booth lett er on AFS Chapter lett erhead was very helpful. drawing to increase Trade Show participation. As donations are received, a secure storage area is Only Northwest Marine Technology capitalized needed and easy shipment receiving is essential. on this option by underwriting two complete A basic understanding of shipping requirements sport-fi shing charter packages. Each fi shing was helpful to contributors seeking additional package included overnight lodging for two and information. As donations arrived they were three days of car rental. Committ ee members documented and organized between auctions and created an advertising poster for the Northwest door prizes. Marine Technology booth drawing and organized the entire drawing for the staff . The names of two Most donated hats, shirts, calendars, and winners of these grand prizes were drawn which some books were utilized for door prizes. The was a highlight of the Trade Show. Anchorage Convention & Visitors Bureau was most helpful with suggestions and provided Trade Show Booth Organization att ractive plastic bags to hold door prizes. The Some thought and consideration is needed to Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute contributed a display donated items. Some items are best variety of colorful and att ractive seafood posters. displayed on a wall, such as quilts or prints. A couple of local fl y tying groups donated several Tables were oriented to allow people to browse dozen fl y boxes each full of hand-tied fl ies as door freely among the silent auction items. Several prizes. Our initial plan was to give away these small freestanding shelves and display holders door prizes at the Trade Show, or perhaps at the were advantageous for displaying items. off -site social, or both events. We determined that Providing a bit of fl exibility in the display of items

Final Report 45 Budget and Finance

will help accommodate any donations that arrived for late pick up at the registration desk the late. following morning. A number of prints, photographs and posters A personal thank you to vendors that contributed also were donated at the Anchorage meeting. was well received during the Trade Show. The committ ee modifi ed the booth design and organized a small art gallery at one end of the Table 4. Silent Auction Accounting booth. One concern of the committ ee was the Expenses framing of prints and how the winner would Postage Donation Letters ($27.00) travel with an oversized item. Most of the prints were shrink-wrapped on foam core, unless the Fundraising Flyer Printing ($200.00) frame was included in the donation. Silent Auction Materials Bidder Sheets ($50.00) Coordinating with the Trade Show organizer is essential to obtain a location with a high traffi c Pens ($20.00) area; booth space adjacent to the food service Gold Fish Bowl ($20.00) during the Trade Show social was benefi cial. Clipboards ($20.00) Silent Auction and Booth Operations Easel Lumber and Hardware ($100.00) Quilts ($130.00) The Silent Auction kicked off with the Monday Trade Show social and closed towards the end Shipping for Trolling Motor ($100.00) of the Trade Show on Wednesday aft ernoon. A Fish Beads & Shipping ($250.00) tremendous amount of interest was generated Print Shrink-Wrap and Foam Core ($182.00) during the social because the booth was adjacent Ulu Knife & Wooden bowel ($40.00) to the food and beverage service. The browse- Jewelry ($60.00) through booth design invited att endees to look through the auction items. Each auction bidder Door Prize Poster Materials ($10.00) received a string of colored fi sh Mardi Gras Fishing Charter Drawing beads as a gratuity. Many people wore their fi sh Poster material ($20.00) beads throughout the meeting to show their Drawing Tickets ($15.00) support of the meeting fundraising. One of our Gold Fish Bowl ($20.00) committ ee members suggested that we try a “buy Two B&Bs (overnight for 2) ($200.00) it now” option for many of the auction items. This additional option was very successful as it Two Car Rentals (three days) ($300.00) encouraged people to not wait until the end of Total Expenses ($1,789.00) auction for their bid. Approximately a quarter of the silent auction items were purchased using Proceeds the “buy it now” option. Additionally, this Cash Donation: AFS Northeast Chapter $300.00 option helped to reduce the volume of items as Fishing Charter Underwriting NWMT $2,500.00 the auction closed. Some of the best sellers were Silent Auction $8,241.00 quilts, carved fi sh, artwork, jewelry, leather goods, Total Proceeds $11,041.00 art prints and fi shing equipment. Total Expenses ($1,789.00) The details in operating a silent auction booth Net $9,252.00 were many: the process for setup; organizing items with bid sheets; staffi ng and scheduling; Fund Distribution cash box and credit card sales; and take down. Skinner Fund $6,939.00 The committ ee developed a specifi c plan for each Hutton Fund $2,313.00 of these aspects. At the end of the silent auction, we surprisingly had approximately 20 items that were not claimed, so we provided an opportunity

46 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Budget and Finance

Recommendations Income Income was from numerous sources (Table 5). ● Consider providing some type of Registration comprised the majority (64.2%) of interactive game during the Trade Show the income. Alaska Chapter and Parent Society Social; it might be well received. fundraising activities accounted for 21.5% of the ● If the socials are at diff erent locations, income. The remaining 15.3% came from a large consider having a small silent auction table number of small revenue sources. with a few items, but this will require more planning and staffi ng. The Alaska Chapter raised a great deal of money. The Chapter was fortunate to have numerous ● Provide business cards for local packaging members with contacts in agencies and industry. and shipping service. It is probably unrealistic for future meeting hosts Budget and Accounting (Larry Peltz) to expect to raise this much money. The 2005 AFS meeting in Anchorage was a huge Expenses (See Appendix 5, Estimated Budget and success. Total cash income for the meeting was Income) $1,054,572. Total expenditures were $734,760. The largest meeting expenses were for the These numbers include the silent auction expenses socials which made up 42.1% of total meeting and profi ts that went to the Skinner and Hutt on expenditures. The second largest expense was for Funds. Also included are Chapter memorabilia meeting accommodations (15.1%). Most categories and T-shirt expenses and T-shirt profi ts that went fi nished with expenditures close to budgeted to the Alaska Chapter. Net income for the meeting levels. Total expenditures were 3.7% greater than was $302,725. the total amount of money budgeted (money we

Table 5. Income sources for the 2005 American Fisheries Society meeting in Anchorage Alaska. Actual as a Percent Income Source Goal Actual of Total Fundraising Parent AFS $70,000 81,000.00 7.7% AK Chapter Fundraising (Excluding tote bag $) $79,000 124,500.00 11.8% Western Division Fundraising $30,000 14,394.80 1.4% Alaska Chapter Seed Money $5,000 5,000.00 0.5% Vendor Contributions For Tote Bags (AK Chapter) $21,000 21,500.00 2.0% AK Chapter Tote Supplement Fundraising $8,500* AK Chapter Sea Grant Fundraising $10,000* Memorabilia Sales $9,000 10,697.00 1.0% Trade Show $10,000 10,000.00 0.9% Registration $567,050 677,510.00 64.2% Continuing Ed Registration $8,000 26,805.00 2.5% Spawning Run $2,000 5,215.00 0.5% Continued on next page

Final Report 47 Budget and Finance

Table 5. Continued. Actual as a Percent Income Source Goal Actual of Total Student T-shirts/income $7,200 13,132.00 1.2% Silent Auction 10,876.00 1.0% Anchorage Convention and Visitors Bureau Credit - Offsets Performing Arts Center Labor $20,000* In-kind Support $10,000* Box Lunch Sales $10,133* Seafood Donations $19,000* Tours 36,770.00 3.5% Guest Fees 14,210.00 1.3% Misc. 2,962.00 0.3% Total $885,883 1,054,581.80 100.0% *Actual amount included in another category.

estimated we’d have as income). Considering ● Adjust the budget as needed. Don’t draw that we planned a meeting for 2,000 people and up a budget 3 years before the meeting 2,800 people showed up, the small cost overrun is and try to stick to it. You need to adjust the not bad; note that fi nal income greatly surpassed budget as costs change or become more expenses! refi ned. Several expense overruns merit discussion. Early ● There is no standardized budget for morning coff ee and refreshments at breaks need making comparisons between years. Each to be closely monitored. These items are extremely planning committ ee does its own thing, expensive ($69,297) so you need to make sure you resulting in an inability to make direct don’t order more than really needed. Since we had comparisons of meeting costs. It would be more people than planned at the meeting, we had benefi cial for the Parent Society to develop to add signifi cantly to our breaks. Another large a standardized budget with some defi ned cost overrun occurred with our A/V contractor. categories so partial comparisons could be These cost overruns occurred because pre- made from year to year. meeting planning was not suffi cient to detail the ● Don’t accept any pass through funds! expected costs. Last minute A/V adjustments were Several groups in Alaska wanted to pay necessary to accommodate the large number of speaker air travel and per diem costs for papers presented. select symposia. Their administrative rules made it diffi cult for them to do that. Recommendations However, they were more easily allowed to ● Use good accounting soft ware to monitor give AFS funds for the meeting so we could your money. It will save you time and pay the speaker costs. This was a real hassle energy. and resulted in extra accounting work that ● Don’t have the General Chair be one of the wasn’t essential for the meeting. I urge check co-signers. The General Chair has future meeting hosts to steer clear of any enough to do without signing hundreds of arrangement similar to this. checks. 48 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Budget and Finance

Final Accounting (Bill Wilson, Larry Peltz) numbers, and thus are not worth discussing further. But future meeting planners should Aft er the meeting, and aft er all the bills were in realize that the fi nance work isn’t necessarily a pile and then paid, we compiled a summary “over” many months aft er the meeting ends, and ledger reconciling all the income and expenditures you should have some kind of contingency to be categories (Table 6). Then the fi nal net income able to pay such bills—perhaps through a pre- from the meeting could be determined. With arranged agreement with AFS Bethesda. We chose the registration fees from over 2,800 people in to just pony up the money to make this simpler all categories, proceeds from the continuing rather than ask AFS Bethesda to write checks. education classes and silent auction, and This way the money was paid immediately to fundraising money, the 2005 meeting grossed a creditor. Of course, if the bill were large, we approximately $1,050,000.00. The “fi nal” costs would have talked with Bethesda. to put on the meeting were approximately $735,000.00. The term “fi nal” means the amounts Disposition of Profi ts we thought we had to cover based on receipts in As discussed previously, the profi t split for the hand several months aft er the meeting was over. 2005 meeting was agreed to beforehand: 90/10 To our surprise, additional bills came in well percent to the Parent Society and the Alaska aft er we “closed the books” and luckily we had Chapter. The Western Division, per their request, the ability to cover those costs aft er the above was paid $10,000. Less this $10,000, net profi ts numbers were fi nalized (a few hundred dollars— realized were $308,360 of which $276,524 and totally insignifi cant). These additional costs do not $31,836 were distributed to AFS Bethesda and the aff ect the overall magnitude of the fi nal budget Alaska Chapter, respectively.

Table 6. Final Accounting (Larry Peltz) Meeting Expenses Paid by AFS Bethesda $ (649.83) Poster Mailing $ (280.82) Poster Mailing $ (1,061.04) Poster Mailing $ (4,000.00) Ray Troll Contract $ (8,323.40) Event Registration $ (5,321.00) Fisheries Supplement $ (1,802.10) CD Production $ (1,175.00) CD Mailing $ (3,002.40) Continuing Education—A/V Cost $ (2,779.20) Continuing Education—Hilton Food and Beverage $ (1,485.00) Continuing Education—University of Alaska Lab (13,427.00) Continuing Education—Instructor Fees $ (364.00) Spawing Run—Municipality of Anchorage $ (1,076.33) Plenary Speaker—Heather Tausig $ (26,000.00) Staff Travel (Estimate) $ (4,000.00) Poster Boards (Estimate) $ (15,368.38) Credit Card Charges $ (668.00) Ribbons $ (298.13) Printing Costs Continued on next page

Final Report 49 Budget and Finance

Table 6. Continued $ (91,081.63) Total “Owed” to AFS Bethesda From Meeting Proceeds

Revenues Received by AFS Bethesda (Meeting Proceeds) $ 81,000.00 Donations to AFS Bethesda $ 677,510.00 Registration $ 26,805.00 Continuing Education Classes $ 4,935.00 Spawning Run $ 14,210.00 Guest Fees $ 36,770.00 Tours $ 2,962.00 Miscellaneous Fees (Bag Stuffi ng, etc.) $ 25,250.00 Alaska Contributions (U.S. Forest Service, USGS, Pacifi c Corps, USFWS) Collected at AFS Bethesda $ 10,000.00 Trade Show $ 879,442.00 AFS Bethesda Revenues Received $ (550,000.00) Less Working Funds AFS Periodically Sent to Local Arrangements Committee $ 329,442.00 Cash in Hand AFS Bethesda

Reconciliation of Meeting Proceeds $ 329,442.00 Cash In Hand AFS Bethesda $ 80,000.00 Local Arrangements Committee Cash In Hand $ (91,081.63) “Owed” to AFS Bethesda $ 318,360.37 Total Meeting Profi t

Allocation of Meeting Profi t $ 31,836.04 AFS Alaska Chapter (10%) $ 10,000.00 AFS Western Division $ 276,524.33 AFS Bethesda

These numbers include a $10,000 rebate to the Alaska Sea Grant Program and repaying the Alaska Chapter $5,000 for the seed money they contributed at the beginning of the planning for the 2005 meeting. The net profi t of $318,360 eclipses past meeting proceeds by a large margin, and should not be expected in future meetings unless extraordinary eff orts are put into fundraising and cost control, and a very large att endance materializes.

50 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Registration

Registration

Introductory Comments (Bill Wilson) decided he’d off er his help in any way we could use it. And use him we did. Randy helped at the We were fortunate to have Allen Bingham step up registration table throughout the entire meeting, and take on the responsibility for all registration starting with the weekend and continuing through activities. While the registration process is an Thursday at noon. Randy helped solve problems, eff ort that largely occurred just prior to and spelled Allen so he could att end to issues away during the meeting, Allen was an integral member from the registration area, and became a catalyst of the Local Arrangements Committ ee and helped that made the on-site registration process go with many diff erent aspects of meeting planning smoothly. We were fortunate to have Randy join including the website, the master schedule, the team. taking notes during committ ee meetings, posting information to the Alaska Chapter membership, Name tags helping to make decisions involving the budget, The decision was made early to provide name and of course advanced planning for the eventual badges to everyone using the largest available on-site registration process. size. We found a local source for name badge Allen coordinated with Bethesda, as they are materials, but their name badges and holders responsible for on-line registration, and they were smaller than we wanted. We planned to use collect registration fees right up to the last some of Ray Troll’s artwork on the name badges, couple weeks before the meeting starts. Then and we needed a large name tag to accommodate Allen took over and coordinated all of the not only that artwork but also to allow us to print overall registration activities during the meeting the name of the registrant in large bold lett ers that week. His subcommitt ee handled all of the pre- would be readable from several feet away. One of registrations, and Bethesda staff coordinated all our main concerns was the visibility of the name the on-site registrations. Allen is a biometrician, badge. We thus went to a commercial vendor. and is familiar with numbers. Organization is his More on this in Allen’s report. strength (although if you visit his offi ce you might Registration logistics question that), and he used his skills in those areas to my amazement. Future committ ees would Registration plans initially called for a do well to consider placing a person with such registration desk at the Hilton for the fi rst two talents. days—Saturday and Sunday—and then move to the Egan Convention Center for Monday Allen had coordinated registration for another through Thursday. We wanted to be able to off er large AFS meeting in 1998, he helped the 2004 registration in the facility where continuing Madison meeting registration team, and thus had education classes were to be held and where the experience and insights that proved valuable. the opening social was located. The issue was I left this activity almost entirely to Allen. I like convenience for those arriving over the weekend, to be involved in everything, and many of my since the convention center would not be open committ ee members reminded me that they were until Monday morning. But we realized that space fully competent and I didn’t need to get “into the in the Hilton precluded having any registration weeds” with every aspect of the meeting. I tried to set up there, so we moved it—aft er the program heed their advice and in the case of registration, I was printed—and thus had to have signs telling left it in the capable hands of Allen. His report is people to walk to the Egan Convention Center later in this document. so they could get their registration packets and their name badges, which they would need for One fi nal note about registration: we were very the opening social. I didn’t think this would be fortunate to have a last-minute volunteer join very convenient, but it worked very well. And in our registration team—Randy Bailey. A former the Hilton we set up a student table, where we Alaskan and long-time AFS active member, Randy would provide information, and the students sold Final Report 51 Registration

T-shirts and a variety of other memorabilia and I discovered substantive instances of duplicate generally talked with early arrivers, and gave registrations that occurred due to a variety of them more personal directions to the registration sources. The overall occurrence of duplicate tables in the convention center. registrations was quite low; however, there did not seem to be any system developed by the third Anticipated number of registrants party contractor to identify or correct duplicate During the months before the meeting began, registrations. Allen periodically obtained the latest statistics on registrations received and converted those into One of the more frustrating issues related to the a spreadsheet and forecast model that proved online pre-registration process was the design and invaluable. Allen compared the rate at which implementation of the process for registering for registrations came in, and compared this to the the Spawning Run and ordering the associated past two AFS annual meetings. He used these T-shirt size for each Spawning Run registration. data to forecast the likely eventual turnout, and The soft ware allowed registrants to indicate we found this incredibly helpful in planning. It T-shirt sizes for the main registrant and any guest certainly gave us warning that we might see a regardless of whether or not they registered for very large, record-sett ing registration, and thus the Spawning Run. This problem was a repeat of we planned for this as best we could using Allen’s the experiences of the 2004 meeting in Madison, helpful numbers. One of Allen’s early as well as and was identifi ed early on as something that his fi nal pre-meeting forecasts are presented in would be addressed during development of the Appendix 7. 2005 online registration system. Unfortunately, the problem was repeated and not resolved Registration Process (Allen Bingham) satisfactorily prior to implementation of the online system. Pre-registration The AFS main offi ce contracted a third party that An additional although less problematic issue handled the online web-based registration system. caused some diffi culties related to the fi elds used The system used in 2005 was essentially the same to develop the name badges for the meeting. as that used in 2004 with some improvements. In Early in the online pre-registration process, the addition to the online pre-registration system the electronic form did not exactly match the fi elds main AFS offi ce also handled pre-registrations via on the hardcopy forms. Specifi cally, the online regular registration forms available both online form at fi rst only “asked” registrants to provide and hardcopy (e.g. published in Fisheries). The Affi liation (as it should appear on the name tag), hardcopy registration forms could be submitt ed whereas at a later date the form was revised both by regular mail and via FAX. The main to include the additional question Name (as it AFS offi ce also handled additions, deletions, and should appear on the name tag). The result was cancellations to a registrant’s selections for the that information in the electronic data base had meeting (e.g. adding or deleting a short course some records with the affi liation in the fi eld called registration, etc.). Overall the online and hardcopy Name (as it should appear on the name tag), and pre-registration process ran smoothly; however, or with this fi eld as blank. Additionally, some of there were some ‘glitches’ that I outline below the Name (as it should appear on the name tag) in the hopes that future meeting organizers can values had just people’s fi rst names rather than avoid repeating these mistakes. how their full name should appear on the name tag. Similar issues related to the fi eld Affi liation Periodic electronic reports were obtained from (as it should appear on the name tag) as compared the main AFS offi ce with pertinent information to the fi eld called Registrant Company. I ended about all registrants. These reports were used up addressing these problems in two ways: to develop the projections on the anticipated (1) I used a variety of text-handling functions in number of registrants. I worked interactively with Excel to piece together the information provided staff from the AFS offi ce regarding information by registrants as captured by the online forms, in the reports. While developing the projections and (2) I contacted a few select registrants for

52 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Registration

additional information for developing the name This reminder had been handled in previous years badges. The resultant name badge information by the main AFS offi ce, but was handled locally was reviewed by a number of volunteers prior to in 2005 due to some “glitches” in the AFS e-mail printing to catch and correct additional mistakes/ systems at the time of need for generating the issues (for example ‘nonsense’ country/city reminders (as well as my resources and familiarity combinations, repeats of fi rst name, etc.). with generating e-mail reminders of this sort). Another problem arose due to the structure of Name badge printing and stuffi ng the online pre-registration form, in that it did We used a 4.25” by 3” name badge form with the not allow for registering for only a continuing Ray Troll artwork and basic meeting identifi ers education course without registering for the preprinted by the name badge company (see conference. This shortcoming mostly impacted Appendix 8). A total of six diff erent backgrounds local (Alaskan) professionals who wanted to were used, matching with the position on the take advantage of one or more of the continuing name tag forms. A mail-merge MS Word form education opportunities, but were apparently not was used to create the name badge information interested in att ending the meeting. Additionally, for printing. The mail-merge used the information certain combinations of one-day registrations from the MS Excel registration data base (e.g. Monday and Thursday) were not provided (developed from reports from the AFS offi ce). Line or allowed via the online registration form. 1 (and 2 for long names) of the name badge had Registrants that desired these “un-planned-for” the fi rst and last name of registrants, the next line combinations had to contact the main AFS offi ce indicated the affi liation for main registrants or the to address their needs. word “GUEST” on a grey background for guests In addition to developing att endance projections of the main registrant. The affi liation/guest line from the periodic electronic registration database was followed by the City, State/Country of each reports, information gleaned from the reports registrant. An additional line was used to indicate was transmitt ed periodically to the Local one-day registrations, which were printed on a Arrangements Committ ee members responsible grey background. Finally, for all pre-registrants for planning the various social events, tour a sequential number on a grey background was opportunities, as well as the organizers of the printed on the lower right corner of each name Spawning Run (including information on the tag. This sequential number was used for the numbers and sizes of T-shirts for the run). “door prizes” as described in the Silent Auction Communication to the organizers of continuing and Door Prizes section of this report. education courses of the numbers and names of The following describes the type face and point registrants for each course was the responsibility size used for the name badges: of the main AFS offi ce. However, I was involved in sending out reminder-announcements to ● Registrant name: Arial Black, 32 point registrants and others regarding available space ● Affi liation/Guest, City, State/Country: Arial in continuing education courses. Cancellation Black, 14 point of some courses due to insuffi cient registrants ● Single-day registration information: Arial occurred for some of the classes and was Black, 10 point communicated to class registrants by the main AFS offi ce. ● Door prize number: Comic Sans MS, 9 Point Pre-registration name information was matched to A total of 2,405 name badges were printed prior an electronic list of names of the paper and poster to the meeting. The name badges as well as presenters as well as session moderators. As social event tickets, identifying ribbons for some late as early August a number of presenters and registrants (e.g. presenter, past President, host, moderators had failed to register for the meeting. etc.), and receipts were stuff ed in identifying An e-mail-merged reminder that registration was envelopes prior to the meeting as well. A total of required was generated to a total of 341 presenters 2,152 envelopes were printed with identifying and moderators who had not registered to date. Final Report 53 Registration

information for each main registrant using an MS week staffi ng needs at the pre-registration portion Word mail merge program using the registration of the registration desk could be handled by 3–4 data base. Each envelope was stuff ed with the volunteers. name badge(s), etc. for each main registrant The on-site registration portion of the registration as well as each guest for the associated main desk was handled by the AFS main staff . registrant. It took about 100 person-hours (very Computer and printer needs for the on-site rough estimate) over a two-day period to print registration, as well as reprinting name tags for name badges and envelopes, and to stuff the pre-registrants (for name snafus, etc), included envelopes. The preprinted envelopes and their one main computer and printer capable of contents were presorted alphabetically by last handling the name badge card stock. Additionally, name and organized into envelope “banker a separate computer/laptop with internet access boxes” for use during the registration desk hours was used by AFS staff to access the online during the meeting. registration database as well as the membership Meeting bag stuffi ng activities were also database for look-ups, etc. conducted prior to the meeting and are described The registration desk used one dedicated internet more fully in the later subsection titled Bag access line full-time, and periodically used an Stuffi ng. additional line for periodic lookups. The on-site On-site Registration Activities registration desk also needed a dedicated phone The two primary “duties” for the on-site line for the credit card machine. One land-line registration desk include (1) processing pre- phone line was used for central communications registered att endees, and (2) handling walk- (supplementing the cell phones used by the local on registrants. Pre-registered att endees were arrangements staff ). processed by the local volunteer registration Although most registration activities went staff , whereas walk-on registrations as well smoothly during the meeting a few glitches in as any changes/additions to registrations for the system arose—mostly regarding printing of pre-registrants were handled by main AFS name badges, especially early-on in the meeting. staff . An additional important duty for the A pre-meeting coordination briefi ng between the registration desk staff was to serve as the main AFS staff and the local registration volunteers was “command central” for communication to all NOT held in 2005, but is highly recommended local arrangement entities as well as answering for future meetings and would have helped avoid questions from any and all. problems. Additionally, an additional printer The registration desk was open from noon to 5 would have helped alleviate the name badge p.m. on Saturday (September 10), 10 a.m. to 9 p. printing backlog. m. on Sunday, 7 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Meeting bags (Bill Wilson) 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday, This was quite a project. We knew we wanted to and 7 a.m. to noon on Thursday. Registration give every registrant a bag of some sort that they desk set-up began about 8 a.m. on Saturday, could use to carry around the meeting program, and approximately ½ hour before opening on Anchorage visitor literature, local maps, trade the other days in the week. The busiest days show items, and other “stuff ” everyone ends for registration were Sunday and Monday. In up collecting at an AFS meeting. In past AFS addition to the Registration Chair the yeoman meetings the local committ ees have given out volunteer eff orts put in by Randy Bailey (as noted briefcases, boat bags, small backpacks, tote bags, above) were supplemented by a large cadre of and even tackle boxes. volunteers that helped hand out registration envelopes, registration bags, and answer We wanted to do the same, and so we searched questions, etc. During peak periods I recommend for ideas, and sett led on a briefcase on which we at least 6 staff working 4–6 lines (early in the week could print the name of the meeting, etc. As we 6 lines, later in the week 2–4 lines). Later in the investigated possible ideas for what to print on

54 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Registration

the bags, Karen Lybrand’s name emerged. Karen meeting that they would deliver the bags the week works with Ray Troll, our poster designer, and of the meeting, which we said wouldn’t work. Karen used her incredible computer graphics skill They reworked the production schedule and came to color Ray’s fi sh artwork prepared for the AFS through for us, and aft er some nail biting, the 2005 meeting poster. Karen had some neat ideas bags arrived about two weeks before the meeting for what to print on the registration bags, and started, giving us plenty of time to prepare them we let her imagination run. To make a long story for the bag stuffi ng process. But we started the short, she used a portion of the artwork from the order for the bags about eight months ahead of Ray Troll poster, and her design was colorful and time, so having it run right up to the last minute att ractive. We printed it on as a “photo real” and was hard given the immense amount of planning also screen printed fi sh designs onto the cloth eff ort that went into the project and the amount fabric. of money we had to spend (and raise) to pay for them. I thank Jeff Anderson of PromoPeddler.com The AFS 2005 registration bag became an instant for his enthusiasm and expert assistance in hit and possible collector’s item. Although I making this all happen. We were particularly haven’t seen it on eBay yet, I have been inundated thankful for Stan Moberly’s successful fundraising with requests from people who did not att end the along with some last minute work here in Alaska. meeting but want one. We manufactured 2,450 The registrants essentially paid nothing from their bags, and had none left at the end of the meeting, registration fees for this part of the meeting. and some people who walked in and registered on site did not receive a bag as we simply ran out. Bag Stuffi ng (Jane DiCosimo, Allen Bingham) Never in our imagination did we expect to need The meeting tote bag serves as a briefcase during that many. the meeting, and has some utility aft er the During the 2004 meeting in Madison, I brought meeting ends – as a backpack, briefcase, tackle along some of the design ideas we were thinking box, etc. For 2005, the cordura cloth soft briefcase about. At the 2004 Trade Show I showed the with Ray Troll artwork printed on the fabric design to Stan Moberly, who immediately in worked well as a briefcase and also served as a his usual enthusiastic manner said he’d fi nd means for fundraising. the money to fully pay for the bags. I estimated Into these tote bags we placed a variety of items— we’d need about $21,000 and Stan said he’d fi nd most importantly the meeting abstracts CD, the it all. He did. We agreed to print the logo of the Program Guide, and a supplement to the Program sponsoring companies on one side of the bag, Guide with all the last minute program changes. and six groups stepped up with $3,500 each (one Of course we also had a large number of other contributed $4,000). In exchange we also gave each group who sponsored the bag about 20 bags for their employees. The registration bags increased in cost a bit, as Karen Lybrand felt we needed to embroider some of the lett ering to give the bags greater longevity, and we raised some additional funds to pay for that additional cost. The bags eventually cost about $10 each including manufacture, embroidery, photo real screenprint, and shipping. Our initial budget estimated about $6 per bag, but then increased to about $10 per bag when we added the costs for embroidery and an additional screenprint set-up charge. We were incredibly pleased with the outcome of this eff ort. The one cliff hanger was a glitch in shipping the bags: the Volunteers work to stuff meeting bags. manufacturer told us about two months before the Final Report 55 Registration

items to “stuff ” into the tote bags including items commercial companies paid for the privilege, local tourism information, and some seafood advertisements and recipe brochures. Approximately 12 volunteers packed and moved the meeting material from storage to stuffi ng in approximately three hours. Approximately 25 (mostly diff erent) persons worked all or part of 1 1/2 days to collate approximately 20 inserts for 2450 meeting bags. In addition, the Local Arrangements Committ ee decided to give every registrant a luggage tag. We used Ray Troll’s artwork printed on card stock and purchased empty luggage tags and rubberized att achment loops. We knew there could be lost and misplaced bags, and given what we thought would be the high value of the bags, registrants could immediately personalize their bag by att aching a luggage tag with their business card and the artwork card (blank on one side to allow a person to write their name, etc.). We believed this was a success (almost no bags were “lost”).

The luggage tag card that was printed with Ray Troll’s artwork and inserted into the empty luggage tag.

56 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Accommodations

Accommodations

Introductory Comments (Bill Wilson) self-contained symposium extended through the entire meeting, so logically we thought it could be Many Venues—Many Details in a more “remote” facility. The other symposia What can I say about Bill Hauser? Bill took on and poster sessions were centered in the Egan probably the lion’s share of the work putt ing on Convention Center and Alaska Center for the the 2005 meeting. He was the fi rst to “sign up” Performing Arts and required people to make to help with the planning eff orts for the meeting, a dash from one end to the other of these two way back in 2001, and has been solid since then. buildings if they wanted to jump around to hear Even a month aft er the meeting ended, as I write papers in separate meeting rooms. We counted the this section of this report, Bill is still hard at steps from the furthest points, and determined it work reconciling bills at the Hilton and writing could be done. We asked everyone at the Plenary his part of this report. Bill agreed to take on the to be patient and tolerant. I think everyone responsibilities for all the convention facilities and practiced those virtues! local hotel arrangements. This meant coordinating all activities in the Alaska Center for Performing When we bid for the 2005 meeting, the Anchorage Arts, the Egan Convention Center, and the Hilton, Hilton Hotel sent staff to help with the bid. our host hotel. He coordinated catering, signage, Probably as a consequence of their showing such space assignment, scheduling, and other logistics interest, AFS asked the Hilton to be our host in all the facilities. This was way too much for hotel. Its location was perfect (one block from the a single individual, but Bill has large shoulders Egan Convention Center) and it gave us plenty and a big heart and without complaint att ended of amenities, free meeting room space, and a staff to the many details required to make the meeting experienced with large conventions. Diana Arthur a success. I’d guess he spent full time on this for was extremely helpful in helping get the bid, and months and months, and part time for many she provided our Local Arrangements Committ ee years, all on his own nickel as he is self employed. with many helpful suggestions as our planning The meeting was a success largely due to Bill’s got under way. contributions, diligence, and att ention to details. The Hilton’s room rate for the AFS meeting, We necessarily were spread out into three main quoted to us in 2001 and applicable to 2005, was facilities, two of which were connected by a $115, single or double. This was an extraordinary sky bridge. We feared that separation of space rate and helped make the meeting more would be a problem, but with signage and aff ordable. lots of preplanning it went okay. Anchorage is We secured room blocks at the Hilton and now planning to build a new larger convention several other downtown hotels. We needed space facility, and in 2008 or 2009 it will be ready for a for students, and were successful arranging convention as large as the AFS 2005 meeting! So aff ordable rooms at the Howard Johnson so we could do this again in the future (not me, but that people could double or triple up and save someone could). considerable money on lodging ($79 single or When we agreed to bid for the 2005 meeting, double, $94 triple). We also acquired room blocks we knew we’d be stretched to accommodate at the Captain Cook Hotel (site of the AFS 1989 a large turnout. We knew we’d have crowded meeting) and the Marriott . Betsy Fritz made all meeting rooms and people spread out in multiple the hotel arrangements, set up the contracts, buildings. But it worked – sort of; we did get negotiated room rates and blocks, asked for complaints about crowded and stuff y rooms. amenities and perks, and handled all the early The Wakefi eld Fisheries Symposium fi t into the questions. She also contacted other hotels and Hilton and this worked well for them, although motels as space started fi lling up. We found that they were crowded on some days. This semi the entire Hilton room block fi lled very quickly aft er being posted on our website. We also

Final Report 57 Accommodations

quickly fi lled the other hotel room blocks, and We found that personnel managing each of these I found myself fi elding phone calls and e-mails kinds of facilities viewed our AFS meeting in from across the country asking for help fi nding a quite diff erent ways, and to the extent that this room. I located some B&Bs, and several smaller can be learned early on the easier it will be to “boutique” hotels as well. Betsy located more communicate. rooms in smaller facilities, some 10 blocks or more Events held in the Hilton Hotel included: the away, and we posted hotel updates on the website AFS business meeting, continuing education periodically so others could fi nd space. classes, the internet café and AFS business offi ce, Free rooms were part of the contracts Betsy committ ee meetings, AFS section meetings, AFS negotiated at the Hilton and the Marriott (if Western Division and Alaska Chapter business we fi lled our room blocks). We split those in meetings, large and small socials, various AFS half—half for Betsy and AFS Parent Society VIPs, planning meetings and meals, the speaker practice staff , etc. and half for the Local Arrangements room, one technical session (the Alaska Sea Grant Committ ee. We put some of our committ ee Wakefi eld Symposium), two small poster sessions, members in “comp rooms” because they were and other meetings. essentially required to be on premises 24 hours a Betsy Fritz negotiated other amenities at the day for the week of the meeting. I also had a few Hilton such as special VIP amenities (fl owers, VIPs I needed to house (e.g. Ray Troll), and we welcoming gift s), parking passes, reduced room fi lled our comp rooms. Out of town committ ee rates for AFS staff (included with the room block), members also were accommodated in some of the and complimentary meeting room and function comp rooms, although those who had agency or space. The Hilton contract also included cut-off employer support were expected to travel and get dates for the special room rates, a minimum order hotel space on their own. for banquet and catering, a cancellation policy, The four main hotels were for the most part and other fairly common contractual clauses. The completely fi lled for the meeting, although there Hilton room block of 425 included the AFS staff were some last-minute cancellations or changes and Local Arrangements Committ ee comp rooms, that shift ed the percentages. In total, we were so in reality that number of rooms was reduced almost 109% fi lled about two months before the somewhat. meeting, but as of the meeting week we were With the Hilton as headquarters, AFS held most fi lled at just under 98%. functions in the Hilton including Section and Accommodations (Bill Hauser) other meetings, Continuing Education classes, socials for the Governing Board or AFS offi cers, The 2005 AFS technical program (all oral and and many alumnus or other socials or special poster papers) and Trade Show were housed in meetings. For events other than AFS classes and three closely-spaced, but separate, venues: the socials, every group requesting space arranged Anchorage Hilton Hotel, the William A. Egan their own catering and room set up preferences. Convention Center, and the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts. It is important to establish a Two accounts were established for the Hilton: one good working relationship with the lead contact for the AFS Governing Board activities, and one of each venue and it is important to understand for the general AFS meeting. The former account the working vocabularies, policies, limitations was managed and paid by Betsy Fritz and was and capabilities of each. The business of a hotel kept separate from the general meeting expenses. is to accommodate people and provide food and Our Local Arrangements Committ ee budget did beverage services on a daily basis. The business not include any of these events nor did we pay of a convention center is to accommodate events those expenses. However, the lion’s share of the that are discrete in time and unique in their needs; Hilton costs was borne by the general meeting they are “event driven”. A performing arts center revenues. or theater is accustomed to hosting relatively brief Three suites were provided complimentary “performances” in a carefully-controlled sett ing. by the Hilton: one with a large entertainment 58 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Accommodations

living room with two att ached bedrooms for President Barb Knuth and Program Chairman Eric Knudsen; another which was actually “traded in” for two small one bedroom suites for the General Chairman and the Accommodations Chairman; and a third for AFS Executive Director Gus Rassam. Other Hotels (Bill Hauser, Bill Wilson) Other hotels included the Hotel Captain Cook and the Anchorage Marriott Downtown. Both off ered room blocks and several complimentary rooms based on realized occupancy. We used these comp rooms for AFS staff and some VIPs or invited speakers or award winners. Since these hotels were several blocks further away from the main convention venues, most att endees preferred the Hilton, but it fi lled rapidly and the Captain Cook and Marriott became much desired places to stay. They also fi lled rapidly, however, and other downtown hotels were used. The Howard Johnson Plaza also provided a room block but no complimentary rooms or other amenities. It was The Egan Convention Center with the Hilton about three blocks from the convention venues, Hotel in the background. but was popular since the room rates were lower than other hotels and it too fi lled rapidly. Convention Venues (Bill Hauser) The room blocks we negotiated at each hotel and the actual usage of these room blocks is provided The Egan Convention Center and Alaska Center in Table 7. for the Performing Arts housed all but one of the technical sessions and poster sessions. Other events in the Convention Center included: the Trade Show, registration, audio/visual check in, speaker practice room, a “sign shop”, a conference room for media contacts, a committ ee work and break room, and storage. The Plenary Session was held in the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts in addition to four concurrent technical sessions and a work station for internet access for att endees (a “Cybergarden”). The space where the Plenary Session was held had a capacity of 2100 people. This space was estimated to be about 40–50 % fi lled during the Plenary Session. The Egan Convention Center and the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts are connected by Skybridge from the Egan Convention Center to the a “skybridge” and a street-level crosswalk, but Alaska Center for the Performing Arts. the buildings operate independently from each other. The Local Arrangements Committ ee had serious concerns about the ease with which AFS Final Report 59 Accommodations

Table 7. 2005 Hotel Pickup Room Tue Wed Thur Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed Thur Fri Sat Sun Totals Pickup Date 9/6 9/7 9/8 9/09 9/10 9/11 9/12 9/13 9/14 9/15 9/16 9/17 9/18 Hilton Block 20 50 100 375 425 425 425 425 300 30 2575 4/25 9 19 28 106 266 373 375 373 364 197 52 21 4 2187 84.93% 5/31 13 25 36 121 304 431 434 431 423 230 58 26 5 2537 98.52% 6/7 13 27 39 118 304 431 434 431 424 244 59 26 4 2554 99.18% Final 7 23 43 84 244 389 404 394 379 229 42 14 4 2256 87.61%

Captain Cook Block 35 100 155 175 175 175 125 50 990 5/27 1 2 5 26 85 157 161 161 158 107 25 12 5 905 91.41% 6/20 1 2 6 38 121 234 245 245 239 164 48 24 7 1374 138.79% Final 1 8 34 93 214 238 242 208 136 36 12 3 1225 123.74%

Howard Johnson Block 10 50 100 100 100 100 50 510 5/23 5 6 10 20 75 118 119 120 115 62 16 4 1 671 131.57% Final 3 3 7 23 70 122 127 125 118 61 11 3 673 131.96%

Marriott Block 15 15 15 40 120 176 185 185 183 121 50 15 1120 6/20 4 1 3 10 40 57 59 58 58 34 16 1 341 30% 6/23 4 1 6 20 67 101 103 105 100 63 13 4 587 52.41% 7/5 5 2 9 34 109 175 185 185 183 121 29 10 1047 93.48% 7/14 5 2 9 38 111 176 185 185 184 121 30 10 1056 94.29% Final 5 2 9 32 87 158 169 175 170 95 15 3 920 82.14%

Totals Block 15 35 65 185 645 856 885 885 883 596 130 15 0 5195 6/23 23 36 61 196 567 884 901 901 878 533 136 58 12 5186 99.83% 7/5 24 37 64 210 609 958 983 981 961 591 152 64 12 5646 108.68% Final 15 29 67 173 494 883 938 936 875 521 104 32 7 5074 97.67%

60 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Accommodations

att endees could navigate between and within the accomplished in a database. As diff erent sorts separate venues. We also were concerned about of this “database” are prepared, spreadsheets the distinctly diff erent appearances of the Alaska diverge and multiply and any changes require Center for the Performing Arts and the Egan individual, cumbersome updates. Convention Center, with the former perhaps being We recommend that the Master Scheduler perceived as not part of the meeting. Most of these become very familiar with rooms and spaces concerns were overcome by maps and diagrams that are available for meeting events, and we prepared that were posted on the web site, understand physical and operational limitations included in the Program Guide and displayed and capabilities. We found it helpful to prepare as posters in the venues. In addition, directional maps for each facility—fl oor plans—and to signs were displayed in strategic locations and compile information for each room or event the distinctive “fi sh art” from our meeting poster space within each facility (room capacity by was displayed widely throughout each venue’s seating type, dimensions, built-in A/V equipment, hallways, meeting rooms, windows and the sky lighting options, etc.). Actual dimensions may be bridge. From observations it appeared att endees important for events such as poster displays. Part had litt le diffi culty navigating among the venues; of scheduling is being aware of the time the venue Ray Troll’s fi sh art helped tie the facilities together. needs to reset a room from one confi guration to Although all of the meeting venues were in close another; for most, this is about 30 minutes but proximity to each other, they were separate for a large hall this can extend into hours. Most and large enough that our committ ee could not venues have maps (Appendix 9) and itemized monitor all the facilities as well as we had hoped. data on room confi gurations, and merging these We did have some minor “culture confl icts” data into a master database proved helpful when between the staff of the Alaska Center for the fi elding the various requests for space from the Performing Arts and our committ ee; the normal AFS Sections, university groups, and others operations of the Alaska Center for the Performing wanting a place to meet. Arts consist of hosting theatrical productions Some space requests are very predictable but compared to our needs for hosting a scientifi c some will not be known until literally during the meeting. We did not anticipate the requirements meeting. Our strategy was to assume that events for a stage manager, lighting specialists, and scheduled at the 2004 meeting in Madison would other technicians which resulted in unexpected also be scheduled again in 2005, and at about personnel costs. House ushers were required, and the same day of the week and time of day. This they are trained to be sure people are seated as an strategy proved to be reasonably successful for event starts, perhaps surprising some att endees events that are regularly included in the annual when they were abruptly “ushered to their seats”. meeting. Also, att endees oft en wish to linger and discuss points aft er the end of a session, but an usher is We maintained space assignments in both list focused and anxious to clear the theater and leave. and graphical format. The list format is needed to develop the “Schedule-at-a-Glance” and it Master Schedule (Bill Hauser, Mary Whalen, is important for sorting (Appendix 10). More Allen Bingham) detailed contact information for the person The Master Schedule is compiled by the person responsible for each of the events was listed on a we called the “Master Scheduler” although that separate spreadsheet. job morphed into a series of tasks that required The graphical format (favored by the “visually- several people. This schedule ultimately is oriented”) was actually a spreadsheet for each published in the Program Guide and on the web venue that showed all available spaces laid out site as the “Schedule-at-a-Glance”, and it becomes in a half hour grid, with each day shown on a the template for most of the meeting’s activities. separate tab. Each event was placed on the grid The 2005 Meeting Schedule was compiled in for the time and space needed. The graphical an Excel spreadsheet, but this would probably format of space assignments for events in the be more appropriately and more effi ciently Final Report 61 Accommodations

Hilton Hotel on Tuesday, September 13, 2005, is before the meeting. Just keep some unassigned presented in Appendix 11. rooms available for last-minute requests.

Space requests and events were categorized as: The Program Committ ee took responsibility for scheduling the technical sessions aft er the venues, Category Example Arranger & Payee space layout and capacities, and options were AFS AFS Business Meeting; AFS/Bethesda identifi ed and blocked out. Bethesda Governing Board Meeting Regardless of meeting or event category, several important questions must be answered: Meeting Opening Social; Local Speaker Preview Arrangements ● Event title (as to be listed in the Program Room Committee Guide)? Continuing Class AFS/Bethesda ● How many people? Education ● Preferred date and time (and alternate Section Physiology; Estuaries Section President times or locations)? Ancillary AIFRB; AFS Chapter; Individual ● Space setup (e.g., theater, classroom, or Other University Social social)? ● Catering needs? Although it is not the Master Scheduler’s responsibility to negotiate with the venue to ● Other needs (e.g., projector and screen). arrange setup and catering for most small events, ● Arranger contact information? it is valuable to understand the meeting needs so Initially, we used a two-page questionnaire an appropriate time and space can be assigned to obtain this information. This was eff ective, in a timely manner and to remind the arranger but cumbersome. We recommend a more about their responsibility. Continuing Education simple “what do you need?” list of questions classes are established early (February) and (above). Also, we relied primarily on e-mail these are coordinated by the Bethesda offi ce with communication, which was useful to maintain assistance provided by the local committ ee for electronic records. any special needs; AFS Bethesda also has a series of space needs for the Governing Board and Periodically, compare your list with that offi cer meetings that recur year aft er year. Contact maintained by the venue to identify and resolve information for Section Presidents is available scheduling discrepancies and to assure that all from the Bethesda offi ce. catering needs are arranged. You may need to remind some arrangers and be prepared to off er Ancillary events are more random and less assistance. predictable. Expect requests for ancillary events at any time; we identifi ed and reserved several Eventually, scheduled events must be converted spaces in the Hilton and in the Egan Convention into the Schedule-at-a-Glance for the June Fisheries Center for months prior to the meeting so we Insert, the website, and the Program Guide. could fulfi ll these last minute requests. Even at In summary, we found that most people who that, requests for space came in weeks before or requested meeting or event space were prepared even during the meeting. We falsely assumed that with the information we needed to schedule a space reserved for Media Contacts would double their event. We were not prepared for all the as an ad hoc meeting site; in reality scheduled and last-minute requests, however, although we made unscheduled media events required this space things work. A database rather than a spreadsheet for the entire meeting. Scheduling for ancillary would likely work bett er for developing and meetings is a source of frustration because, maintaining the Master Schedule. And rather than although you know that these will be scheduled, vesting this responsibility in one person, consider you have litt le or no knowledge of who, what, or two. when unless someone tells you. Some requests are early, but most are during the last month or two 62 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Accommodations

Trade Show Planning and Logistics (Katherine Biologists, in the convention center lobby area by Rowell) giving them free space; the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had donated a tremendous amount to The Local Arrangements Committ ee had been the meeting and this was our way of saying expecting a lower level of participation in the an additional thanks, and we judged that the Trade Show compared with past years because American Institute of Fishery Research Biologists of the concerns vendors might have over the was too poor to pay for a booth. expense associated with traveling to Anchorage. However, 56 exhibitors registered for booths, of The Parent Society had contracted a coordinator which 47 were paid and six were complimentary, over the past few years (Anne Grist in 2004 and an additional three were for the Silent and 2005) to facilitate annual meeting Trade Auction. The complimentary booths went to Show logistics. Hence, the role of the Local the Alaska Chapter, the New York Lake Placid Arrangements Committ ee Trade Show committ ee, and several sponsoring agencies. This coordinator (liaison) was very nebulous for the count does not include the Parent Society’s booth 2005 meeting. It became apparent as preparation (which was the equivalent in space to about four for the Trade Show evolved that the local booths). Four publishing companies participated coordinator was to be the focus of inquiries from in a cooperative display (together with the AFS vendors wanting registration information and to Parent Society’s booth which was primarily an provide general liaison to the Parent Society on AFS book sales booth). Thus we “used up” the local Trade Show issues. A signifi cant number of fl oor space of 60 booths. In addition to exhibitors inquiries were a result of publication of the local that had booths, three companies remained on the representative’s e-mail address and phone number waiting list and seven companies chose to provide (with permission) by the Trade Show coordinator. literature for inclusion in the registration bags in This information was published in advertisements lieu of paying for a booth. We also accommodated submitt ed to AFS and Trade Show journals two groups, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Trade Show booth fees have been a major and the American Institute of Fishery Research source of revenue for the Parent Society in past

The Parent Society’s booth at the Trade Show. Final Report 63 Accommodations

years. The expectation for revenue was the company but had not completed the procedures same for the 2005 meeting (Note: this revenue appropriately. Aft er discovering his predicament is “off budget” and was not considered part and because his company had contributed of the budget responsibility of the 2005 Local funding to the meeting, it was determined the Arrangements Committ ee). A Trade Show issue should be sett led quietly and the individual application and instructions were e-mailed to was provided a complimentary space. the Local Arrangements Committ ee Trade Show The Trade Show contractor handled the Trade coordinator by the Trade Show contractor. This Show setup. A local fi rm, Alaska Events Services, information was to be forwarded to anyone that was contracted to provide the pipe and draping. expressed interest in the Trade Show. Booths were The same company worked with the Poster 8’ x 10’ in size and cost $1,300 for an AFS member Committ ee for their organization of the poster and $1,450 for a nonmember. The application session. The poster papers and the Trade Show and fee were to be submitt ed by exhibitors were located in the same room. The confi guration directly to the Trade Show contractor, not the of these two events in a smaller than desired Local Arrangements Committ ee liaison. It was convention hall required considerable discussion very diffi cult for the Alaska coordinator to obtain and planning. updated listings of the subsequently registered vendors from the contractor. These listings would The issue of security had been discussed at the have been helpful to the Alaska liaison person Local Arrangements Committ ee meetings. There so that, when Trade Show registrants were were two issues here: one, to have people check unable to reach the contractor, they would have name badges to be sure that entrants had paid another person from whom to obtain information, their registration fees, and two, to provide a particularly verifi cation of their registration or measure of physical security to vendors, and to approval for a booth, or for determining booth our Silent Auction Committ ee, to protect valuable space requirements for Anchorage’s limited venue items displayed in the Trade Show area. The space. Egan Convention Center is a public building in which any member of the public may walk the A number of inquiries that were thought to be halls, sit in the lobby or use the restrooms. The related to the Trade Show came from several Local Arrangements Committ ee decided that the locations around the world. The response to these likelihood of a threat by the general public that contacts was an explanation that the advertised might wander in from downtown Anchorage to opportunity was a Trade Show by which vendors meeting events, including the Trade Show and could exhibit products related to fi sheries research Trade Show social in the Egan Center, was not and management. Some of these off -the-wall signifi cant. But as we drew closer to meeting time, e-mailed inquiries carried viruses, not exactly a we did att empt to recruit volunteers to check welcome benefi t of the assignment. meeting att endees’ badges at the doors of the The number of Trade Show exhibitors desiring Trade Show, but this was largely unsuccessful. to display their products at the 2005 meeting One individual volunteered to walk through exceeded the number of spaces available. A the Trade Show during the social to note any registration form was made available to Trade strange situations that would require att ention. Show applicants providing an opportunity to The building had a security staff on site that include their literature in the meeting registration could handle any problems if contacted. Thus, bags in lieu of booth space. This service required the Local Arrangements Committ ee decided that a $500 fee. Another option for these vendors professional security was not necessary. As it was to post information regarding their product turned out, disruptions throughout the meeting on bulletin boards located in the registration at the Trade Show, Trade Show social and poster area, with a time and location the company sessions were few. Interestingly enough, one representatives would be available to display situation occurred that the Local Arrangements and discuss their product line. In one instance, Committ ee had not even considered—whether a participant thought he had registered his families of paid registrants would be allowed in

64 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Accommodations

the Trade Show. One family was asked to leave by the Internet Café and Business Offi ce together at a the Trade Show contractor. A topic for discussion central location in the Anchorage Hilton. In 2001, for future AFS meetings might be admission of when Anchorage bid on hosting the AFS annual families into the Trade Show; is the Trade Show a meeting, the Anchorage Convention and Visitors “free” att raction? Bureau off ered a variety of enticements and amenities, and as part of the bid the Anchorage The success of the combined Trade Show Convention and Visitors Bureau committ ed to and poster display is att ributed to constant provide equipment for an internet café including discussion and communication between the Local three computers with a printer (which also had a Arrangement Committ ee’s General Chair, facilities fax and copier included). Vince coordinated with chair, technical poster committ ee, the Trade Show the Anchorage Convention and Visitors Bureau contractor, the Local Arrangements Committ ee and Hilton personnel to arrange equipment and Trade Show liaison, and the convention center room setup. The Anchorage Convention and venue staff . Visitors Bureau rented computers from the Hilton Internet Café and Business Offi ce (Vince McClain, A/V contractor, Encore Productions. This worked Seth Darr) out very well and all equipment was set up on time and there were no technical diffi culties. Vince The committ ee decided to combine the Internet coordinated with a local copier rental company to Café with the Business Offi ce, and recruited Vince provide a copier for larger jobs. McClain, a computer scientist, to set up the room and acquire the equipment needed. Vince asked The internet computers were set up on tables that Seth Darr to be a co-chair. personnel had to stand up to use, and a time limit of 5 to 10 minutes was established and signs to The primary purpose for the AFS Business Offi ce that eff ect were posted. Vince also obtained an is to supply offi ce machines and support for extra printer and laptop so people who wanted meeting administration and for meeting att endees to just print could print out their documents with to have access for last-minute computer and out waiting for a computer. printing needs. The primary purpose for the Internet Café is to provide the convenience of The room was 12 x 16 ft and probably should internet access for meeting att endees to use e-mail. have been larger. The total usage of the facilities The space and equipment was shared, but priority for internet connection was 550 individuals over use of space and computers was reserved for a seven-day period. Over that period of time, meeting administration needs. we used two printer cartridges. We copied 5,583 pages. The copier should be able to do two-sided We elected to house this offi ce in the Hilton Hotel copies, and collate and staple. because we had assumed that more att endees would be housed in this hotel than other hotels, Some limited wireless service was available in the it was the closest to the convention venues, and Hilton, and we thought we could set up service more traffi c was expected given the number of in the Egan Convention Center as well. We were classes and ancillary meetings scheduled for the told that the arrangements we needed would be Hilton. In addition, as we progressed through the simple, inexpensive and convenient. We planned planning process we planned to off er wireless to install one internet hub in the main lobby that internet access in the Egan Convention Center, would allow up to 250 users at one time. Finally, so having an internet service in the Hilton would however, we learned that the charge rate for the provide more opportunity for att endees to keep access would be excessive and we cancelled this connected with their individual electronic worlds. plan. In the Internet Café and Business Offi ce, we Another internet access option became decided to have three stand-alone computers serendipitously available at about the same time networked and two fl oating connections for that we were fi nalizing the price quote for wireless att endees to use to hook up their laptop. The access in the Egan Convention Center. A local Local Arrangements Committ ee decided to put vender, Mr. Rob Lapham, DataFlow/Alaska, Inc.,

Final Report 65 Accommodations

off ered to install and operate a “Cybergarden” registration area. Several organizations, e.g. U.S. that included four computers and technical Fish and Wildlife Service and American Institute support for meeting att endees to check e-mail—at of Fishery Research Biologists, vied for space in no cost. This Cybergarden was set up in the the registration area. The American Institute of Alaska Center for the Performing Arts. Although Fishery Research Biologists required a small table this was poorly advertised, it was fully utilized. In while the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service requested exchange for this service, DataFlow/Alaska, Inc. space for a booth-sized display. Also important is advertised their services. space for several bulletin boards to accommodate job announcements, meeting announcements, Most of the hotels off ered internet access for recruitment for jobs and for graduate students, guests. Access in some hotels was free. and messages. Many groups seem to pop up at We received many good comments from the last minute and expect to be able to display a att endees, with most expressing appreciation that new book, posters, fl yers for some future event, everything needed for internet access, printing and a myriad of other requests. It is helpful to jobs, etc. were all in one place. Internet access was anticipate these requests, many at the last minute, good and the hotel increased the band width aft er and if possible provide some extra space for such reviewing our usage over the fi rst couple of days requests. We needed several tables upon which of operation. On the down side, the room was this “stuff ” could be placed. We also chose to not small and could have been larger. It would have stuff large amounts of local tourist information in been helpful if the copy machine were capable of the registration bags, but rather place these items front and back copying, collating, and stapling. on tables in the registration area for att endees We felt that in some instances, some individuals (including Continuing Education instructors) took undue advantage of services of the AFS Business Offi ce. Future meeting planners might consider asking for guidelines from AFS for how to fi eld requests for copies in excess of several hundred sheets, or require special authorization for large amounts. Meeting Rooms (Bill Hauser) The Accommodations Chair needs to know and understand capacities, limitations, and options for each space within each venue and share this information with event arrangers. Fire Marshall regulations and constraints may further limit space utilization. The décor in the AFS 2005 meeting rooms received special att ention because we perceived that the ambience was boring and bland. The Artwork Committ ee utilized “fi sh art” derived from the 2005 meeting poster to decorate the walls and create a sense of connectivity with other meeting spaces. Registration Area (Bill Hauser) Another space that should receive special planning is the registration area. Clearly, the tasks associated with registration require special The registration area in the Egan Convention att ention and space, but there are a variety of Center other needs that must be accommodated in the

66 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Accommodations

numbers kept increasing, service needed to be scheduled for each of the three venues, and the planning formula suggested in the 2004 Madison meeting report (page 42) was diffi cult to apply when spreading service in multiple locations with constantly changing estimated att endance. They suggested ordering coff ee, pastries, etc. for 75% of the expected number att ending a coff ee break. Fortunately, the Egan Convention Center was also our caterer for coff ee service in the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts. We set up part of the coff ee service in the rear of the Trade Show and the Poster Session so att endees would be required Registration desks in the Egan Convention Center with to pass by the vendors and/or posters to obtain carpeted walls behind them. The carpeted walls were coff ee. We ordered a pre-determined amount of used as bulletin boards. coff ee and other items, which were available until consumed. to pick up if they wanted this information. This saved stuffi ng time and resulted in less wastage. Daily coff ee service included: On the positive side, we were able to save some Time/Day Monday Tuesday fl oor space in the registration area by using blank Early morning Coffee, tea; juice; Coffee, tea carpeted walls to substitute as bulletin boards. pastries; fruit This “worked”, but not as well as expected. Bett er Mid-morning Coffee, tea Coffee, tea; juice; planning would have helped; e.g., mounting a pastries sheet of foam core on the wall or using ribbon to Mid-afternoon Coffee, tea; soda; Coffee, tea outline each area would have defi ned the space cookies bett er (areas for postings might include “jobs”, “messages”, and “college opportunities”). Time/Day Wednesday Thursday Early morning Coffee, tea Coffee, tea Recommendations Mid-morning Coffee, tea; juice; Coffee, tea; juice; ● Consider recruiting a volunteer who is pastries pastries tasked to organize and oversee the layout Mid-afternoon Coffee, tea; soda; Coffee, tea; soda; and setup of the entire registration area. cookies cookies ● Developing a comprehensive plan for Note 1: Monday morning is the Plenary Session the registration area, including a map or drawing of available fl oor and wall space Note 2: Tuesday afternoon is the AFS Business Meeting; AFS to help plan this area, keeping in mind provided coffee service for the Business Meeting which was in the Hilton. We also provided a small coffee service in the Fire Marshall restrictions since registration Egan Convention Center along with the Business Meeting areas are usually in lobby areas where there service. is a lot of foot traffi c and these areas also are likely to be needed as fi re escape routes. The expected number of people became a serious ● Ask AFS Bethesda what they will require guessing game because not all people are present for space and equipment (phone lines, at one time and because the registration numbers tables, etc.) for the 2005 meeting kept rising beyond our expectations. Nevertheless, we needed to make a Meeting Breaks and Catering (Bill Hauser) commitment several days before the meeting; we Meeting Breaks guessed that the total registration would be 2,400 people (the actual number exceeded 2,800). I, with Planning for coff ee breaks during the technical “peer review” from other committ ee members, sessions was challenging because our registration forecast the number of people that would likely

Final Report 67 Accommodations

Table 8. Food and Beverage Costs per unit. Item Hilton Hotel Egan Convention Center Coffee (gal) $33.00 $22.50 Juice (bottle) $3.00 $2.50 Pastry (doz) $28.00 $21.00 Cookies (doz) $22.00 $15.50 Soda (each) $3.00 $1.75

Table 9. Summary of amounts consumed at coffee services. Day Coffee (gal) Juice (bottle) Pastry (doz) Cookies (doz) Soda (each) Fruit (each) Monday 341 450 137.5 178 890 600 Tuesday 296.5 570 174 15 75 Wednesday 365.5 570 174 190 950 Thursday 318 444 136 145 725 Total 1321 2034 621.5 528 2640 600 Note 1: There are approximately 20 cups per gallon of coffee Note 2: Does not include coffee service for the AFS Business Meeting, Tuesday p.m.

be in each venue, based on a 2,400 person the per-person consumption estimates we used registration (i.e., most people would be served in were: the Egan Convention Center where most of the 2 Cups of coffee, early morning break sessions were located; fewer would be served in 1 Cup of coffee, mid-morning break the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts, and 0.75 Cups of coffee, mid-afternoon break we estimated no more than 250 people would 0.5 Serving of juice, mid-morning break be served at the Wakefi eld Symposium in the 0.5 Sodas mid-afternoon break Hilton Hotel). I also assumed that some att endees 1 Pastry mid-morning break would arrive too late in the morning to participate 0.4 Serving of fruit mid-morning break in the early morning (7–8 a.m.) coff ee service; I 1 Cookie mid-afternoon break estimated that all registrants would att end the breaks during mid-morning and mid-aft ernoon. Actual consumption rates are nearly impossible Further, I assumed that the largest att endance to determine because it is impossible to determine would be on Tuesday and the smallest would the number of people present in each of the be on Thursday. Thus, the planning number for diff erent venues during each of the diff erent coff ee service depended on the time of day, day of days and within any particular day. The costs week, adjusted registration forecast, and venue. per unit for food and beverage in each of the It should also be noted that several commercial venues is presented in Table 8 and a summary of coff ee and espresso venders operated in close the amounts consumed at the coff ee services is proximity to the venues and coff ee and espresso presented in Table 9. was sold from portable stations inside the venues as well. We heard no negative comments about the coff ee service and it appeared that no food and Based on discussions with catering staff and beverages were wasted. experience from past meetings (via Betsy Fritz),

68 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Accommodations

Catering the poster session was split into two sessions. Catering needs fall into three major categories: One poster paper session was held during the catering for AFS Meeting events; catering for Trade Show Social; thus, we reasoned that the ancillary events; and, catering for meeting second poster paper session should also deserve operations (committ ee members, workers, etc.). something special to att ract viewers. Conceptually, Venue staff recognized that catering for diff erent we elected to off er a limited number (600) free box events may be billed to diff erent accounts. It is lunches so att endees could quickly obtain a lunch most helpful if the event scheduler—or catering that could be consumed on-site while viewing coordinator—can provide contact information for posters. In actuality, att endees rushed to take the various events—as to who is responsible for advantage of the free lunch (which we off ered payment. It is also helpful if the event scheduler only on a single day, Wednesday, of the second or catering coordinator receives a copy of catering poster paper session) so they could “go outside” requests. to eat and enjoy the weather. Some att endees were quite unhappy when the limited number of free Some AFS meeting events are arranged and lunches ran out. paid for by the AFS Bethesda staff (i.e., Betsy) who have a long corporate history of catering Premade and prewrapped sandwiches were items, amounts, and preferences for annually- available for sale at the espresso station in the scheduled events (e.g., AFS Business Meeting, Egan Convention Center on Monday, Tuesday and Fisheries Magazine Editors Breakfast, Continuing Thursday. A total of 200 was sold on each of these Education Classes, Governing Board meeting, days. Espresso station sales, including muffi ns, etc.). soft drinks, bott led water, espresso, sandwiches, candy, etc. ranged from $1605.12 on Monday to Ancillary events are those that are not directly $364.75 on Thursday. related to AFS, but are scheduled because of the convenience of holding an event in conjunction The pre-packaged lunch sandwiches available with the AFS meeting. At the 2005 meeting on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday seemed to these included: Friends and Alumni of Cornell be appreciated and well-received and served the University, U.S. Forest Service All-Hands Meeting, purpose of att racting people to view posters. On Fisheries Conservation Foundation Board the down side, our concept for providing free Meeting, etc. Aft er these events are scheduled, lunches to entice viewers for the second poster the group’s organizer is responsible for catering paper session proved to be inaccurate. arrangements with the venue staff ; nevertheless, Recommendations it is helpful if the event scheduler or catering ● When you query a caterer about menus, coordinator maintains contact with the event they will send a copy of their standard organizer who may need a reminder or two menu(s). We recommend that you ask for during the planning process. menus in fi le format so you can forward Catering for meeting operations includes catering these by e-mail. for the volunteer staff and for the committ ee ● Do not hesitate to arrange catering by members (important!). Some arrangements must stating your budget limit and preferred be made for food and beverage for volunteer items and ask the venue caterers “what can workers during setup and registration bag you off er?” within those budget limitations. stuffi ng, and for registration table workers and ● Have more than one person to arrange others. Typically, venues disallow “carry-in” food and coordinate catering. We found that and beverages, but require use of their in-house arranging for all the coff ee services and all catering service. Mostly, we scheduled beverage the various catering needs is a demanding service and/or “build-your-own” “deli-lunches”. task and the time commitment for coff ee In addition to coff ee service and other catering, service and catering expands abruptly just our committ ee held long discussions about other before and during the meeting. special catering for att endees, particularly because

Final Report 69 Accommodations

AFS Business Meeting (Bill Hauser) foam-core board; and 8.5”x 11”. Signs mounted on foam core could be displayed on an easel The AFS business meeting is a featured event of or att ached to a wall. Signs mounted on poster the annual meeting. As such, it requires special boards could be att ached to walls by Velcro or att ention. Assume that it will be scheduled to T-pins. Small signs were displayed on tabletops begin on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. and last at least two with “miniature tripods”. Some signs and banners hours. Do not schedule any other events during were att ached to railings by monofi lament fi shing the business meeting. Betsy will plan for the coff ee lines. service. We scheduled a space for 500 att endees, theater style, which was fi lled to about 66% of Anticipate times and locations that require available capacity. special att ention to assist meeting att endees to fi nd destinations in a timely manner by posting Signage and Mapping (Bill Hauser, Mary volunteers with hand-held directional signs Whalen) and verbal instructions. This was important, for The signage and mapping job encompasses example, to assist att endees who commuted off - several important components: information site by bus to a Continuing Education class and to about technical sessions; general information for assist att endees fi nd their way from one building meeting att endees; and, production and printing. to another in time for the start of the Plenary Session. We anticipated that signage and mapping would be especially important because the events and Some signs must be made on site/as-needed with meetings in 2005 were distributed among and a computer and printer set up in the designated within three diff erent buildings and a volunteer “sign shop” room. “Blank signs” were pre-printed was recruited to oversee this task. Unfortunately, with the generic sign background, as well as this person resigned for personal reasons less than “block arrows”. On-site signs were made by three weeks before the meeting and we lacked a printing information on 8.5 x 11, 11 x 17 or 13 x 19- comprehensive plan. However, previous site-visits inch paper and pasted or taped to the generic sign with discussions about various aspects associated background with an arrow—if needed. with informational and directional signs gave this Materials for the “sign shop” may include: subcommitt ee insights into what was needed. scissors, X-Acto knives, glue, various fasteners, Signs were important to notify meeting att endees a straight edge, foam-core board and card stock, about technical sessions in each meeting room clear acetate, T-pins, Velcro, clear tape, double- and to assist them with trouble-free access to the sided tape including “repositionable” tape, small meeting rooms. tripods, easels, printer paper, paper cutt ers, and a computer and printer with spare printer cartridge. Area and building maps were designed so one map drawing could be scaled for display on the It is important to discuss limitations and website, in the Program Guide and as posters allowances for displaying signs with venue staff s during the meeting. Maps and fl oor plans were within each building and room. Most will not available from each venue; however, these varied allow att achment with any tape. Each wall surface greatly in their usefulness and clarity for our has unique options. needs. Artwork (Mary Whalen) Signage for Technical Sessions (Eric Knudsen, Bill Ray Troll did the original artwork as a drawing Hauser, Mary Whalen) and then sent it to his graphics illustrator Karen Directional and informational signs were Lybrand for coloring. She sent the original colored planned for display in strategic locations to assist artwork to us as an Adobe Illustrator fi le which meeting att endees. Four sizes of signs were used: contained the drawing from Ray (as an .eps fi le 40”x 60”—the size of a sheet of foam-core board; linked to the Illustrator fi le) and the text and 32”x 40”—the size of a one-half sheet of foam-core poster background done in Illustrator. Our Local board; 24”x 36”—the size of a one-fourth sheet of Arrangements Committ ee then hired Karen to

70 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Accommodations

“isolate” some of the fi sh from the poster so we and consistent color and size. The same banner could use them for various purposes, particularly design used on all technical session signs and for the website, Fisheries articles, other advertising, sponsor logos for individual sessions was placed banners, and decorative art used to “spruce up” at the bott om of the signs. Whenever possible, the venues during the meeting. She sent us a technical session signs were mounted front and number of isolated fi sh drawings in .tif format. back for times when sessions were in the same Of the fi sh she didn’t isolate, Mary Whalen of room and same day. This minimized foam core USGS isolated them in Photoshop (erased the costs. background around them and saved them as .tif Signs and banners for sponsors were made of fi les). various sizes. At the Sunday seafood social, All the enlarging was done by Mary in Photoshop. very large banners (42”x 84” and 20”x 60”) were Some of the fi sh illustrations were fairly low hung from the ceilings to thank our seafood resolution to start with, but because of the nature contributors. A 32”x 40” poster with all the of the artwork (rough drawn lines), the resolution meeting sponsors was displayed at all the was satisfactory for enlarging. A local oil and gas diff erent venues throughout the entire meeting. company, Conoco-Phillips, printed many of the The logos used for the sponsors varied in fi sh for us on their large-format color plott ers and resolution to very low (72 dpi) to relatively high then Kathy Rowell and a whole host of volunteers (600 dpi). mounted them on poster board (from a local store, Recommendations Fred Meyer, at $.72 a sheet) with spray adhesive and then cut them out for hanging on the walls ● Develop a writt en and “peer- in the various meeting venues. A few select fi sh reviewed”(reality check) comprehensive illustrations (those with the highest resolution) plan for the signage and mapping process. were enlarged considerably and printed (obverse A good plan would have enhanced and reverse) on a HP5500ps plott er on glossy communication within the committ ee and paper and then mounted on both sides of foam provided guidance to those taking over core and then cut out with X-Acto knives. This responsibility for signs and maps when the turned out to be a great deal of work. These large original signage and mapping committ ee fi sh were hung from the ceiling as decorations for chair resigned. the Sunday seafood social. ● Have a template ready for technical session We obtained foam core, spray adhesive (Super signs. The amount of time it took to print 77), and double-sided tape (for the session signs) the technical session signs was grossly from a local distributor, Denali Graphics. We underestimated. Even though the program bought large amounts so it was cost eff ective. committ ee wasn’t able to provide the We used three diff erent sized foam core sheets necessary information for these signs until (24”x 36”, 32”x 40” and 40”x 60”) that were cut the week before the meeting, preparing a to the diff erent sized session and direction signs. template in advance would have greatly The artwork was mainly mounted on the poster reduced production time. boards. We felt that paper illustrations without ● Prepare preplanned signs far in advance poster board would curl when hung on the to minimize time confl icts with the walls, so they were mounted to stiff en them. The preparation of the technical session signs. manipulation of the artwork fi les was done in ● Make a number of “generic” sign Photoshop and Illustrator. backgrounds mounted on foam core that Many meeting signs and technical session could have another plain text sign (printed schedule signs were all preprinted at USGS on on smaller paper) pasted over the top for large-format printers and mounted on foam core last-minute signs. with double-sided tape (using a special tape gun). ● Request high resolution (300 dpi) or The signs were made in Adobe InDesign (desktop vector format logos from sponsors. High publishing soft ware) to facilitate easier printing resolution or vector logos are needed when Final Report 71 Accommodations

preparing posters and the program guide. provide that service at every Plenary If high-quality images are not provided, the Session. logos may appear pixilated when printed. ● Assign the responsibility of arranging Our sponsors frequently provided low- special accommodations to a volunteer that resolution logos and we had to track down is familiar with devices that are available to higher-resolution logos which was time meet the needs of att endees. consuming. In some cases, we were unable ● Request that registrants needing special to obtain a high-quality logo which resulted accommodations contact the planning in blurry images on posters and in the committ ee far enough in advance to allow program guide. arrangements to be made. ● Locate the “sign shop” in a convenient location with good access to meeting rooms, but have a closed-door policy. Our sign shop was in a convenient location, but it was visible and accessible to meeting att endees. On several occasions meeting att endees took advantage of the computer and printer for personal work which interfered with the work of the signage and mapping committ ee. Accommodations for Attendees with Disabilities (Bill Hauser) Special att ention was given to assisting meeting att endees with disabilities. We verifi ed that each venue was compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act and the registration form advertised“… Reasonable accommodations will be provided for individuals with disabilities upon request.” We also arranged to have a sign language interpreter (two persons, two hours each, $400 total for both) during the Plenary Session and coordinated with the House Manager of the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts to alert ushers that we may have att endees with special needs. One att endee responded to say he was hearing impaired and may need a hearing-assistance device. We requested information about which sessions he may want to att end. He listed his draft plan and said that he would reconfi rm on-site, but there was no further contact. Both venue staff and audio/visual venders were willing to provide devices, but the schedule must be known before assistance can be assured. Recommendations ● We are unsure that any att endee benefi ted from the sign language interpreter during the Plenary. However, AFS policy is to 72 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Social Events

Social Events

Introductory Comments (Bill Wilson) preparations mostly off -site as the Alaska Native Heritage Center had no kitchen facilities. We also Our social programs were in the capable hands of needed a variety of entertainment, staging, sound my long-time friend and colleague, Dave Trudgen equipment, and lighting. We asked Martin Buser who was assisted by ever cheerful Allison to bring puppies, and needed a special place for Erickson. These two developed a series of social his display. Martin has won several Iditarod dog events that will be remembered for years. We sled races, and turned out to be a popular part decided we wanted to do a seafood extravaganza, of the evening’s program. Logistics, Inc. ably did and chose the Sunday opening social as the time the job of putt ing on that evening’s event. Dave and place for that event. The Hilton agreed to let was correct in hiring them. We feared holding us fi nd seafood product, but they required that such a party at the Heritage Center because we we have it delivered by an approved wholesale were concerned it couldn’t hold the numbers we company because of health regulations. I asked expected, particularly if it rained that night. We several long-time Alaskan Chapter members who had to be prepared for anything—we lucked out had contacts in the fi shing industry to help fi nd as the evening was clear, sunny, and crisp—and donated seafood product. I also had contacts no rain. Some even were treated to a couple in the marine fi shery industry and together we moose along the road as they entered the grounds were successful in raising money for products or of the center. fi nding specifi c seafood. We expected that the Trade Show social on Tim Joyce secured a large amount of Copper River Monday night would be our largest event in terms red salmon which we featured at the Wednesday of number of people att ending. I believe it was. night social. He also obtained donated halibut We were crowded. Period. There was no way we and rockfi sh, and located a source of wholesale could hold a social inside the Trade Show area smoked blackcod. Brian Allee located Dungeness with all the booths and posters also in that room. crab from the west coast as well as a pile of But we knew that beforehand. Also, AFS policy is mussels and clams. I contacted Glenn Reed who to have the food and beverages inside the Trade agreed to raise $20,000 to purchase a variety of Show area and to put the poster session in there seafood products from various companies rather as well. If you have such a venue, great, but our than locate individual seafood products and convention facility would not accommodate arrange for shipping them to Anchorage. Glenn all that PLUS an entertainment event PLUS all came through for us big time, and indeed raised the people who registered, which amounted to nearly that entire amount which we used to upwards of 2200-2300 people for that night alone. purchase everything we needed from FAVCO, a But we decided to let it happen, and we prepared local wholesaler. FAVCO gave us a break on the for the event as best we could. cost of some of the items we needed, and had it all delivered to the Hilton on schedule. FAVCO also We heard from many that it was a great evening received the products that Tim Joyce obtained in in spite of the long food lines and crowding. The Cordova. They also arranged for fi lleting the red highlight for many was Ray Troll’s music later in salmon so it was ready for the caterer to barbecue the evening. “Lumpsuckers of Love” was a hit, for the Wednesday evening social. and the band that supported Ray’s performance —whom he’d never met until hours before the Dave did a heroic job sett ing up the various performance—quickly aligned with the beat of social events. We decided to employ a planner to Ray’s music and I believe no one knew they hadn’t help with the Wednesday off -site social since it performed together for years! We extended the was a very complicated event. We needed tents hours of this social a bit to accommodate the with heaters, electricity, and tables and chairs. music and a time for Ray to sign his poster, T- We needed beverages and people to serve them. shirts, or whatever at the Alaska Chapter booth. We needed a caterer who could do all the food Final Report 73 Social Events

We had planned to leave Tuesday evening open. This would allow people the opportunity to go out for dinner or take in some local entertainment or other activity. This was the only night we could schedule the Student Social, however, which we designed to be primarily for students and professors and potential employers. While this event was included in the registration fee, traditionally it is only for students. We chose not to “forbid” anyone from att ending, but emphasized the student-only nature of the evening. Beverage coupon that was provided to registrants and guests. We expected that most people would enjoy a night on the town, and provided plenty of brochures we’d provide each registrant (and guest) drink and other information about Anchorage’s coupons for beverages at the socials, each good att ractions, and everyone had the opportunity for a drink for each social event (beer or wine, or to do something on their own. As it turned two for one for soft drinks). Thus, each registrant out, however, this also was the only night for received in their registration packet two coupons many groups to hold their special event such for the Sunday night Opening Social, two coupons as University alumni events, special meetings for the Monday night Trade Show Social, and or socials, and a special symposium on sockeye two coupons for the Wednesday night Off -Site salmon. Actually having a night open like this Social at the Alaska Native Heritage Center. We aff orded many the opportunity to schedule their worked the cost of two beverages per person particular event without coinciding with an AFS- into the budgets for each social. We charged $35 sponsored event like the Trade Show and Poster for guests per social; we did not charge guests Session social or the off -site social. Future meeting for the Thursday night Closing Social. The planners might consider doing something similar Thursday social was to be very informal with as it worked well in Anchorage. limited beverage availability and bars were open Finally, on Thursday evening we decided to off er for revelers that wanted more. We departed a “closing social” and we deliberately made it from some past meetings in limiting the “free” very casual. We off ered beer free of charge until drinks; this proved to be easier to budget, and it was gone; bars were open so that additional allowed some control in the amount of “free” beverages could be purchased. A set amount of beverage that fl owed during each social. We used food was ordered, and when it was gone it was Ray Troll’s artwork on the coupons to add some gone. This evening was much bett er att ended festivity. An example of our drink coupons is than we though it would be—perhaps upwards of provided above. 1,000. We purposely did not plan entertainment or Now I’m turning this section over to Dave other activities, though we did ask the 2006 Lake Trudgen and Allison Erickson who will provide Placid Planning Committ ee if they’d like to make more details on each of our social events. This will any welcoming remarks about the upcoming be followed by information on the box lunches 2006 annual meeting in Lake Placid. They did do served at the poster viewing sessions and the a brief slide show, partly drowned out by all the spawning run. We also provided a hospitality revelry, but the point was made and I did hear Ed room for spouses and guests as well as amenities Woltmann state “all Anchorage drink coupons for Governing Board suite—more on these at the will be honored next year in Lake Placid” so I’m end of this section. presuming some people might bring any they didn’t use in Anchorage. Socials (Dave Trudgen) One more comment about drink coupons. The The Socials Committ ee responsibilities included Local Arrangements Committ ee decided that the following functions: 74 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Social Events

● Stocking of the President’s Suite and the Because the Anchorage meeting far exceeded our Planning Committ ee’s Suite throughout the registration expectations, the Socials Committ ee meeting, beginning Thursday Night had to keep revising its estimates of the amount ● Opening night social—Seafood of food necessary to accommodate the att endees. Extravaganza - Sunday This also increased the cost for every social from initial budgeted amounts (except the closing ● Trade Show Social—Monday social). However, the increase in registration ● Student Social—Tuesday numbers also increased the registration revenue ● Alaska Native Heritage Center Off Site which covered any increase in the costs of the Social – Wednesday socials. Table 10 presents the budgeted vs. actual ● Closing Social—Thursday costs of each social. The table also includes costs for the suites which did not have an initial The Socials Committ ee consisted of primarily four budgeted amount. people (including the chairman) each responsible for a social with the chairman overseeing all General Comment Regarding Food and Beverage functions. Allison Erickson was responsible for the Quantities Opening Night Seafood Extravaganza Social and AFS meeting att endees generally consume lots of Kathy Rowell was responsible for the Trade Show food and beverage. Future Local Arrangements Social. The Student Social was a combination Committ ees should decide how much food they of a student jobs and undergraduate/graduate will supply at each social event. In Anchorage we school fair and a following social. Courtenay knew the Opening Night Social, Student Social Pierce organized the Student Jobs and Graduate and the Off -site Social would be planned so that Fair and Dave Trudgen was responsible for the there would be enough food for a complete meal. social aspects of the evening. In addition, the The Trade Show Social and the Closing Social Socials Committ ee hired a professional logistics were designed to be more of an appetizer event fi rm, Logistics Inc. (contact—Toni Walker [toni@ and people were expected to get additional food logisticsllc.com]) to organize all details of the from local restaurants. However, the Trade Show Wednesday night off site social at the Alaska Social also ended up being closer to a full meal Native Heritage Center. Logistics, Inc. was because we had to push the social later into the worth their weight in gold for the services they evening. Always keep in mind that many people provided. It is highly recommended to employ will get enough food at each event to fulfi ll their such a company depending on the complexity of hunger for the evening. Any good caterer will the socials. be able to help you determine the appropriate amount of food per person for the evening you are

Table 10. Socials—Budgeted vs. Actual Costs Attendance Budgeted Actual Amount Initial Planning Estimated Final Social Amount Spent Number Attendance Opening Night Social $67,500 $78,000 1500 2000 Trade Show Social $40,000 $65,000 1500 2200 Student Social $10,000 $12,500 300 600 Alaska Native Heritage Center Off Site Social $100,000 $114,000 1800 2300 Closing Social $10,000 $8,000* 500 1000 President and Local Planning Committee Suites $6,000 N/A N/A *This amount was discounted due to a credit from the opening night social.

Final Report 75 Social Events

planning. Remember to be fl exible and be ready to wraps, veggie plates, etc. Numbers for each make last minute adjustments for every event. sponsored evening ranged from 15 to 30 people. The amount of food purchased was adjusted The 2004 Madison meeting report provided some according to the number of people. Aft er the great guidance for estimating food and beverage Saturday evening event, stocking of the room was amounts. Remember to adjust the amounts based quite simple as just a few people were entertained on conversations with your caterers and any other for the remainder of the meeting. local considerations. For example people planning the Madison meeting increased the beer amount The Socials Committ ee also purchased a welcome for the mid-west beer factor. We increased the to Anchorage gift for Barb. food (especially seafood) amount for the Alaska Local Arrangements Committ ee Suite factor. Future meeting sites may have unique “food-related” specialties or reputation, and thus DO NOT FORGET YOUR OWN VOLUNTEERS. you may need to increase those items. You all have worked very hard to get this far, so make sure you take care of all your committ ee The following are some numbers for planning members with food and beverage for the entire purposes (from the Madison Annual Report): conference. The Local Arrangements Committ ee ● One ½ keg of beer provides approximately suite was stocked initially with beer, wine, bott led 160-12 oz. beers; water, chips, salsa, fresh veggies, mixed nuts, and chocolate candies. In addition, it was the ● 16 hors d’oeuvre portions per person is committ ee’s responsibility to arrange for food equivalent to a full meal; during lunch meetings and other meetings that ● 12 hors d’oeuvre portions per person is would require more than snacks. Food varied equivalent to a light meal; from fresh shrimp to sandwiches to pizza. The ● 8 hors d’oeuvre portions per person is suite could be accessed by any member of the equivalent to a pre-meal appetizer; Local Arrangements Committ ee during the ● One bott le of wine provides about 6 4-oz conference. Keys were limited, though several pours. were distributed to make sure members would have access to the room. AFS President and Local Arrangements Committee Suites (Dave Trudgen) Suite Costs and Vendors (Dave Trudgen) President’s Suite Most food and beverage for both suites were purchased from the local warehouse store The President of AFS will arrive with the (Costco) to keep costs down. Some of the specialty Governing Board some time during the week items (fresh spring rolls, pizza, sandwiches, etc.) before the offi cial start of the conference. In were purchased from local vendors. Anchorage’s case, President Barb Knuth arrived on Thursday. Barb expected to host several Costs for the entire conference for both suites members of the Governing Board Thursday were about $6,000. Costs for the President’s evening aft er dinner. Initial stocking of the suite suite were paid for directly by the Bethesda was with wine (one mixed case of red and white AFS offi ce. Therefore, the costs for the Local and some special wine for Barb), beer (mixed case Arrangements Committ ee should be kept separate of Alaska brewed beer, both light and dark), fresh from the President’s suite which we had litt le vegetables, smoked salmon, crackers, chips and diffi culty doing. All receipts were delivered salsa, mixed nuts, yogurt covered nuts, chocolate to our Finance Chair for reimbursement. If candies, bott led water and soft drinks (juice and necessary a cash advance was obtained from the pop). All food and beverage were checked every Finance Chair; however, our Socials Committ ee day. The President also hosted two additional generally purchased what was necessary for later gatherings Friday and Saturday evenings. reimbursement. Additional food was brought in for these evenings including fresh Thai spring rolls, ham and cheese

76 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Social Events

Opening Night Social (Dave Trudgen) menu including the donated seafood items with additional side dishes. We would use this menu Early during our planning process the Local as a basis for the cost per plate for the evening. Arrangements Committ ee decided to have an We sett led on $35 per plate. This was based on the opening social that would showcase the diverse seafood we thought we would have available to seafood available from Alaskan waters. We also us (this was about two months prior to the event). knew this would not be possible unless we could As we approached the date, the seafood quantities get fi nancial help, either direct seafood donations did change, and we ended up adding some or monetary contributions specifi cally for seafood. items (oysters on the half shell for example) and We also realized that this would not be possible subtracting others. The Hilton was cooperative without help from our host hotel, the Hilton and and did not change the $35 per plate price despite their staff . The Opening Night Social was going to the changes in product. We did learn that the be held in the Hilton using all three of their ball cost for a social with the seafood we were able rooms. We wanted their chefs to prepare donated to get donated would have been on the order of seafood and we requested a break on the cost per $80 per plate without donations, so the savings plate of the meal because of the donated seafood. were obviously substantial. In reality we could We began discussions with the Hilton early (over not have had the seafood extravaganza without a year in advance) to let them know what we the donations. Our initial planning number for were thinking, and to determine their willingness the evening was 1500 people. This number was to allow for such an arrangement. They were revised to 1800 one week before the event. We very cooperative right from the start, but early believe we had close to 2000 for the actual social. discussions cannot be over emphasized. Aft er Decorations for the evening were kept simple with we got an idea of the seafood that was to be large cut-out fi sh hung from the ceiling along with donated we asked the Hilton staff to prepare a some simple “waves” (cardboard cut into wave patt erns). We also placed fi sh art on the walls. The fi sh cut-outs were from the meeting poster created by Alaskan artist Ray Troll. We had permission from Ray to use any fi sh image from the poster for any meeting-related event. Table decorations were left up to the Hilton staff and the chef. They were designed to showcase the seafood being presented at each table. There were fi ve buff et stations with access from both sides of the tables. Comments from past meetings strongly emphasize the desire for short food lines. No one wants to wait in a long line for their food (or beverage). Based on 1800 people we should have had an additional buff et station, but space did not allow this to occur. Lines for the evening were never very long and wait times for the food were acceptable. Lines basically disappeared aft er about an hour or so, but the food kept coming. All seemed pleased with the evening – lots of seafood and good conversations. Beverage tickets for each of the social events were included with each registration packet. Buffet at the Opening Night Social. Each conference att endee and their paid guests Attendees could access each buffet table received two beverage tickets good for beer and from both sides. wine only. Separate tickets were printed for each Final Report 77 Social Events

social event. Any mixed drinks or beer or wine in Trade Show Social (Dave Trudgen, Katherine excess of the two drink tickets were purchased by Rowell) the individual. We set up six bars and lines were never too long at any beverage station. We also This was a challenging social to organize and agreed that each drink ticket was “worth” two conduct. Kathy Rowell did an outstanding job non-alcoholic beverages. Every bar had to make a keeping up with all the nuances of the event. minimum amount of money or there would be an This social has traditionally been a tool to att ract additional charge. This seems to be quite typical meeting att endees to the Trade Show vendor within the industry and should be expected. booths, a commitment AFS makes to all vendors. Minimum dollar amounts will very depending on In 2005, it was held in the Egan Convention venue. We easily made our bar minimums. Also Center’s Explorer Hall. It was a packed evening the drink tickets, free to att endees, obviously were with food and beverage, a band, silent auction, not donated by the Hilton. They were valued at door prizes, and a time and place for our poster $5.00 each and this amount counted toward each artist Ray Troll to sign posters. By direction of the beverage station’s minimum dollar amounts. Bethesda AFS offi ce, the social had to be held in Including the $35 per plate discussed above, and the same location as the trade show. We assume it $10 per “plate” for the two “free” drinks, the per- will be the same for future AFS annual meetings, person cost for this Opening Night Social was $45. so plan accordingly. The primary purpose of the There was an 18 % gratuity added to this. Also trade show is to draw people to the vendor’s added were costs for decorations (which were booths. Due to space limitations we also had most minimal). of the posters for the conference in the same area Entertainment for the evening was simple. as the trade show. Therefore, the social also served Comments from prior meetings indicated that as an incentive for people to view the posters. live music or other “planned” entertainment were Indeed, the evening was called the Trade Show usually more distracting than fun. The opening and Poster Session I Social. Poster authors were night is for conversation and gett ing reacquainted asked to be present for an hour during the social with colleagues from around the country. People to answer questions and describe their work. do not like to have to talk above music and Planning for the Trade Show Social began about the normal din from ongoing conversations. 18 months prior to the annual meeting. Regular We did have a fi sh ice sculpture carved by a meetings were held with the Local Arrangements local artist. He did this at the beginning of the Committ ee facilities chairperson, the Trade Show evening and several people had an opportunity Social representative, the socials chairperson, to watch him work. The carving was on display and the Egan Center events and catering staff throughout the night. We also ran two projectors throughout the planning period. The convention with photographs of Alaskan fi sh and fi shery center required that all food be prepared and operations to showcase the theme of the provided through their catering service and conference. These ran continuously throughout informed the Local Arrangements Committ ee the evening. that donated food and drink were not permitt ed Lastly, we hung two very large posters with for any events. This constrained our ability to cut the logos of the various seafood companies costs through donated or discounted food and highlighted; this very visibly identifi ed the beverage. sponsors of the conference and in particular the The timing for the event was slightly later than in Opening Night Social. We considered this critical previous conferences. This was due to scheduling to the success of the event. It could not have considerations for the last paper of the day. Ray happened in such grand fashion if our sponsors Troll gave a talk on sharks that was well att ended. did not step up with either cash donations or As noted above he also signed posters, and Ray seafood donations. We obviously were very was a member of the band scheduled to play at thankful they did and we wanted to make sure the social. Ray’s talk was not scheduled to be over they were recognized. until 6:30; thus the scheduled starting time for the

78 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Social Events

social was 6:45. We also ran a half hour later than most past annual meeting trade show socials. We knew from the onset that this was going to be a cramped and crowded social event. There was not enough space to set up the number of food and beverage stations to accommodate all the people without long lines. Our initial planning number of 1400 was revised to a fi nal planning number of 1900, and the actual number was estimated to be over 2100. As expected, the lines were long for both food and beverage. Most people still did not complain and used the time in line to make new acquaintances and discuss The Ratfi sh Brothers play during the Trade Show Social. the day’s events. Still, we wished we could have had more space att endee. These tickets were distributed in the for more food and beverage stations resulting in registration packets. Each ticket was worth $5.75 shorter lines. Some food did run out, but people a drink and was eligible to be traded for house seemed to get enough to eat. wine and beer or soft drinks at the social. No-host The menu was simple, partly because we already mixed drinks were also available should the two had planned to serve fairly expensive Alaskan tickets not provide adequate volume for some seafood at other meeting socials, and because of participants. the need to reduce the expense associated with Space limitations prevented placement of food employing the Egan Center’s catering services. and beverage tables throughout the venue. A The menu was fi nalized and submitt ed to the drink station was placed in the lobby outside of Egan Center six weeks in advance of the meeting. the Explorer’s Hall and in the lower lobby near the Any subsequent menu changes required 14-day poster display. advance notice. The menu consisted of roast beef, ham, turkey, rolls, and fruit and cheese plates. Several other events, in addition to the food Six stations served food and eight served drinks. and beverage service, were scheduled to entice The menu was reviewed by Betsy Fritz and the meeting att endees to the Trade Show and Local Arrangements Committ ee’s socials and Poster Session I Social. The listing of door prize facilities chair people. As the number of meeting winners and the silent auction (held in lieu of pre-registrants grew to record levels, Betsy the traditional raffl e) were located within the fortuitously recommended that several orders of Trade Show. Poster artist Ray Troll with his chicken wings be added to the menu. Knowing band performed original selections of original the habits of fi sheries biologists, it shouldn’t be a “fi sh” music. Mr. Troll was available during the surprise that all food prepared and served at this social and the following day to sign the meeting social was consumed. poster. Anne Grist, the Parent Society’s Trade Show contractor, held a drawing for prizes The Local Arrangements Committ ee was unable to contributed by the Trade Show vendors. Staging rely on donated alcohol beverages for this social. the posters and the Trade Show in the same room To prevent the meeting att endees from having initially created concerns regarding space and to pay for all of their drinks, a ticket system was fi re regulations. However, the combined venue devised. Two beverage tickets were provided each Final Report 79 Social Events

could enter the building. We decided not to hire a local security service. There was security associated with the convention center, but their responsibility did not cover watching our merchandise. We agreed each member of the Local Arrangements Committ ee and a couple of other volunteers would watch for people that did not belong with the conference. If noticed, we would contact the convention center security, who would then escort them from the building. We did att empt to check name badges as participants entered the Egan Center, but this proved to be diffi cult. Bott om line, we did not The 2005 AFS annual meeting Trade Show Social. have any trouble. We mention this point because security is oft en an issue during worked very well, although crowded. It is likely conference events and must be considered that this combined Trade Show and Poster Session for each venue. Social drew individuals to the Trade Show and to the poster session that might have otherwise not The social was packed with meeting att endees. att ended. People seemed to want to fi rst obtain beverages and then stand in the food lines. Though the food Having a live band at this venue worked well lines were very long, most everyone seemed in despite the crowded quarters; this was the good spirits with their drinks and animatedly entertainment for the evening. We did not have conversed with other individuals in line. A space to do anything else. The band, featuring signifi cant number of att endees were present Ray Troll, played some favorite bluegrass and and Ray Troll’s band was still performing past some “specialty” tunes writt en by Ray. There the scheduled social 9:00 p.m. closing; hence the are pluses and minuses to the live music. Many closing time was extended. Anne Grist informed people like the music and it will have the eff ect the vendors that they could leave as desired aft er of keeping people at the venue longer. However, 9:00 p.m. The remaining and apparently satisfi ed the evening is also for the trade show vendors and crowd eventually dispersed and the event ended they want to communicate with as many potential about 10:30 p.m. A list of Trade Show and Poster customers as possible. Music can be distracting Session I Social expenses are listed in Table 11. to those conversations. Scheduling time for both can partly solve the issue. Our band did not start Many announcements were made during this playing until about 7:30 giving some opportunity social (door prizes, poster signing, the band, etc.) for conversation with the vendors. In addition, so obviously a good PA system was required. people who stay to listen to the band can talk with Also, we suggest the announcement be made with vendors during breaks, thus potentially adding a person with a good radio voice. You will fi nd to the number of potential customers. So make that more people will listen to the announcements. sure the band takes a break or two (usually not a Student Social (Dave Trudgen) problem). The Student Social was divided into two Our committ ee had quite a conversation regarding elements: a student jobs and university fair with security for this event. The silent auction was undergraduate and graduate school professors held during the event with the required display and potential employers, and a social event of many nice gift s. Our convention center is open with food, beverage and music. There was also to the general public at all hours. Even though a student colloquium held in the same location this was a “private” event, people off the street from 1:00 to 3:20 p.m. Representatives at the

80 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Social Events

Table 11. Expenses for Trade Show and Poster Session I Socials. Beverage Drink tickets, 2 per person, 5.75 each 16,409.50 Gratuity (18%) 2,953.71 Beverage and Gratuity Subtotal 19,363.21 Food Egg rolls, $12/dozen or $1/roll = $100/100 2,760.00 Chicken drummettes $14/dozen 2,880.00 Café round of Beef $450/200 people 4,500.00 Carving Stations Baked ham $150/90 people 1,280.00 Turkey $95/40 people 2,100.00 Cheese tray $4/order 3,840.00 Fruit tray $4/order 3,840.00 4 gallons of coffee 90.00 Vegetable tray $2.50/order 1,800.00 Food Subtotal 23,090.00 Gratuity (18%) 4,156.20 Food and Gratuity Subtotal 27,246.20 Total Food, Beverage and Gratuity 46,609.41

Equipment and Entertainment Quantity Item 2 10 x 14 screens 200.00 2 LCD projectors 700.00 1 Video camera No operator 150.00 1 Video smart fade and splitter 135.00 Labor for video set up 600.00 Band audio system 1,800.00 Mains, monitors, processing etc. Additional speakers for the room 300.00 Labor 750.00 Addl day for announce sound system 300.00 4,935.00 Package discount (2,135.00) Total Equipment Cost 2,800.00 Band Contract 400.00 Grand Total Trade Show Social Expense $49,809.41

Final Report 81 Social Events

jobs fair included Federal and state government run out if it were not for these donations. The fi sh agencies, university research centers and the was prepared by the catering staff for a minimal private sector including environmental consulting service charge. We initially budgeted $10,000 for fi rms. Though this was a good cross section of this event and fi gured on about 300 guests. Similar job opportunities it was not as robust as we had to all of the Anchorage events, the planning hoped. Advance planning and making a lot of number was raised—to 500 for this social—and contacts is required to pull this off . the total cost of the evening was over $12,000. We think we had closer to 650 att end. The social was held at the historic 4th Avenue Theater in downtown Anchorage. The Theater We placed hors d’oeuvres out during the fi rst part was a great location - away from the main of the evening, the jobs and university fair. We conference center, but still within walking also opened the bars for beverages giving people a distance. The student colloquium was also held chance to have some munchies while talking with at the theater. The theater routinely hosts special professors and potential employers. The main events and we were able to book the entire course food was brought out at 7:00 p.m. and was building for the entire day at a very reasonable restocked while the food lasted—until about 9:00 price. The rental fee was waived if we spent the p.m. The buff et table was set down the center equivalent ($2,000) in catering fees. We easily of the main fl oor. Again concerned about long made that amount. We set up the venue with food lines, we arranged the food so people could tables and chairs for the potential employers obtain their choices from both sides of the table around the perimeter of the main fl oor. Round and begin at both ends of the buff et. Two carving tables with chairs, cocktail tables, one additional stations were placed in the middle of the table, bar and the food buff et completed the setup. We so in reality we had the ability to have four lines also saved room for a dance fl oor near the stage going at once. Food lines were never very long. and the band. We included two multi colored light We also provided live music for the evening. The trees for the dance fl oor. band played from about 7:30 to 11:00 p.m. Though Entrance to this event was monitored closely. we were complemented several times on the Since alcoholic beverages were being served, band (not too loud, good music, good musicians), identifi cation was checked at the door. If an we would HIGHLY recommend a simple DJ to individual was old enough to consume alcoholic supply the music. Not one person danced to the beverages their hand was stamped and they were music and for the expense of a band, compared given two drink tickets good for any alcoholic to most DJs, it seemed to us that it would have beverage. If an individual was not old enough made more sense to hire a DJ. Music does not to consume alcohol they were given four non- play an important part of the evening for most alcoholic drink tickets (this followed the same att endees, and money can be bett er spent on food protocols as other socials). Of course any person and beverage. could choose the non-alcoholic drink tickets For those not att ending the student social, this if they preferred. This highly simplifi ed the was their free night to enjoy other activities in procedures at each bar eliminating the need to downtown Anchorage or the surrounding area. check individual identifi cations, thus reducing It was also the only night without a scheduled time in line. social event for the entire conference. As note We worked with the caterer who was associated above there were plenty of brochures handed out with the theater. Selections were made from their describing where to wine and dine in Anchorage comprehensive menu. A variety of vegetable, meat or att end other fun events. and fi sh dishes were selected. In addition, Alaskan salmon and halibut were donated specially for Alaska Native Heritage Center Social (Dave this evening. Salmon were from the Yukon River Trudgen) and the halibut from various Alaskan locations. This was the big one, the event that went well Either the cost of the evening would have beyond the Local Arrangements Committ ee’s increased substantially or the food would have 82 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Social Events

ability to pull off without professional help (and robust with what we hope was something for I do not mean mental help, though that could everyone. have been a good idea). The event was held at Entertainment included: the Alaska Native Heritage Center, a gathering place that celebrates, perpetuates and shares ● Native Artisans Alaska Native culture, language, heritage and ● Native Dancers tradition. When we fi rst approached the Heritage Center staff , they were reluctant to house such a ● Native Olympic large event. Their facility is sized to hold about a Demonstrations maximum of 800 people. We said we would like ● Native Story Tellers to put up tents outside to handle the extra people ● Tour Guides at Each and the costs would be borne by AFS. They agreed Village Around the Lake to this scenario, thus sett ling our choice of venue. ● Dinner of Copper River I would like say a few words about the value Red Salmon and Reindeer of a professional party planning organization. Stew As noted above, we employed Logistics, Inc. to ● Music from the Carhartt help us. They are a local fi rm (very important Brothers (yes Carhartt like the fi rm being local) that help plan small to large the clothes) events. They knew everyone connected with ● Martin Buser and his sled the hospitality industry, and got us very good dogs (four time Iditarod rates on all event components, from the caterer Dog Race champion) to the busses. Toni, the owner of the company, also had a very good rapport with the Alaska The Heritage Center is about Native Heritage Center staff —a plus as the 10 miles from downtown event unfolded because the Center started to get Anchorage, a 20 minute one cold feet only four weeks out and needed some way bus ride, and as you would convincing they could house the large group. Toni expect the greatest challenge convinced them they could do the event, and she of the entire evening were the was right! AFS having Logistics, Inc. on board logistics. How were we going to greatly simplifi ed tracking the fi nances for the get 2300 plus people there and evening. We wrote Logistics, Inc. one check and back and still have some time they paid all the vendors involved in the evening. for food and fun? Logistics, Inc. They provided us one budget that we negotiated saved our bacon and planned and approved. They also dealt with any necessary it all out. What we really permits for the evening (especially the Fire discovered through this planning Marshall permit). I never felt as if we were not in eff ort is that No Event is out Totem at the control of the evening, a real tribute in my view of of reach if you have desire and Alaska Native the Logistics, Inc. organization. determination to make it work. Heritage Center Think big, plan big, get your The Heritage Center covers 28 acres with a lake donations and have fun. You and in the center. The main building houses a stage, the conference goers will appreciate the eff ort. theater, and displays that are representative of many of the Native cultures; it also houses The main transportation to and from the Center a gift shop and Native craft s artisan booths. was by motor coach (ok BUS, but nice busses). Surrounding the lake are actual models of the We initially started the evening with 20 buses diff erent types of Alaskan Native aboriginal that picked up people from two locations in lodges. Our evening was fi lled with traditional downtown Anchorage. The buses began to run Native Alaska demonstrations: lodge at 5:30 p.m. and made continuous loops to and accommodations and life, story telling, music, from the Heritage Center until all people were at and artwork. Entertainment for the evening was the Center. The buses held 50 people max, so we

Final Report 83 Social Events

evening was donated by a local micro-brewery, saving AFS several thousand dollars. We drank all the beer (we asked for donations of enough for two beers for every one of the 2,000 expected) and then some. As each person off loaded from the buses and entered the Heritage Center they were given a schedule for the evening events. These schedules were helpful because they identifi ed the locations and times of each of the events planned for the evening (see bullets above). We miscalculated the number of schedules we needed and ran out. Meeting attendees board a motor coach in front of the This was not too troubling as people shared, but Egan Convention Center. The motor coach took them to it would have been bett er to have one for each the Alaska Native Heritage Center. person. We spaced events out all through the evening so people had more than one opportunity to observe the festivities. For example, we knew it would take at least 2 round trips per bus scheduled the Native dancers three times during to get all people out to the Center. This spread out the evening, Native Olympic demonstrations the departure times giving people some fl exibility were held twice, and story tellers seven times as to when they wanted to go to the event. VERY at two locations. We also had some events run IMPORTANT: We had people with signs directing continuously throughout the evening. The Native conference att endees to the buses and helping artists, guides in each village, Martin Buser to load AND we made announcements in every and his dogs, and the Carhartt Brothers were technical session that aft ernoon about the bus entertaining all evening. transportation and departure times. This was to try to get people moving on time. It was quite In a group this size you have to be fl exible and successful. We also had people greeting each bus willing to make decisions quickly. We had 250 to at the Heritage Center upon arrival. All people 300 more people than our fi nal estimate. Food was were at the Center by about 7:15 p.m. Whew, fi rst beginning to run out and I was asked if we should step completed. At this point we let six buses get more. The answer was an obvious yes, but depart and the remaining 14 began making where were we going to get the food? Fortunately, continuous loops to return people downtown. our caterer had planned for this and had extra The last bus left at 10:15 p.m. Note that we tried food to cook. It cost us more, but people were to get people to take the busses because parking treated to not only Copper River Red Salmon, would be limited. However, many, many people but also some Copper River Kings. Bott om line— did drive their own vehicles. Drivers should be make sure you have a caterer that thinks ahead planned for in each off -site social. (you need to also). At one point the Fire Marshall almost made us take down the very large tent we Having to plan for the possibility of rain, we were had rented for the evening because we did not limited in the number of food stations we could have batt ery powered emergency lighting in it. set out. All needed to be under cover, but we were We got all this worked out, but we were close to hoping for good weather so people would spread having to remove the sides of the tent to meet fi re out and enjoy the entire venue. The weather code, a decision that was being made two hours cooperated all evening and no rain was in sight! before the event. Get ready for any eventuality, Since all the food was under a roof this caused because it will happen. some major lines, but they moved well and people did not have to wait long. We did serve beer, wine Lastly, here are a couple thoughts on decorations. and soft drinks at several bars throughout the Keep them simple and match them to your venue. Center. As with other socials, two drink tickets They really help with the over ambiance, but were given to all participants. The beer for the can become overwhelming to plan. It is far more 84 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Social Events

only cap the meeting, but also as an att ractant to keep people in town for the very last papers on Thursday. The only “organized” activity at the social was a chance for the Lake Placid, New York Local Arrangements Committ ee to give a brief and humorous presentation about the 2006 conference in Lake Placid. This went over very well. The Anchorage Local Arrangements Committ ee Chairman Bill Wilson also thanked people for att ending and helping set a new att endance record for an AFS annual meeting. We also took this opportunity to sell a few remaining items from the student booth (mugs, posters, etc.). Hosted Box Lunch Social (Lynne Santos) Free box lunches were provided on Wednesday during the second poster session to encourage members to view the posters. This lunch was provided on a fi rst come, fi rst serve basis. We ordered 600 box lunches and ran out of box lunches within 15 minutes. Many AFS participants were upset that we had not ordered enough for During the Alaska Native Heritage Center Social, all. It appeared most members entered the poster people could have their picture taken with Martin site only to pick up lunches and then promptly left Buser, Iditarod Sled Dog Race champion. without viewing the posters. If at future meetings a ‘free’ meal is off ered, I would suggest counting important to have places for people to sit and eat on 85% + participation of paid registrants. Also, than to have decorated tables. many will grab and run. Closing Social (Dave Trudgen) 2005 AFS Spawning Run (Debby Burwen, Dan We wanted the closing social to be very informal Bosch) and a chance for conference att endees to gather, Take a beautiful sunrise run along Cook Inlet drink a beer and discuss the conference. We set a and see some of the highest tidal fl uctuations fi rm budget for this evening and stuck to it. Food in the world in action! The 2005 AFS Spawning was to be simple hors d’oeuvres, with cheese, Run will start just a couple of blocks from crackers, chips and other fi nger food. A change the Hilton Hotel (our Headquarters hotel) at we made for this evening that was diff erent from the start of the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail. our other socials was to off er beer free of charge The race will follow the scenic Coastal Trail with all other drinks paid for by each conference for 2.5 K to Westchester Lagoon and back. att endee, including wine. We thought we would There should be great bird watching along have about 500 people at this event, but revised the way for walkers and runners that aren’t the number to 800 a couple days before the social, that serious about winning. You may even get only to have an estimated 1000 att end. We ran to see a moose. Talk about inspiration to run out of food as expected, but the beer fl owed until faster! Please join us for this “fun for the whole people headed out to fi nd more food. Closing family” event! The race will start PROMPTLY socials have been held at some meetings and not at 7 a.m. The cost of the race is $15.00 (T- at others. For Anchorage we thought the closing shirt included). The T-Shirt was designed by social was worth the eff ort and was appreciated renowned fi sheries artist Ray Troll. For more by those who att ended. It was planned to not Final Report 85 Social Events

information, contact Debby Burwen (907-267- gallons of PowerAde. We also had fi ve bags of 2225, debby_burwen@fi shgame.state.ak.us) oranges (18 count), ten bunches of bananas, and or Dan Bosch (907-267-2153, dan_bosch@ four watermelons. All left overs were donated to a fi shgame.state.ak.us). local homeless shelter. The Spawning Run was held September 14, 2005 Timing was done with two hand held timers at 0700 (O-dark hundred). Three hundred sixty- which recorded a place and a time. We also seven people (13% of registrants) signed up to had a large fi nish clock to allow runners to see race and 250 people (9% of registrants) actually their approximate fi nish time as they fi nished. participated in the race. Two hundred thirty-three The timing equipment was rented from a local people pre-registered and received race packets running club. Volunteers in the fi nish chute kept at registration. Each packet contained a map of runners in place until their bib numbers could the racecourse and how to get to the starting be recorded in the order they fi nished and bib line, which was about fi ve blocks from the host tags could be removed for prize drawings. Once Hilton Hotel. Also included were a race bib and the race was complete, one person read out a instructions (when to be at the starting line, when place fi nish and time, one person looked up a bib and where results would be announced …etc). At number to go with that fi nish, and a third person the registration desk we also had a large poster found and recorded that bib number and name that included the same map found in the race associated with it in the master list. Aft er the packet, and pictures from along the race course. entire list of fi nishers was complete it was sorted The race was 5 k and held almost entirely on the by gender and time, and places by gender were Tony Knowles Coastal Trail. The course ran out assigned. The trail sweeper fi nished the race just 2.5 k, doubled back and came back to the starting aft er 0800, and offi cial results were complete by area to fi nish. 1000. We announced these results at the Trade Show and Poster Session at noon. Small gift The race was held on the outskirts of downtown prizes, donated by local businesses, were given Anchorage and along a city bike path/trail. to fi rst, second and third place for both genders. Because of this venue, the city required that we We also had 11 Ray Troll T-shirts, an autographed obtain several permits. These permits required 2006 Joe Tomelleri calendar, and a Joe Tomelleri that we have both insurance and a traffi c print that were assigned by a random drawing of plan. Insurance was obtained through a local bib tags of competitors. representative of USA Track and Field and a local company put the traffi c plan together. The All race day assignments were sent to volunteers plan then had to be approved by the Department the week before the conference. Direction signs of Health, Department of Parks & Recreation, were placed in strategic trail locations early Department of Traffi c, Police, and the Fire the morning of the race. Turn-around point Department. A call for volunteers was put out refreshments and signs were handed out the on e-mail in late June, and we had no problems night before the race. I brought the fi nish line obtaining help. We had 14 volunteers at the refreshments, tables, walkie-talkies, timing clocks registration desk to hand out packets and sign and timing form to the fi nish area. Finish line up new spawners, and 23 volunteers to handle volunteers, course observers (with walkie-talkies), the race itself. Race volunteers consisted of three and the trail sweeper met at the fi nish line at people at the 2.5 k turn-around point to hand out 0630 for fi nal instructions and then dispersed water, three people with radios on the course, to assigned locations. The start/fi nish area was one person to act as a trail sweeper (when the set up and ready for showtime by 0630. Final sweeper fi nishes the race is over), two timers, instructions were given to the racers and the race two bib recorders, fi ve fi nish chute helpers, one started at 0700 sharp. The winner came in at 17 person to handle the refreshment table, and three minutes 15 seconds, while the last person to fi nish to crunch the timing data. For refreshments we came in at just under one hour. had fi ve gallons of water at the halfway point, The race was a success, but not without problems. 10 gallons of water at the fi nish along with fi ve The biggest problem was that we had quite a few 86 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Social Events

more people register for the race than expected. all materials and moved them into the meeting’s Much of this was due to two factors: the overall storage room at the hotel for use the next day. size of the conference, and the T-shirt factor. The The Tour/Hospitality Chair assisted them each Ray Troll-designed T-shirt was a much coveted morning in sett ing up the room and arranged for trophy. This fact was evident by the number of the hotel to deliver the left over food to the Local people who signed up to race, but did not run Arrangements Committ ee hositality suite in the it—more than 100. Many people told me that they late morning for further snacking by committ ee signed up for the race only to get the T-shirt. As members or AFS staff . On Thursday, the artwork a testament to its value, a Spawning Run T-shirt decorations were taken to the Closing Social and sold for $50 in the silent auction later in the week. were sold by the Student Chapter or given away to individuals who att ended that last social. Guest Hospitality (Lee Ann Gardner) We ordered continental breakfast for 40 people for Hospitality Room Set Up the fi rst three days and cut back on that number The Tour/Hospitality Chair worked with the for Thursday. This was a buff et and featured Accommodations Chair prior to the meeting pastries, fruit, juices, and coff ee/tea. The actual to book a meeting room and arrange for a numbers of guests that used the hospitality room continental breakfast at the Hilton Hotel location are provided below along with the catering order (on the fi rst fl oor level) between 7:30 a.m. and (Table 12). 10:00 a.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings. This room was provided for Table 12. Number of Hospitality Room visitors and the guests/spouses/families to have a light breakfast, catering order. to meet with others, to compare notes and plan Hospitality Room the day, or just to get information about where Day Visitors Catering Order to go shopping. The breakfast consisted of a Monday 18 40 basic continental breakfast buff et (sliced fruits, Tuesday 20 40 muffi ns, pastries, croissants, juices, and coff ee/tea) Wednesday 31 40 placed in the room before 8:00 a.m. each day by hotel staff . For the Hospitality Room, the Tour/ Thursday 15 25 Hospitality Chair purchased, and/or had donated, artwork (six posters with Alaska themes) for Recommendations placing on easels for room decoration. In addition, maps, tour brochures, and general information Based on att endance results, we recommend the brochures were obtained from Logistics Inc. following: (the meeting’s tour and logistics management ● Hospitality Room hours be changed to company), the Anchorage Convention and later in the morning (e.g., 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 Visitors Bureau, and the Alaska Railroad. The a.m.), as there was oft en no one showing various informational materials were placed up until well aft er 8:00 a.m. and we oft en on tables around the room each morning for had to chase out att endees who were still att endees to read and/or to take with them. busy chitchatt ing and enjoying each other’s Hospitality Room Volunteers & Att endance company at 10:00 a.m. Two wives of Local Arrangement Committ ee ● Reduce the Thursday breakfast buff et members (Becky Peltz and Elaine Wilson) agreed order (e.g., by half). By then, guests know to man the Hospitality Room each day and help their way around and/or are packing up with its set up and takedown at the end of each belongings to leave. morning’s session. The Hospitality volunteers provided a friendly face and answered all sorts of questions concerning the Anchorage area, shopping, tours, etc. from the perspective of a local resident. At 10:00 a.m., they then gathered up

Final Report 87 Social Events

Tourism and Tourist Information (Lee Ann ● Optional Night: Swing dancing at a local Gardner) nightclub. Prior to the Meeting During the Meeting The Tour/Hospitality Chair worked with the While in Anchorage, att endees could also obtain webmaster (Mary Whalen) to load the meeting’s information each meeting day at the Logistics Inc. website with general tourism and tourist booth that was located at the Egan Convention information, as well as several links to other Center and whose hours approximated those of websites containing such information. Logistics the registration desk. Att endees could sign up for Inc., a meeting and convention planning company a variety of tours/excursions—including those that supported this meeting, provided much of meeting tours provided on the AFS Registration the text that was used on the meeting website. Form—as well as other tours not directly associated with the AFS meeting. Specifi c tourism and tourist topics included: Tours and Sightseeing ● Facts and Information for Visiting Alaska, Because of the distance our att endees were ● Planning Your Trip to Alaska (clothing, coming, it was felt that a variety of tours should weather conditions to expect, etc.), be off ered, since it was thought that there were ● Transportation (rental car information, probably many att endees who would appreciate descriptions of specifi c day trips by car having a hosted tour opportunity, rather than from Anchorage, airline information), venturing off by themselves, or to help them get ● Hunting and Fishing Information their “feet wet” before doing travel on their own (including how to get a license), and aft er the meeting. We, therefore, opted to off er ● Other helpful web links, including one to day trips during the meeting as well as daylong the Logistics Inc. website. excursions before and aft er the meeting (a total of eight options that could be signed up and paid for Tour and regional photos were provided by on the AFS registration form). These eight meeting Logistics Inc., the Anchorage Convention and tour options were included as check-off boxes Visitors Bureau, and Alaska AFS Chapter on the AFS Registration Form and were (listed in members (the latt er responding to an e-mail chronological order): request). ● Kenai Fjords National Park Wildlife & The website also provided a section “Suggested Glacier Cruise on Alaska Railroad (Sunday Activities During the Meeting” that included all day). Narrated train ride, glacier cruise, information on: lunch on cruise. Not exclusive to AFS participants, so no minimum or maximum ● The Spawning Run number of seats had to be sold to cover ● Fishing Trips (2 fi shing trips off ered in costs. conjunction with the meeting) ● Guided Walking Tour of Downtown ● Group Tours (off ered through the meeting Anchorage (Monday morning OR Monday and available for sign up on the AFS aft ernoon). Historic sites and art galleries/ Registration Form) shops. ● Other Recreational Activities/Tours ● Alaska Zoo and Grizzly Junction Tour (provided by contacting Logistics Inc.) that (Monday morning). Narrated motor coach included a host of diff erent tours/activities ride and admission to Alaska Zoo. Lunch (e.g., ATV tours, horseback riding, river on own at the Sourdough Mining Company raft ing etc.) restaurant and visit the 20-foot high ● The Hospitality Room (for spouses and melted chocolate “water” fall at the Alaska guests) Wildberry Products candy factory.

88 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Social Events

● Portage Glacier Sightseeing and Alyeska decided to make up the diff erence in cost if Ski Resort Tram Ride (Tuesday all day). minimums were not met and not cancel any of Narrated motor coach ride, admission to the tours. This decision resulted in no participant Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center and having a tour cancelled at the last minute. Tours Begich Boggs Visitor Center movie, tram data are provided in Table 13. ride w/lunch on top of Mt. Alyeska. Besides these eight tours, a ninth early morning ● Eagle River Nature Center Guided fi shing trip was described on the meeting website Naturalist Hike (Wednesday morning). but was organized by two Alaska Chapter Hike at Chugach State Park and visit members (Loren Flagg and Bill Hauser) who to Eagle River art gallery/coff eehouse. provided a more independent fi shing experience Narrated motor coach ride. on the Kenai River (i.e., att endees had to drive ● Bird Watching Tour of Anchorage Bowl themselves to the Kenai Peninsula and meet (Thursday morning). Narrated motor coach up with the fi shing guide at the river fi rst thing ride with local birding expert. Friday morning). Their numbers are not presented ● Kenai Fjords National Park Wildlife & in Table 13. Participants contacted the organizers Glacier Cruise via motor coach (Friday all through the website and paid them directly. day). Narrated ride, glacier cruise, lunch on The announcement on the meeting website cruise. Not exclusive to AFS participants, so was the Local Arrangements Committ ee’s only no minimum or maximum number of seats involvement. had to be sold to cover costs. We would During the meeting: Logistics Inc. answered have preferred to off er another train ride a variety of questions concerning touring tour on this day but the Alaska Railroad opportunities in Alaska at their information booth shut down operations for the season on that they manned and maintained at the Egan Thursday of meeting week so that was not Convention Center throughout the meeting. This an option. booth also allowed for tour sign ups by att endees ● Kenai River Restoration and Guided aft er they arrived in Anchorage (Table 13) and Fishing Tour (Friday all day). Narrated the opportunity to sign up for additional non- motor coach ride, lunch/lecture at Kenai meeting tours during the meeting (many of them River Center, Kenai River tour w/Kenai described on the meeting website). The Logistics fi shing guide (fi shing poles provided). Inc. booth hours generally coincided with those of the meeting’s registration desk. All of the above meeting tours were arranged through Logistics Inc., a meeting and convention Recommendations planning company, who handled all tour logistics, ● First and foremost, have a logistics checked in att endees, and accompanied selected planning company (like Logistics Inc.) tours. All tour minimums/maximums were manage your tours. We are biologists and established to: 1) have the minimum cover the do not know the tour business. To provide costs of the tour; and 2) set the maximum based your att endees with a professionally run on the vehicle (e.g., motor coach) size. The one set of tours, line up local experts who do exception, the Kenai River Restoration tour, was this for a living and who are accustomed to off ered at a lower cost to registrants because it was dealing with tourists. You will not regret it. also sponsored by the Kenai River Sportfi shing In Anchorage, Logistics Inc. subcontracted Association who organized the river guides, with local vendors they used regularly and provided an informational talk at the Kenai River who provided them with good service, Center, and provided/hosted a lunch buff et for evidence of insurance, etc. They also participants; this was coordinated through the dealt with the vendor should problems/ Tour/Hospitality Chair rather than Logistics Inc.. complaints arise. Following the online registration cutoff date of ● It was discovered by some registrants Aug. 31, the Local Arrangements Committ ee that the credit card provider had a $1,000

Final Report 89 Social Events

Table 13. Anchorage AFS annual meeting tour statistics and number of registrants. Three of the tours did not have the minimum number of registrants (marked in the table). The Local Arrangements Committee elected to make up the cost difference for those tours so that none of the tours were cancelled. Number of Registrants By After Total Minimum Maximum Day ACTIVITY Aug. 31 Aug. 31 Registrants Required Capacity Offered Cost Kenai Fjords National Park Wildlife & 101 2 103 N/A N/A Sun $2251 Glacier Cruise on Alaska Railroad. Guided Walking Tour of Downtown 10 1 11 15 30 Mon $17 Anchorage - Morning Guided Walking Tour of Downtown 4 0 4 15 30 Mon $17 Anchorage - Afternoon Alaska Zoo & Grizzly 23 7 30 30 54 Mon $602 Junction Tour Portage Glacier Sightseeing & 29 2 31 30 54 Tue $87 Alyeska Ski Resort Tram Ride Eagle River Nature Center Guided 20 0 20 15 54 Wed $58 Naturalist Hike Bird Watching Tour 9 8 17 25 54 Thur $75 of Anchor-age Bowl Kenai Fjords National Park Wildlife & 36 0 36 NA N/A Fri $175 Glacier Cruise via Motor coach Kenai River Restoration & Guided 24 243 48 30 48 Fri $1754 Fishing Tour TOTAL 256 44 300 1 Transportation provided on railroad (common carrier)—fare based on age of passenger (adult $225; children age 2–12 $112; under 2 free). 2 Because this tour would appeal to families, a child rate of $50 (ages 2–12) and under age 2 for free was established. 3 This tour sold out by Monday and a wait-list was established. We were not able to increase the size due to the limited number of guides we had arranged for. We would probably have been able to sell 10 to 15 additional seats on this tour if we had been able to get the additional guides. 4 Unlike the other meeting tours, the full cost of this tour was not covered even if the minimum number of registrants was met; we were able to offer it at this price because of the sponsorship by the Kenai River Sportfi shing Association who provided a speaker at no charge and who hosted the lunch buffet.

90 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Social Events

limit on credit card charges at the website. to choppy seas—this was known prior to Persons purchasing tours for themselves departure and Logistics Inc. informed each and family members could easily exceed participant of the sea conditions and the that limit (one registrant reported it took shortened route when they checked in and him almost two weeks of daily phone issued a partial refund to those who went calls to get registered for the meeting, his on the cruise; Logistics Inc. issued a full continuing education class, and his tours refund to a party of three that elected not to because of this unknown limit). Find out go on the cruise because one of them was what limit has been set for your meeting prone to seasickness). Logistics Inc. would by your credit card provider and NOTE have att empted to contact tour guests if it on the registration form (along with they had the information to do so (hotel or directions on what to do should their total a cell phone number). registration fees exceed that amount). For Should your tours deal with Mother Nature (e.g., our Anchorage meeting, that limit should birds on a birding tour), be sure to emphasize have been at least $1,500. that the local bird experts will take you to places ● Prepare for computer glitches. There were where such animals regularly congregate but that people that had receipts printed from the it is ultimately up to the birds to decide whether website showing they had pre-paid for or not they will be there. Our birding tour had a tour but Logistics did not receive their one serious birder who was very disappointed names. This was a problem with two of the with the common types of bird seen (fall migrants tours: extra people on the Sunday train tour had not yet started moving through Anchorage). (we had originally reserved a block of 100 They also did not appreciate the large size of seats) and the Friday fi shing tour/trip— motor vehicle (i.e., motor coach) used to get to both of which were sold out. There was lots the birding areas. This was the only complaint of last-minute scrambling to accommodate registered of the 300 participants who were on the extra registrants (or to arrange refunds tours and I understand that Logistics Inc. ended for those that couldn’t be fi t in). up issuing a refund to them. ● If one of your tours is using a common Wild Salmon on Parade (Lee Ann Gardner) carrier (e.g., cruise ship, railroad) for transportation, make sure to note on the Each year in Anchorage, a charity fundraiser registration form that children under co-sponsored by Camp Fire and the Anchorage two years of age must have a boarding Convention and Visitors Bureau is held at the pass and be listed by name on the ship’s Hilton Hotel in which local artists propose to manifest. If this note cannot be included make salmon art sculptures on a theme of their on the registration form, follow-up should choosing. A committ ee selects winning proposals be done with the family BEFORE the tour and the artists are then commissioned to build to ensure children under two years of age their fi sh around a pre-molded form provided have a boarding pass and are listed on the by the committ ee. The fi nished sculptures are manifest to avoid a last-minute scramble at then displayed outdoors at various parks/ the time of departure. sidewalks in Anchorage during the summer and ● For your meeting, see if local contact then auctioned off in an annual charity gala. As information can be added to the AFS serendipity would have it, the annual charity registration form and have AFS Bethesda auction was held at the Hilton Hotel (our host provide that information on the lists of hotel) the Friday before the AFS Anchorage tour guests who pre-paid. Logistics Inc. meeting. To take advantage of this, the Tour/ did not have contact information for tour Hospitality Chair att ended the charity auction, guests. If any of the tours were running approached winning bidders to request we late or were modifi ed, this would have keep their sculpture for display at the meeting. facilitated notifying tour guests of changes In return, we would have volunteers deliver (e.g., one cruise’s route was shortened due them to the location of their choosing free of Final Report 91 Social Events

charge. Any damage while in our possession our volunteers were removing the sculptures would be repaired by the artist at our expense. from the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts to (Note: ultimately two sculptures were damaged/ vehicles for deliveries in town, several att endees repaired but the artists and taxidermist ultimately came up and commented on what a wonderful donated their time to do the repairs). Because addition they were to the meeting and two these sculptures were over three feet long and, people said they thought they were the meeting with their stand, could be up to four or fi ve highlight. feet high, many of the winning bidders took us Recommendations up on the free delivery off er. Working with the volunteer coordinators, we arranged for local AFS Our membership loves art, particularly when volunteers (including family members) to move it revolves around fi sh and wildlife. Consider the sculptures to a temporary storage room in including a display of local artists’ work at your the Hilton Hotel following the auction, and then, meeting. Check with AFS Bethesda to be sure when the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts that the meeting insurance will cover (and not was available to us later that weekend, moved exceed) damage/loss to such display items. For each sculpture there for subsequent display paperwork, be sure to have a tracking sheet for during the week. The Hilton Hotel bellmen (with each art piece that includes the owner information their carts) were very helpful during the moving on it in case the owner needs to be contacted eff orts. Each sculpture and stand needed two and have the owner sign a statement that they to three persons to move it and we ended up received the art piece back in good condition. Use with 25 sculptures on display (23 salmon and volunteers to make it happen. And enjoy! two halibut, the latt er being added for the fi rst time to the “Parade”). At the end of the meeting, we mobilized crews and vehicles to deliver the sculptures to various locations across town. As

One of the fi sh sculptures that was on display during the 2005 AFS annual meeting. This sculpture is titled “You Can Tune a Piano (but you can’t tuna fi sh).”

92 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Student Program

Student Program

Introductory Comments (Bill Wilson) information on youth hostels in the Anchorage area in Fisheries and on the website. Our plans for a series of events and activities designed specifi cally for students were changed We needed student employees to handle the mid-stream by the untimely death of our student audio-visual and lighting equipment for each program coordinator, Dr. Molly Ahlgren, a room at this meeting. A wage of $10 per hour professor at Sheldon Jackson College in Sitka. was paid. We off ered students the fl exibility Molly joined our Local Arrangements Committ ee to schedule work at one or more sessions, and in late 2003, and she traveled to Madison to see tried to match students with sessions they were how students were integrated into the 2004 AFS interested in att ending. meeting. She brought back many ideas to use for Finally, we organized a special student evening the 2005 meeting. More information about Molly on Tuesday, the “options night”, which was called is provided in the fi rst part of this report. Without the Student Social; the social was held in the Molly, our student program was shaken. historic downtown Anchorage 4th Avenue Theatre. Fortunately, a fi sheries student at the University The evening started with a special aft ernoon of Alaska Anchorage, Courtenay Peirce, stepped “student colloquium” which featured two forward and agreed to coordinate student presentations of particular interest to students. activities. As Program Chairman, I helped Then later in the aft ernoon, aft er the AFS Business Courtenay and asked others to help including Dr. Meeting, students returned to the theater where Brenda Norcross from the University of Alaska we featured booths, much like at a trade show, Fairbanks; Kyle Deerkop, a fi sheries student at where potential employers and universities with Sheldon Jackson College; and Dr. Keith Cox, a fi sheries programs could meet students, and new professor of fi sheries at Sheldon Jackson students could acquire employment and college College who fi lled Molly’s vacant position. Our information. The evening included plenty of food plans for students included a reduced registration and music. We think over 600 students and others fee, low cost housing options, employment as A/V att ended the student social. assistants, a Student Colloquium, and an evening social for students. Organization and Outcomes (Courtenay Peirce) The Student Subunit of the Alaska Chapter of AFS Shortly aft er the death of our friend, Dr. Molly sponsored the student program and accomplished Ahlgren, I was approached by Bill Wilson to take much of the work gett ing it organized. We wrote over Molly’s role as Student Program Chair for articles for the Fisheries magazine and a section the 2005 Annual Meeting. Originally the idea was in the 24-page Fisheries insert. We featured that Dr. Brenda Norcross and I would operate our plans for the student program on the 2005 as co-chairs. Eventually I was the main point meeting website. Special fi nancial incentives of contact for the Student Program and I had a also were off ered. Student members of AFS tremendous amount of work to do. Fortunately could register for $95. We reminded students I had the gracious help of many AFS members, that this fee included meeting registration, a but most importantly: Bill Wilson, General commemorative tote bag, att endance at all poster Chairman, contact traffi c; Bill Hauser, T-shirts, sessions and oral presentations, many nights of scheduling; Kathy Rowell, T-shirts, merchandise, socials plus an eventful student evening. Limited Molly Ahlgren memorial; Evelyn Brown, Steve employment opportunities were available to Zemke, Jerry Berg, student A/V employees and help with meeting expenses, and students giving volunteers; Dave Trudgen, Student Social, 4th either an oral or poster paper were eligible for Avenue Theatre catering, planning; Larry Peltz, awards to be given for the best student paper and budgeting and fi nance; Kyle Deerkop, Dr. Keith poster. Accommodations were reserved at special Cox, Alaska Chapter booth, merchandise, student rates at the Howard Johnson Inn and we listed

Final Report 93 Student Program

volunteers; Miranda Plumb, Katie Palof, student fair was popular. Working with Dave Trudgen volunteers. on the Student Social was amazing. Dave has an uncanny ability to plan a party! Planning details My duties started with organizing the Student from the fl oor plan, to the menu and the band, Colloquium, a series of two workshops led by were all enjoyable. Multiple AFS members rallied Michael Fraidenburg (Lessons Learned) and Todd together to help make this meeting and Student Christensen (AFS Diversity). Teleconferences Program eventful. Thank you! and e-mail communications established what the two workshops were focusing on, how they tied Recommendations together or did not, where they would be held, ● Responsibility for organizing the the target audience and time needed for each. Student Program should be assigned to a Bill Wilson, Bill Hauser, Dave Trudgen and I then professional AFS member with a student as began to plan for Big Tuesday—the main day for co-chair. Organizing the Student Program student events. We brainstormed which events is a huge job and should be tackled by a to host and came up with this rough schedule for small group of people. The chair should Tuesday that fl owed as such: Student Colloquium delegate tasks to those in charge of items > AFS Business Meeting > Jobs & University Fair > such as A/V employment, volunteers, the Student Social. student social, the jobs and university fair, Next, Dave Trudgen and I met repeatedly T-shirt design and merchandise sales, etc. I amongst ourselves and with Susan Johnson, recommend a main chair and two co-chairs Events and Catering Coordinator for the 4th for maximum production and effi ciency of Avenue Theatre. We developed and revised this program. fl oor plans, event scheduling, menus and ● Student volunteers who are to be selling entertainment. T-shirts and other merchandise should be recruited and committ ed to volunteering Over a period of months, I continually advertised at the booth PRIOR to the meeting. This for student volunteers and A/V employees was a big problem at the 2005 meeting; through e-mails and telephone correspondence. we did not organize the booth volunteers Input to a database and contact information traffi c until they came to register for the meeting. fl owed between me, the student volunteers and Some students did not show up for the appropriate organizational parties, i.e. A/V or their scheduled slots, some did not even Volunteer Chairs. volunteer at all. This left the burden of Articles, reports and advertisements were writt en booth maintenance in the hands of a few for Fisheries, The Onchorynchus (the Alaska dedicated individuals who worked very Chapter newslett er), and the AFS web page to hard to make our merchandise sales a describe, highlight and advertise the Student success. Special thanks to Tim Joyce, Keith Program. Cox and Kyle Deerkop. A call for participation by various federal and ● The job of organizing the design, ordering, state agencies, colleges and universities and advertising and sales of the meeting T- private companies was published online and in shirts would be best handled by a student Fisheries. Organization of att endees, table space, in charge of only that work. It is important lay out, purpose, and materials necessary for that each of the larger tasks are allocated to the Student Social evening was communicated one person. This is to maintain effi ciency amongst participants. and productivity of the chair/co-chairs. If this does not happen it is easy for the chair Despite much tardiness in certain situations and to get overwhelmed with multiple tasks a few miscommunications, the Student Program that all need to be done at the same time. ran very smoothly. The merchandise sales were Delegation and separation of job items are quite successful, the Student Colloquium had a a necessary function and proved to be the substantial turnout, and the jobs and university most diffi cult of my tasks.

94 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Student Program

● Make sure to book your band or other form could not be found, were not posted, had been of entertainment (for the Student Social) withdrawn, or that the judge missed the session. months in advance. Sign a contract and There were eight posters reported as not available don’t rely on word of mouth. to be evaluated, but had been evaluated by at least ● If planning a colloquium or other form one other judge. of lectures or other presentations, make Oral Presentation Judging sure to understand the dynamics of the presentation. Will there be one person There were a total of 231 student oral speaking to the audience or a panel presentations at the meeting. A total of 167 judges, of speakers? What type of audience including a category for unreadable signatures participation is required, i.e. small groups, or no signature provided (n = 26), submitt ed 519 individuals? Be sure to account for all of evaluations of student oral presentations. this in your fl oor, lighting and audio-visual Judging sheets were not returned for 49 of planning. the presentations, but ~ 78% (182/231) of the Student Paper Judging (Mike Holliman) presentations were evaluated by at least one judge. The proportion of the presentations not The process of planning for the judging of student evaluated varied signifi cantly among the days oral and poster papers began early in the calendar of the meeting. The greatest proportion (53%) year and continued through the meeting and of those presentations that were not evaluated for some time aft erwards. The following is the (n = 49) occurred on Thursday, the last day of chronology from the 2005 meeting process. the meeting (Monday ~ 14%, Tuesday ~ 10%, Poster Judging Wednesday ~ 24 %). A list att ained aft er the meeting shows that 166 There were 29 instances of judges unable to student posters were presented at the 135th Annual evaluate presentations because of cancellations, Meeting of the American Fisheries Society held the student listed was not the presenter, or an in Anchorage, Alaska. This count includes some assigned judge missed the session. instances of second authors (students) counted as Scores awarded for the presentations averaged 78 presenters. (SD ± 9.6) points with a range of 63 (high = 100, A total of 122 individual judges returned low = 37) points. evaluation sheets for the posters. This count Results of the Judging included a category for “unknown” for 44 evaluations (counted as a single judge) that were The best papers and posters from the Anchorage returned with unreadable or without signatures. meeting are listed below. Each year, two Best The average score awarded to the posters by Paper Awards are given (one AFS, one Sea Grant). judges was 75.1 (SD ± 10.6) points; the maximum The best papers were determined through a series score was 100 and the minimum was 28. of fi ve “cuts” or winnowing procedures. Scores were returned for 87% (145/166) of the ● Judge indicated the paper was a serious poster presentations. Evaluation sheets indicating candidate for an award. that some posters had been withdrawn or were ● Individual scores 84 and below not posted were also received. were dropped (average score for all presentations was 78). About 83% (121/145) of the posters evaluated by judges were viewed by at least two judges, 17% ● Evaluations without comments from the were evaluated by only one judge. About 20% judges were removed. of the posters evaluated were viewed by four or ● Presentations receiving negative comments more judges. were removed. In addition to scores for posters, 34 evaluation ● Presentations without redundancy were sheets were received that indicated posters removed (there were still at least two

Final Report 95 Student Program

judges indicating the presentation was Best Poster excellent). Cari-Ann Hayer and Elise R. Irwin. CP-1-EEX-220 Effects ● Scores of the remaining four presentations of gravel mining on detection probabilities for selected were used to determine the two best and Mobile River Basin fi shes. the two honorable mentions. Poster Honorable Mention The following are the results from the judging at Donald Ratcliff, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh, and Joseph the 2005 meeting. Zustak. CP-1-EEX-070 Does grass bed planting stimulate the food web and juvenile bass abundance in Best Paper a drawdown reservoir? Beth Gardner, J. Patrick Sullivan, Stephen J. Morreale, and Sheryan P. Epperly. CO-07-26 Spatio-temporal analyses of loggerhead sea turtle interactions with pelagic fi sheries. Brandon J. Puckett, David H. Secor, and Se-Jong Ju. SO-26-13 Growth and recruitment rates of juvenile blue crabs in Chesapeake Bay. Best Paper Honorable Mention Katie Bertrand and Keith Gido. SO-31-11 Interactive effects of fl ood frequency and fi shes on ecosystem structure and function. Brian Bellgraph, Christopher Guy, and Stephen Leathe. CO-11-24 Resource overlap between sauger and walleye in the Missouri River, Montana: Implications for declining sauger populations.

Best Poster was determined through three “cuts”: ● First, the 20 posters with the highest mean/ median scores were determined (I e-mailed students asking for a PDF of their poster). ● There was considerable variation in the quality of these posters; the scores were correlated with the number of evaluations received. ● The number of evaluations of the individual posters ranged from one to six. Each poster receiving the highest score relative to other posters having the same number of evaluations underwent further evaluation. A single poster having six evaluations received several negative comments and was dropped from the subset. ● The two posters ranked as best through further evaluation (the same four judges had evaluated each of the posters in the fi nal subset) were selected as best poster and honorable mention.

96 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Technical Support

Technical Support

The Technical Support category is an artifact directly related to the 2005 meeting. Mr. Troll of our initial organization, and contains some retained the copyright and the opportunity to incredibly important tasks necessary for a publish or show the artwork as he desired aft er successful meeting. We did not have a Chair for the meeting. (Note from the General Chairman: In this group, so each of these activities reported early 2006, Ray decided to use our 2005 meeting to the General Chairman, Bill Wilson. A/V could poster artwork on a new T-shirt. Watch for it! (should) be its own committ ee; this is a critical www.trollart.com) component of meeting planning and continues Ideas for using the poster design were collectively to be a major expense category. Publicity and determined, when possible, by the Local Fisheries articles also is a major category that Arrangements Committ ee and AFS President Barb requires continuous work through the year prior Knuth. Mr. Troll requested compensation of $3,500 to the meeting. for his work. The organizing committ ee added Meeting Poster Design and Artwork (Katherine a gratuity of $500, bringing the contract cost to Rowell) $4,000. We also agreed to pay Ray’s expenses to att end the 2005 meeting. We really wanted him to The Local Arrangements Committ ee was very be here, and he consented to give a presentation fortunate to acquire the services of renowned on his use of sharks in his endeavors, particularly Alaskan artist, Ray Troll, for design of the 2005 a shark alphabet book for young readers, at the Annual Meeting Poster. Ray was given the meeting. Ray also agreed to sign posters and meeting theme, and then he asked for ideas perform some musical tunes at the Trade Show and suggested some designs, and the Local Social. Arrangements Committ ee provided a list of Alaskan fi sh and shellfi sh species desired for Once the artwork was completed, Mr.Troll’s display on the poster. Lett ering refl ected the artistic designer, Karen Lybrand, assumed the combined meetings of the 135th AFS Annual responsibility of preparing the poster for printing. Meeting, the Western Under Mr. Troll’s contractual commitment, she Division and Alaska Chapter provided the coloration, Annual Meetings, and shading and fi nal layout the 23rd Lowell Wakefi eld of the poster. Continued Fisheries Symposium on communication between Pacifi c Rockfi shes. We also Karen, Ray Troll, and asked Ray to incorporate the Local Arrangements into the meeting poster the Committ ee members ensued multidisciplinary nature until the fi nal product of the fi sheries fi eld and met everyone’s approval, to highlight the “Fisheries including that of Betsy Fritz, Mosaic” meeting theme. AFS President Barb Knuth, Our contract with Ray was and Gus Rassam. simple, specifying both a The fi nal poster was printed due date of May 1, 2004 and on glossy paper with white copyright guidelines. The lett ering (palinotype). The artist was extremely generous background color was a dark and authorized the Local blue gradient (dark-base to Arrangements Committ ee to lighter-top). A key to Alaskan use the poster artwork in any 2005 AFS annual meeting poster. fi sh and shellfi sh species manner, either in part or in its represented on the poster entirety, for any application

Final Report 97 Technical Support

was available on the meeting website and in the program guide. The Local Arrangements Committ ee’s webmaster, Mary Whalen, served as the Art Committ ee co- Chair. She was indispensable. Mary coordinated fi le manipulation and transfer, fi le printing, and facilitated many other vital computer related tasks. Once the poster was approved, Karen Lybrand copied the full resolution poster fi le to a FTP site created specifi cally for this purpose. The fi le was then transferred to CD by our computer specialist. The CD was sent via Federal Express to the Parent Society in Bethesda. A few copies of the poster were printed locally to ensure availability On-site registration desks in the Egan Convention for presentation at the August 2004 Annual Center. Ray Troll art was hung on the carpeted walls Meeting in Madison, Wisconsin. The Bethesda as decorations. offi ce was responsible for obtaining printing bids, the subsequent printing of 1,200 copies, species needed to be drawn and required and the mailing of the posters to the appropriate additional time for artistic completion, all by individuals Karen Lybrand. (to the Fishery The completed individual “fi sh” fi les were posted Administrators on the FTP site. The smaller “fi sh” fi les (in *.jpg Section and to the format) were then downloaded from the FTP Educators Section). site and provided to a local meeting sponsor for The poster in banner printing on a large format printer. About 200 size (42”x 84”) was images were printed and subsequently cut out printed locally for by committ ee members and on-site volunteers. display in the three One art committ ee member also printed a large meeting venue number of fi sh both on paper and clear acetate lobbies. bringing the total number of fi sh decorations to Our illustrious over 300 individual images. The paper on which and industrious the fi sh were printed tore easily, resulting in the need to mount these decorations on a durable One of the memorabilia General Chairman material such as poster board. In addition to the items, a chocolate bar, envisioned Ray posterboard-backed decorations, fi sh images decorated with Ray Troll’s art. Troll’s art decorating not only meeting about fi ve feet in length and three feet across T-shirts, but also were mounted with spray adhesive on ¼” thick miscellaneous memorabilia, the website, meeting foam core for display at the opening social. These bags, and the walls and halls of the meeting and decorations were cut out with X-Acto knives and social event locations. The artwork was also to be were hung from the ceiling with fi shing line. The used to create a meeting logo. Karen Lybrand was mounting of fi sh on posterboard and foamcore hired independently of the initial artwork contract and the subsequent separation process with to isolate the fi sh images from the large poster fi le scissors was extremely time consuming. During a into separate digital fi les. Again by committ ee, a two-week pre-meeting period, many volunteers list of desired species or other parts of the poster were coerced into assisting with this task. that we wanted to use for various items was For fi nal display, some of the posterboard-backed developed. Some fi sh species and other parts decorations were pinned to the carpeted meeting of the poster artwork were superimposed upon room walls with “T-pins” (as required by the others. The covered portions of the underlying venue). Others were hung from the ceiling using

98 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Technical Support

monofi lament fi shing line. The acetate images which typically features artwork from the meeting were mounted on windows with rubber cement poster. The 2005 meeting was no exception, and for viewing from both inside and outside of the we ordered pale green T-shirts with Ray Troll’s buildings. At the end of the meeting, the rubber poster imprinted on the back and our meeting cement was easily removed from the glass with logo on the front. We ordered about 700, and rubbing alcohol. The building administrators for students from the Alaska Chapter student subunit the meeting venues were very defi nite regarding sold every one by mid-way through the meeting. method of att achment to the walls or windows of In hind sight, several hundred more could have the buildings for any item. They also requested been sold. that all items and means of att achment be cleared The Alaska Chapter booth in the trade show from the venues at the meeting’s end. The became the location to acquire T-shirts as well as decorations were removed the fi nal meeting day other memorabilia from the 2005 meeting (more and sold to meeting att endees. Proceeds of the on memorabilia in a later section of this report). sales were directed to the Alaska Chapter’s Molly Keith Cox stepped forward and coordinated Ahlgren Scholarship Fund. the Chapter booth and took responsibility for It is diffi cult to recount complete expenses for managing the cash, T-shirt inventory, and student the poster and artwork display as the purchase volunteers. Keith started on Saturday morning and cost of some materials (foam core, adhesive, as people started arriving at the Hilton Hotel; rolls of paper) overlapped with the meeting’s he set up a booth on the mezzanine fl oor and signage budget. A signifi cant expense associated this became a hub of activity through Sunday. with printing the artwork was also absorbed as On Sunday evening, the opening social was held an in-kind donation from a local corporation in the Hilton, off ering a great opportunity for (Conoco-Phillips), as were printing, paper, ink and more sales. This activity then moved to the Egan provision of acetate by another meeting sponsor Convention Center on Monday and remained in (USGS). the Chapter booth until it closed on Wednesday aft ernoon. The following represents the minimum cost of the artwork for the 2005 Annual Meeting: T-shirts and Committ ee Shirts (Bill Hauser) Poster/artwork Expenses Three specially-designed shirts were used Artwork Contract $4,000 during the AFS 2005 AFS Meeting. Dark blue Image Isolation/Illustration $1,050 short sleeved shirts were assigned for the “core”, Memorabilia $1,840* long-standing Local Arrangements Committ ee members; heather gray T-shirts were worn by Misc. Artwork supplies $1,056** short-term, “walk-on” volunteer workers; and, Total $7,940 a pale-green T-shirt became the “offi cial” or *Design for candy bar wrappers, tote bags, mugs, pins. “meeting” T-shirt for retail sales. **Scissors, paper towels, adhesive, X-Acto knives, trash bags, poster board, foam core board etc. As it happened, the choice of the artwork and the shirt vendor were closely related. The artist (Mr. Ray Troll) who contributed the artwork used for These numbers exclude the revenue recovered the meeting poster and the meeting shirts had an and put back into the budget or the Molly established working relationship with a vendor Ahlgren Scholarship Fund through the sales of of screen printed T-shirts (Mr. Skip Jensen, Post- the remaining artwork at the end of the meeting Industrial Press, Tacoma, WA). Local vendors (probably around $1,000). were also solicited and one tried very hard to win T-shirts the bid, but could not match the bid by Post- Industrial Press. Introductory Comments (Bill Wilson) All shirts were provided by the same vendor. This Tradition at AFS annual meetings includes strategy off ered economy in printing because off ering for sale an “offi cial” meeting T-shirt there was only one “set up” fee for the artwork

Final Report 99 Technical Support

and because diff erent shirts could be included The fi rst order was for the Local Arrangements in one shipping order. A disadvantage is the fact Committ ee members: that shirts did need to be shipped to Anchorage Number Number Number Percent in a timely manner and stored before use. A last- purchased Size not used used used minute re-order was not an option. Polo Shirts Local Arrangements Committ ee Member Shirts—The 3 S 0 3 100% purpose for these shirts was to have a readily- 6 M 0 6 100% recognizable “uniform” for members of the Local Arrangements Committ ee and one of the 19 L 8 11 58% earliest tasks entailed designing and ordering 19 XL 12 7 37% these shirts for use during the 2004 Madison 3 XXL 2 1 33% meeting where the Alaska Chapter had a booth 50 Total 22 28 56% to advertise the upcoming 2005 meeting. Lots of energy was focused in the decision-making Henley Shirts process (everyone had an opinion) and the design 3 S 0 3 100% included meeting poster art on the back, with the 6 M 0 6 100% AFS and the meeting logos embroidered on the 19 L 12 7 37% front, left chest. The number of shirts ordered per size was primarily based on the experience and 19 XL 16 3 16% recommendation of the vendor. Originally, we 3 XXL 2 1 33% expected that these would be polo-style shirts; 50 Total 30 20 40% however, some committ ee members expressed a strong preference for Henley-style shirts (i.e., Second order information (all Polo style): sports-style collar) so the original order included half of each style. Size Number Small 9 It became apparent aft er being at the 2004 meeting that one shirt for a week-long meeting was not Medium 15 suffi cient for many members, so a second order Large 42 was made for more committ ee member shirts X-L 40 (with a slightly redesigned embroidered patt ern XX-L 6 on the front). XXX-L 3 Distribution of the meeting shirts was somewhat Total 115 subjective, but included: Local Arrangements Committ ee members, AFS Bethesda staff , These shirts cost (wholesale) an average of $16.50 special-recognition gift s, and on-site volunteers each, depending on size and style. who made substantial contributions in visible assignments. Of the second order , approximately 60 shirts were distributed to committ ee members. Thus In the data provided below, we report the number our Local Arrangements Committ ee of about 60 of shirts we actually used or needed; we also people used around 110 shirts. report the number left over. Those left over were sold to the public and disappeared quickly. Be aware that shirts must be stored before distribution and “left overs” must be stored as well. One hundred shirts fi ll two boxes approximately 24 x 28 x 32 inches. Volunteer Worker T-Shirts—The purpose for these shirts was to identify and reward workers who were not members of the Local Arrangements

100 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Technical Support

Committ ee but volunteered to help for a Recommendations signifi cant amount of time (nominally, a half day ● Retail sales shirts proved to be very or more) during the meeting. This included the popular and quickly sold out so there were student worker volunteers who were paid to assist no left overs aft er the meeting. You’ll have with audio-visual needs during the technical to make a guess and order accordingly. sessions. These T-shirts had the same screen- printing artwork as the Local Arrangements ● Aft er the retail sales shirts sold out and it Committ ee Member shirts, but the base color was became apparent that other shirts would heather gray. be left over, all shirts (unused Local Arrangements Committ ee and volunteer Ordering information for volunteer worker worker shirts) were sold before the end of T-shirts: the meeting. So, have a plan for any left Size Number over shirts. Small 10 ● Sort shirts by size before distribution. Anticipate a rush for pickup. Medium 36 ● Assign a volunteer to handle shirt Large 74 distributions; that person will be busy 1–2 X-L 74 days before the meeting begins, but will XX-L 6 need to continue distributions until they’re Total 200 gone. ● Distribution of Local Arrangements These shirts cost (wholesale) an average of $8.00 Committ ee and volunteer worker shirts each, depending on size. was piecemeal and ineffi cient because the storage and distribution location Of these, approximately 150 were distributed to was physically separated from most volunteer workers. workers. Distribution would have been Meeting Retail Sales T-Shirts—The number of more effi cient if it had been located in the meeting retail sales T-shirts (700) was the same committ ee “break room”. as the number of shirts ordered for the 2004 ● Retail sales shirts sold out sooner than meeting. In 2004, approximately 460 were sold; expected. Therefore, if more shirts had been 2005 meeting shirts sold out much sooner than ordered, greater profi t could have been expected. It should be noted that there were other realized for the students. options for T-shirt purchases during the 2004 ● Ideally, retail sales would have profi ted meeting. (excuse the pun) with a comprehensive Ordering information for 2005 meeting retail T- plan, including: intended profi t, shirts: advertising, marketing and personnel needed to handle and sell shirts. Size Number Small 30 Volunteer Coordinators (Lisa Seeb, Joe Sullivan) Medium 125 The Volunteer Committ ee provided several Large 260 kinds of services to the other committ ees prior to and during the annual meeting itself. Prior to X-L 260 the meeting, various committ ee chairs identifi ed XX-L 20 volunteer needs by tasks, dates, times and XXX-L 5 numbers needed and provided these to the Total 700 Volunteer Committ ee. The Volunteer Committ ee then organized these needs onto separate Excel These shirts cost (wholesale) an average of $8.00 spreadsheets by committ ee and began recruiting each, depending on size. for volunteers. Some committ ee chairs identifi ed

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their needs more concretely than others and, their requirements were being addressed and for as a consequence, it was much easier to entice corrections and additions for the next revision. volunteers for these tasks. Approximately 109 The frequency of reviews increased as the meeting volunteers were recruited and primarily assigned approached from just over weekly to almost daily. to these tasks prior to the meeting. Those tasks The spreadsheets were also sent to the volunteers that were less well defi ned, or undetermined and themselves to confi rm their commitments which unanticipated, required the bulk of the Volunteer probably made “no-shows” less frequent. Committ ee att ention during the meeting itself and It was anticipated that volunteer slots during this eff ort was unexpectedly substantial. Perhaps the meeting itself would be more diffi cult to fi ll two or three dozen more volunteers (some new than those occurring at other times and this was and some “repeats”) were “instantly” recruited largely true, but not unworkably so. In part this for these tasks. was due to the willingness of state, federal and Volunteers were recruited prior to the meeting other agencies to allow some of their clerical in several diff erent ways. First, committ ee and administrative staff to spend some of their chairs made contacts with co-workers and other normal work hours as meeting volunteers. AFS acquaintances and they provided these Nevertheless, there were some of these slots for names and contact information to the Volunteer which volunteers needed to be recruited twice Committ ee. Second, calls for volunteers were when people’s ability to att end the meeting itself part of national and local websites and published changed. meeting announcements. Respondents to Because some needs were identifi ed that required these announcements contacted the Volunteer volunteers with uncommon skills, it was valuable Committ ee, which then placed them in contact to have Volunteer Committ ee co-Chairs who had a with the committ ee chairs, and their names, wide range of local professional fi sheries contacts. contact information and assignments were added This was also valuable for instant recruiting of to the Excel roster and committ ee spreadsheets. volunteers at the meeting itself. It is easier to call Third, the Volunteer Committ ee co-Chairs made upon friends and acquaintances (who also have personal contacts with some who had not already a sense of pride that the meeting is being held volunteered but whom they knew had the talents in their neighborhood) than recruiting “cold required for particular needs. This recruitment contacts”. included fi nding a few committ ee chairs as well as general volunteers. The Volunteer Committ ee co-Chairs thought that things would mainly be on “automatic” during The set of volunteer spreadsheets (Appendix 12) the meeting itself and it would be time for them was a key element in knowing how prepared we to relax. That did not turn out to be the case, were for the meeting and what still needed to be principally because of unanticipated needs. In part done, though, as noted earlier, there were some this was because of things that simply happen areas that were diffi cult to fi nd recruits for and and can never be anticipated, but others were there were substantial last-minute-surprise needs. due to the fact some committ ee chairs did not The spreadsheets were fi rst sent to the Program fully understand what their volunteer needs were Committ ee about two and a half months prior to going to be. While att ention to this may minimize the meeting. While this ultimately accomplished such circumstances in the future some element of the task, it increased the co-chair time this will always be the case. Volunteer Committ ee commitments required in a short period of time. co-Chairs should anticipate unexpected volunteer Having co-chairs was ultimately critical because needs during the meeting and recruit a cadre of of other personal and professional demands on “stand-by” volunteers with cell phones who are their time. Even with co-chairs, starting earlier willing and able to help on a moment’s notice. Cell would be a bett er idea and decrease the risk of not phones for the Volunteer Committ ee co-Chairs meeting critical volunteer needs. were an invaluable tool for taking calls from The spreadsheets were periodically revised and committ ee chairs and other program members in returned to the committ ee chairs to gauge how need throughout the meeting. 102 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Technical Support

Financial support is an important issue the Publicity and Fisheries Articles principles of which should be re-examined and Introductory Comments (Bill Wilson) re-established locally before each future meeting. It should be clear that in general, most of the Our capable co-chairs, Kate Wedemeyer and Lisa volunteer slots are unpaid and that registration Olson, handled all the publicity and Lisa’s talents costs are not waived except for remarkable cases in graphic arts helped greatly in designing some at the discretion of the General Chairman. One of the publicity items. We initially produced a nebulous area that should get greater att ention fl yer (one page [two-sided] with color photos, in the future is the relationship between the artwork, and text about the meeting location, Volunteer Committ ee and the Audio Visual theme, etc.) which we took to the Madison Committ ee or any other group that, like them, meeting and used to advertise the 2005 meeting. actually pays students or anyone else for their We gave these to people who visited the Alaska time. Many people who would like to att end Chapter’s trade show booth. We also used a lot of the meeting need fi nancial support and many these when we returned—to give to agencies to volunteers for all the committ ees are oft en distribute locally, for local media, and for a variety students. It may be that the Volunteer Committ ee of other purposes. We printed about 1200 of these should anticipate that all student volunteers and used about 900–1000 of them. They proved should be made aware of all the potential paid useful as advertising at other fi sheries-related positions even when these are noted in calls for meetings that occurred through 2004 and part of volunteers in various meeting announcements. 2005, and several committ ee members used these Because money is involved, coordination between fl yers to alert their offi ce staff about the upcoming the Volunteer Committ ee and the Audio Visual meeting. Committ ee needs to be stronger than it was at We also provided all the writt en materials, maps, this meeting. The Volunteer Committ ee co-Chairs photographs, etc. for the monthly Fisheries articles. were never certain about when A/V needs were While Bethesda staff assembled the camera-ready met because a schedule of work assignments was layouts for these articles, Lisa and Kate provided not made until the last minute by A/V. In other the text and other items that went into the articles. committ ees, there was considerable range in time Of course the 24-page June Fisheries insert is the contribution by volunteers based on their ability biggie, and this took a fair amount of work and and generosity, but for those more dependent maybe 5-6 iterations before it was ready to send to upon a stipend for their work, the number of Bethesda. Beth Beard in Bethesda was incredibly hours they can work or even the opportunity helpful with all the Fisheries articles, and generally to work at all during the meeting becomes very sent to us a draft layout for fi nal editing before important. they went to press each month. This was very In summary, things worked largely because of helpful and it gave us the opportunity to snag the spreadsheet-based communication among errors right at the last minute. Several committ ee the Volunteer Committ ee, the committ ee chairs, members were responsible for providing and the volunteers. There would have been fewer information and writt en text for some of the surprises and need for instant recruits if some articles—coordinating the input from a dozen committ ee chairs had bett er anticipated their people proved trying at times. needs. That will always be the case to some degree Publicity and Media Relations (Kate Wedemeyer, though, and Volunteer Committ ees in the future Lisa Olson) should have a set of unassigned volunteers willing and able to meet last-minute needs as they occur. This committ ee was responsible for developing The Volunteer Committ ee needs two co-chairs materials for the monthly Fisheries magazine whether they are currently employed or retired inserts; producing other advertising requested of and should be people with many local contacts the Local Arrangements Committ ee; contacting who are bett er able to fi nd those with special the press and other media for coverage of the skills and have more “stand-by” volunteers at the meeting, and to set up interviews or provide meeting they can call in.

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information needed by local media for newspaper September–December calls for papers included articles, television interviews, etc. a 2”x 6” box in which the Publicity Committ ee could put local information of their choice; the The main responsibilities of this committ ee were: rest was the Call for Papers which the Program ● Monthly inserts in Fisheries Committ ee developed. The April insert included ● Contact media and set up interviews travel information and descriptions of symposia during the meeting and continuing education classes. The June insert included everything you need to know about Additional tasks which we volunteered for att ending the meeting; many members use this to because members of our committ ee were available plan their att endance down to which symposia for or uniquely capable of: and continuing education classes to take and ● Display and volunteer sign-up at the bring it with them to the meeting. The June insert Chapter meeting is reprinted by AFS Bethesda and a few hundred will be sent to the General Chairman or others ● Delivering Trade Show information to who may need them for advertising, fundraising, potential commercial exhibitors or other uses. The other topics for the monthly ● Developing the Registration Form updates are up to the publicity committ ee to Fisheries Inserts—This task is probably the largest decide and gather information for. publicity eff ort a Local Arrangements Committ ee Material is due to the Fisheries editor 6 weeks must undertake. Although the Bethesda AFS before the month of publication which means staff provide a great deal of support, the basic the publicity committ ee needed it at least two text and photographs need to come from the host months earlier. We found it challenging to get location. Up to 16 issues of Fisheries magazine will the information for the April and June inserts by contain announcements and information on the the February and April due dates simply because annual meeting. This starts with the Fisheries issue many of the decisions were not yet precise. for September—the First Call for Papers. This is followed with October, November, and December The registration form (due in February) was issues with a Second, Third, and Final Call for something no one on our committ ee had identifi ed Papers. These issues are also the opportunity for as their responsibility. According to Fisheries editor starting to advertise various aspects of the annual Beth Beard, this is a common occurrence. It took meeting such as the host hotel, the meeting venue, much longer than one might imagine, not only and local att ractions. for format but also to get the fi nal decision on fees for continuing education classes and tours. Make We found some confusion about what topics sure to fi nd out early who is going to pull the were to go into each Fisheries article, and learned registration form together. The registration form that there is some fl exibility about content. We is a key document that lays out the specifi cs of the recommend that the committ ee learn early in meeting and it needs to be accurate and easy to the year which Fisheries issues have fl exibility of understand. It will be published in Fisheries and content, and which do not. We did not have a also provided on the meeting web site. It is the schedule of what materials were to be published principal information-gathering document, and in Fisheries, and thus we developed our own based the data on the form are the basis for the database on the previous 4 years of Fisheries. It is possible on meeting att endees that is developed prior to such a schedule now exists, and we recommend and during the meeting, and serves to document it be obtained early (more than a year out) and categories of att endees, classes taken, revenues, that writers be lined up for each issue’s expected and other data for the post-meeting reports. article. If you have a good artistic person on your Table 14 lists the Fisheries articles on the 2005 committ ee, keep it a secret or they will get pulled meeting we or the AFS Bethesda staff prepared. into everything else (such as the registration form) The 4-page April insert and the 24-page June and will have no time left for putt ing the Fisheries insert are the most important issues. The inserts together. Fortunately, if you can provide 104 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Technical Support

Table 14. Articles prepared by the Publicity Committee and AFS Bethesda staff. Month Length Subject September 2004 2 pages First Call for Symposia and Papers October 2004 2 pages Second Call for Symposia and Papers; Call for Workshops (Continuing Education) November 2004 2 pages Third Call for Symposia and Papers; Theme of 2005 Meeting; Meeting Website December 2004 2 pages Final Call for Symposia and Papers; Information on Tourism and Trip Planning January 2005 1 page Meeting Update: 2005 Meeting Poster Unveiled, Artist Biography, Interpretation of Theme February 2005 1 page Meeting Update: Plenary Session Speakers, Biographies March 2005 2 pages Meeting Update: Anchorage Profi le, Offi cial Airline, Host Hotel, Convention Facilities, Anchorage Map; Poster Guidelines Website April 2005 4 pages Traveling to Anchorage; Symposia List; Continuing Ed Class Descriptions and Instructors May 2005 1 page Meeting Update: Student Program, Awards, Accommodations, Employment at Meeting Back cover Continuing Ed Class Descriptions and Instructors June 2005 Front Page Meeting Poster 24-page insert Comprehensive Meeting Overview: Registration, Plenary, Symposia, Cont Ed, Student Events, Trade Show, Poster Sessions, Spawning Run, Silent Auction, Socials, Trips and Tours, Transportation, Accommodations, Schedule at a Glance, Registration Form July 2005 1 page Meeting Update: Spawning Run Details August 2005 1 page Meeting Update: Anchorage Attractions, Map ½ page Silent Auction Overview; Guided Salmon Fishing Trip Announcement and Details September 2005 No articles October 2005 No articles November 2005 1 page Director’s Line: Gus’ Article on Meeting Attendance and Trip to Halibut Cove 5 pages Summary of the Meeting: Plenary, Socials, Symposia, Business Meeting, Student Night, Spawning Run, Attendance ½ page Meeting Sponsors List and Thank You December 2005 6 pages AFS Annual Awards: Names, Biographies, Photos; Resolutions; Western Division Awards; Section Awards

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good writt en materials, photos, and illustrations, option to plan to have them provide the layout the Fisheries staff can create a beautiful insert. from the beginning. We felt the Alaska Chapter photo contest successfully resulted in acquiring Some of the materials writt en in the fi rst few excellent photos. We also put a lot of eff ort Fisheries articles, such as continuing education, into successfully summarizing the continuing student activities, and accommodations, can be education and symposia descriptions and used again when preparing the April and June arranging them into categories. inserts. Don’t be afraid to reuse materials; it is easy to change photos and layout, but the June If possible, we would change the process for insert needs to be a comprehensive overview of obtaining writt en sections for Fisheries articles. We the meeting, so you may necessarily repeat some would send more reminders to each committ ee information provided in earlier Fisheries issues. chair on when we needed a particular insert topic. We sent reminders early in the process, but Remember to get a cover photo for the June we could have probably saved some stress by Fisheries, and be on the lookout for good photos sending one or two reminders a month before we generally—of things to do in the area, the venues, needed the information. We recommend that the scenery, outdoor activities, etc., as these will be committ ee start writing press release materials needed for many Fisheries articles. We sponsored a from the symposia proposals and abstracts while photo contest within the chapter to get some good in the process of reading and summarizing them photos to use in the inserts. If you can, try to take for the Fisheries inserts. local seasonal photos during the meeting month the year before. The Local Arrangements Committ ee Chairs should be informed that the registration form has It took much more time than expected to draft to be done by February! We’d recommend that 2- to 3-sentence summaries of 2- to 3-page someone other than publicity committ ee members symposia proposals and to organize the symposia develop the registration form. and continuing education classes into categories. This however was probably one of the most Media Activities (Kate Wedemeyer) important writt en items we provided. The titles The goal of the media eff ort was to “Get Science spoke more to the meeting theme and less to to the Public”. With that in mind, we identifi ed 15 the actual name of the symposia when members well-known speakers among the large group that and the press were trying to get an idea of which were presenting oral papers, and asked if they symposia to att end so we couldn’t just use the would be willing to talk to the press. We received titles of the symposia. Therefore we organized an almost universal yes. them into categories based on the meeting theme. We also organized the 15 continuing education A media alert was sent a month to six weeks classes into categories based on the theme. before the meeting to let the press know the meeting was imminent. It also stated that Keep in close contact with the webmaster and registration would be free to the press and that send Adobe Acrobat pdf fi les of the fi nal Fisheries there was a media section on the website. inserts to the webmaster. The last two weeks before the meeting, there There is a fi ne balance between copying everyone were 1–2 media alerts per day announcing the in the world with every e-mail and making time, topic, and experts available for each of the sure others are adequately informed of your interview topics. One alert also identifi ed the committ ee’s activities. symposia we thought would be of most interest Things that went well for us included working to the press. We used diff erent fi sh illustrations with the Fisheries editor and graphic artists. They (from the meeting poster) at the top of each media were available to step into the breach when we alert as a visual clue that they were each diff erent. needed help with the graphics layout. We only We had a section on the website where we put needed to provide the writt en materials, graphics, not only the press alerts, but also summaries of and photos for them to use. It is certainly an the symposia (the same we used in the Fisheries

106 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Technical Support

insert) so media would not have to wade through or predict whether the media will show. So over 50 symposia abstracts to fi gure out what was don’t take it personally if you don’t get a lot of of most interest. We still had several inquiries of reporters. what to choose out of the overwhelming lists. We The overall media eff ort went very well. Reporters mentioned the topics of the interviews as those we were very appreciative of the many press alerts thought of most interest. we sent out. The media room worked well. It We concentrated on local and state media and was quiet and pleasant for the interviews and the Fisheries editor concentrated on more national was set up so interviews could be held around media; few national media come to annual AFS the conference table or with several chairs in a meetings, and we suspect that not many were in semi-circle for the interviewees. Both setups were Anchorage because of the long travel distance. used. Our media room was also used quite oft en for committ ee meetings and the Ray Troll band Registration for media representatives was taken practice before they performed at the Trade Show. care of in the media room but we are aware that a The abstract search on the website worked very number of reporters did not register or could not well for topics like climate change that were not fi nd the media room. Several interviewees asked represented by a specifi c symposium or to fi nd for the media room and were sent to the A/V room additional papers elsewhere in the meeting. The —a mistake easily made! webmaster was very good at gett ing the media Several media alerts were accompanied by information onto the website quickly. background papers which were developed by Sett ing up specifi c times for interviews worked pulling interesting facts out of the abstracts for well. It would have been almost impossible to that symposium or topic. These were then sent coordinate interviewees and reporters otherwise. to symposium chairs or subject matt er experts Individual AFS members were very willing to for review. They were sent out as background meet with the press. The media room also was a information, but if they could have been writt en good place where reporters could sign in and list as actual press releases that might have inspired their topics of interest. Climate change was the more press articles. We received numerous most listed topic. unsolicited expressions of appreciation from reporters for all the information we sent out. We had assistance from public relations professionals from fi sheries related agencies; they Because of the size of the meeting, we decided were very helpful. to set up specifi c times for media interviews concentrated between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. Where Interviewees were escorted from the Plenary or there were a number of interviewees from a symposium location to the media room which several symposia, e.g., “Cool Technology”, it was made a huge diff erence in gett ing interviewees to challenging to fi nd a time they could all att end. the media room on time for the press conferences. Fortunately, the scientists were very fl exible and We had the most interest from—and got the most made a special eff ort to make it work . science out to the public—through one reporter Most interview opportunities were in the media who specializes in fi sheries issues. room where it was quiet enough for recording Recommendations interviews and where we had a visual fi sh background (individual Ray Troll fi sh art from ● Prepare the registration form early the meeting poster) if we had TV coverage. We (February). also had the interview schedule and all the press ● Refer to the “media room” as the “press alerts on the wall and stacks on the table in case room” to avoid it being confused with the reporters needed them. We had stacks left over, A/V check-in room. though. ● Make the media room more visible and Publicity professionals have said that no matt er make sure that all the local arrangements how good the media notice, you can’t control staff know its location. Use signs if needed.

Final Report 107 Technical Support

We are aware that a number of reporters We asked a local vendor to sponsor our cell never reached our media room or checked phones. We succeeded in fi nding one of the local in. cell companies, GCI, who volunteered the use ● Limit the number of scientists on any one of 30 phones, plus minutes, for a 10-day period. topic to three. We placed GCI on our web site as a sponsor, and included them in the Program Guide and on ● Get information on the Plenary speakers sponsor recognition posters in the venues. Kathy posted to the website. There was no Orzechowski acquired the phones, programmed information on the website about Plenary each of them with everyone’s phone number, presenters, nor were the Plenary speakers and also included for those who wanted them listed in the abstract search. additional phone numbers for home, offi ce, ● Identify an event of visual interest to att ract spouse, and other AFS business contacts (e.g. the media, particularly TV reporters. We hotel managers, convention center security, etc.). could have highlighted the salmon dance At the end of the meeting Kathy identifi ed one at the beginning of the Plenary; this would location for all to drop the phones; then they were have been a good visual event. packaged back up, and returned to GCI. ● Concentrate the press interviews into the On-site communications were handled using fi rst two days even if the symposia topics digital cell phones. Cell phone signal strength was are later in the week; then let reporters adequate on-site (but we had some dead areas). att end symposia to fi nd their interviewees. Aft er the fi rst few days of the meeting, one Recommendations could almost close shop on the media room ● Provide two handouts with each phone: a) or make it available for small meetings. basic step-by-step instructions to operate ● Emphasize local persons of interest to the the phone, i.e. gett ing to the contact list, media. We could have emphasized the adding a contact, turning the ring off , etc., former Alaska Lieutenant Governor Fran and b) a hardcopy print-out of the contact Ulmer. list (name and phone number for each ● Start working up press releases while person who had a meeting cell phone). sift ing through the symposia abstracts to ● Assign a local cell phone to Betsy Fritz or summarize them for the Fisheries insert. another contact from AFS Bethesda staff . These press releases then could be sent A/V (Steve Zemke, Jerry Berg) to symposia chairs or experts months in advance (many were out in the fi eld) to get General their improvements. The A/V objective for the conference was to Committee Communications (Kathy provide A/V support for the 1200 or so technical Orzechowski, Bill Wilson) and Plenary presentations, scatt ered over three venues, with signifi cantly diff erent operating We decided to follow the advice from the Madison procedures. The decision was made to use all organizing committ ee and obtain cell phones PowerPoint presentations, if at all possible, and for our committ ee. Best thing we ever did! We provide support needed to meet these needs. recommend future committ ees do the same. Several support scenarios were looked at, such Instant communications is critical, particularly as purchase of equipment such as computers and when the meeting is spread around in several LCD projectors by AFS, use of loan equipments venues. And even if it is all in one building, by agencies or corporations, or as it was fi nally committ ee members are scatt ered—in their decided, use of contract providers. hotel rooms, in meeting rooms, at lunch, etc. Particularly critical are cell phones for those who Contract Development run errands or are responsible for transportation. Aft er the decision was made to go with an A/V contract provider, bids were solicited from two fi rms. These were IMIG AV of Anchorage, 108 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Technical Support

Alaska and STS Productions of Woodinville, As a contingency, presentations that were not Washington. These bids were cross checked by received via download were to be loaded at least comparing equipment unit prices with three other one day before their scheduled presentation. IMIG A/V providers. The fi nal contract was awarded was responsible for loading these presentations to IMIG AV of Anchorage on the basis of low up on a master program, and then loading them bid, number of larger conferences serviced in on an appropriate laptop, and then set up at the Anchorage, and their location in Anchorage in appropriate room prior to the start of the technical case of contingencies. session. Since over 900 presentations had to be uploaded onto the room computers prior to the Costs start of the meeting, IMIG brought in additional As noted within the Budget and Finance section, staff on Sunday through Wednesday to handle the fi nal A/V costs were signifi cantly over costs additional load and had 4 staff working to load budgeted. Final cost for A/V services were the presentations. The process was very effi cient, $55,928. This was a 25 % over run. The fi nal costs and generally no wait time was required. The are detailed within Table 15. PowerPoint agenda format was very successful in allowing IMIG staff to navigate to the right A/V Check in and Download of Presentations session and instantly download the presentations. Download of presentations and fi le management The extra staff resulted in signifi cantly higher turned out to be a major concern. The session labor costs. presenters were required to download presentations to IMIG AV prior to conference All laptops and LCD projectors were dedicated start. The presentations were to be mailed or to a specifi c room and were identifi ed for that downloaded to the IMIG AV website storage specifi c room. These were then brought to their facility. A major problem with this year’s A/ appropriate rooms 30 minutes prior to the start of V organization was the lack of a successful the session. At the end of the day, all laptops and protocol for using the IMIG AV website for computers were returned to the Williwaw Room. down loading the presentations. Three primary Any additional presentations that were received problems occurred that prevented the successful that day were loaded onto the appropriate implementation of this exciting technology. First, computer that evening or morning to be ready to there was not adequate communication and go to the correct room in the morning. Laptops planning accomplished between AFS A/V staff and LCD projectors were locked up in this room and the IMIG contractor that established the until the next morning where they were readied exacting technical requirements needed to make to be placed out and set up in the rooms by A/V the download successful. IMIG should have been assistants. Use of volunteers rather than A/V a dedicated server for the downloads at least a contract labor to move all the equipment lessened week before the deadline. Storage space on the the labor costs for moving the hundreds of pieces server should have been at a minimum in the 30 of equipment twice daily. to 50 Gigabyte range. The band width used for In cases where the presenter had not been able download needed to be much wider. Second, a to get his/her presentation loaded to the laptop constant change in the program, up to the fi nal before it was moved out to the session room, the day before the start of the meeting sessions, presentation was played off a USB memory stick complicated the organization and fi ling of the or CD. A runner brought the presentation to the presentations that were downloaded. Finally, the appropriate room. The presentation was then deadline for download should have been several loaded at a break before the presentation was days earlier in the process rather that the two scheduled to be given, or as a last case played working days provided, as 50 to 75 percent of directly off the USB memory device or CD. No the presenters waited to the last day to att empt allowance for extra time was given. Fortunately, to download fi les that oft en were in the 20 to 100 this was a rare occurrence. MB range. These technical specifi cations were not negotiated within the scope of the original The presenters were able to use the A/V check contract. in rooms to have their presentation checked for Final Report 109 Technical Support

Table 15. List of A/V equipment and costs for the 2005 annual meeting. Item Details Days No. Price Extension Egan (11 Concurrent Sessions, Summit Hall) LCD Projector 2500 Lumen 3.5 11 $300.00 $11,550.00 Projector Stand 3.5 11 $15.00 $577.50 Tripod Screen 3.5 11 $30.00 $1,155.00 Laptop 3.5 11 $85.00 $3,272.50 Wireless Remote 3.5 8 $25.00 $700.00 Podium Microphone 3.5 6 $20.00 $420.00 8-Input Computer/Video 3.5 1 $400.00 $1,400.00 Switcher VHS Player Wed, Room 1 1 1 $45.00 $45.00 VHS Player Tue, Room 14 1 1 $45.00 $45.00 Small Sound System 3.5 6 $85.00 $1,785.00 Egan Upstairs (2 Rooms on Thursday Only) LCD Projector 2500 Lumen 1 2 $300.00 $600.00 Projector Stand 1 2 $15.00 $30.00 Fast-Fold Screen 1 2 $100.00 $200.00 Laptop 1 2 $85.00 $170.00 Wireless Remote 1 2 $25.00 $50.00 Hilton (1 Concurrent Session, Denali Room) LCD Projector 2500 Lumen 3.5 1 $300.00 $1,050.00 Projector Stand 3.5 1 $15.00 $52.50 Laptop 3.5 1 $85.00 $297.50 Wireless Remote 3.5 0 $25.00 $- Podium Microphone 1 1 $20.00 $20.00 Mixer 1 1 $25.00 $25.00 Alaska Center For The Performing Arts LCD Projector 2500 Lumen 3.5 2 $300.00 $2,100.00 LCD Projector 3500 Lumen 3.5 2 $425.00 $2,975.00 Projector Stand 3.5 4 $15.00 $210.00 Tripod Screen Elvira 3.5 1 $30.00 $105.00 9 x 12 Rear Screen 3.5 3 $100.00 $1,050.00 Laptop 3.5 4 $85.00 $1,190.00 Wireless Remote 3.5 0 $25.00 $- Egan Audio Visual Room LCD Projector 2500 Lumen 3.5 1 $300.00 $1,050.00 Tripod Screen 3.5 1 $30.00 $105.00 Laptop 3.5 5 $85.00 $1,487.50 Continued On Next Page

110 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Technical Support

Table 15. Continued Item Details Days No. Price Extension Router 3.5 1 $20.00 $70.00 Thumb Drive 3.5 5 $5.00 $87.50 Egan/Hilton A/V Practice Room Laptop 3.5 1 $85.00 $297.50 IMIG AV Website Storage Web Storage $400.00 Additional Audio Equipment Monday, Egan 4 Table Top Microphone 1 3 $20.00 $60.00 4-CH Audio Mixer 1 1 $25.00 $25.00 Egan 2 Table Top Microphone 1 5 $20.00 $100.00 6-CH Audio Mixer 1 1 $65.00 $65.00 Tuesday, Egan 2 Table Top Microphone 1 5 $20.00 $100.00 6-CH Audio Mixer 1 1 $65.00 $65.00 Egan 5 Table Top Microphone 1 3 $20.00 $60.00 4-CH Audio Mixer 1 1 $25.00 $25.00 Wednesday, Egan 6 Table Top Microphone 1 5 $20.00 $100.00 6-CH Audio Mixer 1 1 $65.00 $65.00 Wireless Hand Microphone 1 1 $50.00 $50.00 Wednesday, Egan 11-12 Table Top Microphone 1 5 $20.00 $100.00 6-CH Audio Mixer 1 1 $65.00 $65.00 Wednesday, Egan 9-10 Table Top Microphone 1 5 $20.00 $100.00 6-CH Audio Mixer 1 1 $65.00 $65.00 Labor And Expenses Sunday Set-Up Labor 5 7 $40.00 $1,400.00 Speaker Ready Room 1 32 $50.00 $1,600.00 Monday Technicians 3-techs, 8-hrs. 1 24 $50.00 $1,200.00 Speaker Ready Room 1 47 $50.00 $2,350.00 Continued On Next Page

Final Report 111 Technical Support

Table 15. Continued Item Details Days No. Price Extension Operate Atwood 1 4 $50.00 $200.00 Tuesday Technicians 3-techs, 8-hrs. 1 24 $40.00 $960.00 Speaker Ready Room 1 34 $50.00 $1,700.00 Wednesday Technicians 3-techs, 8-hrs. 1 24 $40.00 $960.00 Speaker Ready Room 1 37 $50.00 $1,850.00 Thursday Technicians 3-techs, 8-hrs. 1 24 $40.00 $960.00 Speaker Ready Room 1 15 $50.00 $750.00 Strike Labor 6-technicians 1 16 $40.00 $640.00 Shipping 2 1 $2,000.00 $4,000.00 Preloading Presentations 1 40 $50.00 $2,000.00 Replace Remote 1 3 $149.00 $447.00 Subtotal $59,490.50 10% Equipment Discount $(3,561.75) Grand Total $55,928.75 compatibility. All Moderators were to report to Anchorage Hilton. At the Alaska Center for their session rooms at least 20 minutes before the Performing Arts A/V was provided for the the start of their session to get acquainted with Plenary Session on Monday morning, and for lighting, microphone and computer setup. Prior the 4 concurrent sessions at the Atwood, the to start of the session, with the aid of the A/V Laurence, the Discovery, and the Voth Theatre. assistant assigned to the session, each presenter A/V supported 11 concurrent sessions at the Egan was directed to verify that the correct paper had Center starting the aft ernoon of September 12 and been loaded on the computer in the session room running through September 15. In addition, two and that everything was functioning properly. extra sessions ran at the Egan Center on Thursday, When problems arose, the A/V assistants were September 15. A/V support was provided for the generally able to guide the presenter through fall- Wakefi ed Symposium at the Anchorage Hilton back scenarios. If not, IMIG AV provided technical (Denali Room) from Monday through Thursday. trouble shooting. The reliance on cell phones for All of the over 1,200 presentations ran via communication when technical glitches occurred Microsoft PowerPoint presentations, through was problematic. Not all rooms had cell phone laptop computers and LCD projectors. IMIG access, and confusion on the proper number to AV provided all A/V equipment, including the dial was common. A hand held radio system laptop computers, screens, projection screens, would have been much simpler and practical. and sound systems and associated peripherals at A/V Setup for the Rooms the venues, except where specifi cally noted. They A/V was provided at the three venues. The three provided also the technical personnel required venues were as follows: The Alaska Center for to download presentations, set up equipment, the Performing Arts, the Egan Center, and the ensure presentations were ready to proceed prior

112 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Technical Support

to sessions starting, and troubleshoot situations as transition from one talk to another was very they arose. smooth. Student technicians brought up the next presentation while the moderator was introducing AFS provided personnel needed to run the the next speaker. Also, in between talks, the presentations. A student hire was provided to agenda for the day’s session was displayed on the all meeting rooms; the student provided direct screen. The speaker controlled the fl ow of slides support for the running of the laptop computers via wireless remote, or in cases of malfunction and lighting systems for each of the rooms in the with the computer’s up and down arrows. Where three venues. Also, student hires provided runner podiums were of suffi cient size, the laptops were service for last minute download of presentations placed on the podium and slides controlled that were not loaded prior to the start of the directly off the laptop. technical session. We lacked volunteers enough to do this, and some contract A/V technicians were Sound was provided where necessary through required to provide this service. a podium microphone. Students controlled the light system where necessary. At the Alaska Setup occurred from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, Center for the Performing Arts, personnel from September 11 at the Egan Center and the Crossroads Production controlled the lights and Anchorage Hilton. Setup for the Alaska Center sound systems as required by union contract. for the Performing Arts occurred on Monday Sound was run through the house systems, except morning from 4 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. for the Atwood for small rooms in the Egan, where stand alone and 4 a.m. until noon at the other three theaters. systems were required. IMIG AV was responsible All rooms were planned for front projection for the set up, except for the Alaska Center for the using laptop computers running Microsoft Performing Arts. Here Crossroads Productions PowerPoint 2000, projecting through 2500 lumen provided the light and sound systems for the four proxima LCD projectors, except as specifi cally Theaters. noted. The LCD projectors were set on projector stands near the rear of the room and projected Also, the Plenary Session required additional to a freestanding projector screen. At the Alaska equipment for the Atwood Theater. A gang switch Center for the Performing Arts the Atwood, was required to be able to bring in two laptops, Discovery, and Laurence Theaters required rear one of which was Ray Troll’s G4 Mac, as well projection. Projectors and screens were hung on as a DVD player to play the Welcome to Alaska the main stages. The Atwood required a 10’ x 14’ slide show presented by the General Chairman. rear projection screen and the Discovery required Two video intensive symposia, Hydroacoustic a 9’ x 12’ rear projection screen. Due to the large Assessments on Wednesday in Egan 2 and size of these screens, 3500 lumen rear projection Fisheries Applications on Thursday in Egan 3 projectors were provided for the Atwood and ran off individual computers. Here a gang box Discovery Theaters. These screens were small or switch was used to connect all the individual for the size of the venues. Screen sizes were an laptops to the projector. Symposium chairs were issue, and somewhat problematic, as venue sites responsible for working with IMIG AV to verify could not be checked until the last minute. It’s laptops were compatible with the projector and recommended that the room setup be checked that the laptops were set up prior to the start of beforehand if at all possible. the session. Laptops were placed on a small table next to Panel discussions also required special setup. the podium. A feature of PowerPoint was used These rooms were set up with an adjacent table to allow all the presentations to be on a single and appropriate number of chairs as requested computer for each room, by half-day session. by session moderators. Table microphones were Before the start of the day, these programs were provided at a rate of one microphone per two downloaded to the appropriate room computer, panelists. and then located out to the appropriate room Finally, overhead projectors were available at before the start of the day’s session. Since the talks each of the venues sites, as a backup, in case of were organized by the preprogrammed outline, Final Report 113 Technical Support

catastrophic computer projection failure. Other and venue location and numbered these session special considerations, such as use of conventional intervals (totaling approximately 205). I sent this photographic slides, was considered on a case-by- out to the students on my list and told them to case basis, though strongly discouraged. See Table select sessions by my assigned number to pre- 15 for details of the fi nal disposition of equipment assign as many as possible prior to the meeting. used. By late August, approximately 75% of the sessions were assigned. A draft spreadsheet of the student Speaker Practice Rooms assignments to sessions is in Appendix 13. Speaker or A/V practice rooms were provided at the Egan Center in the Redoubt Room and the Once I arrived in Anchorage (2 days prior to the Prudhoe Bay Room in the Anchorage Hilton. start), I met with Steve Zemke and Jerry Berg Hours were listed in the presenter’s guidelines. and we decided to make a poster of the sessions IMIG AV provided the laptop and LCD projector and assignments with the unassigned sessions for the Redoubt room to facilitate the check-in highlighted. This poster then served as our master compatibility. USDA Forest Service provided the list for tracking during the meeting. We also used laptop and LCD projector for the Denali Hilton. it during the training session that was conducted the night prior to the formal start of the meeting Student Employment for A/V Support (Evelyn (Sunday night). We used colored pins to mark Brown) empty sessions and to mark when equipment was checked in and checked out for those sessions. As This task required the organization, recruitment, a result, we knew which sessions needed special supervision, and training of A/V student att ention by the committ ee members. We had volunteers and assistance with A/V operations an equipment check-in list so we knew which in general. Aft er volunteering for this task, I met sessions had equipment returned with missing with other representatives on the A/V Committ ee parts (e.g. electronic pointers) or problems by and discussed what needed to be done. We were noting those things on the list. able to do this via teleconference. Aft er listing and dividing the tasks amongst ourselves (Steve To track time, we developed time sheets that each Zemke and Jerry Berg), I proceeded with my student fi lled out with their sessions and number part. By June of 2005, I sent out an e-mail via of hours worked. A/V Committ ee members were our student assistant administrator soliciting required to sign off for each session before totals University of Alaska Fairbanks students interested could be provided to Larry Peltz for payment. in att ending and helping out with A/V during The pre-assignment of sessions via e-mail worked the national meeting. A student volunteer from very well. If we didn’t pay the volunteers, I doubt Anchorage (Courtenay Peirce) did the same it would have been possible to get as many as we thing at the University of Alaska Anchorage. did. Everything with volunteer assignments went In addition, out-of-state students who inquired well; I can’t think of anything that didn’t work. about volunteering were given my address and I The only thing we did wrong with A/V was to not compiled those names as well. have the equipment check-in sheet ready on the From the very beginning, we off ered $10 per hour fi rst day. Without the check-in sheet, a devoted for this task (and a free volunteer T-shirt) and space, and solid procedures for equipment check- were able to compile a list of over 50 volunteers in, chaos ensued. It was impossible to track who this way. I kept a spreadsheet with names and turned in what, when and in what condition. We e-mail addresses of the combined list of UAF, rectifi ed this situation aft er the fi rst day. UAA and out-of-state students. By late July, Summary Data I had approximately 60 names. The program was near fi nal form by then and I compiled a We communicated with, assigned sessions to, spreadsheet of each session broken down by trained, and supervised 62 student volunteers. four periods (morning, late morning aft er break, We used three posters total (two for room early aft ernoon aft er lunch, and late aft ernoon identifi cations and one for tracking of sessions, aft er break). I also included the room number assignments, and equipment). We used ½ ream 114 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Technical Support

of paper for time sheets, equipment checking, Welcome Transportation handouts to volunteers, etc. We did not use The Transportation Chair arranged for transport any coff ee or other food. I ate in the Local of the AFS dignitaries from the airport to the hotel Arrangements Committ ee break (lunch) room and provided them logistical support during several times. As far as time, I think the whole the convention. Most dignitaries arrived the task required approximately 80 hours of my time. week prior to the offi cial AFS meetings to att end Recommendations business and committ ee meetings. The schedules of arriving dignitaries were provided by the ● Plan to pay the volunteers Parent AFS business offi ce and some of the Local ● Pre-assign as many sessions as possible Arrangements Committ ee chairmen. In 2005, ● Develop a time sheet airport and hotel transportation was provided to ● Hold a training session for volunteers 19 individuals. ● Develop an equipment check-in procedure Charters with a devoted room for checking out and One bus charter was arranged for students to collecting equipment each day with a sign- att end Continuing Education Classes from the in / -out sheet. convention headquarters to/from the University of ● Work with nice people who don’t let egos Alaska for two days. If there needs to be a charge get in the way for the bus added to the class fee, then this charter must be arranged before the registration form is Transportation (Lynne Santos) printed. A second charter was arranged for an off Transportation of people is a key element in a site social for AFS dignitaries and guests to a local successful meeting. Of course, the level of eff ort night club. The third charter was arranged for a under this task would vary greatly depending on business meeting held at a mountain resort. Price how many venues are used to house the meeting, quotes were obtained from six separate vendors what the local committ ee decides to do about and a deposit given to guarantee prices in early providing transportation among venues and spring. A cost breakdown for each event must be hotels that might be spread out, and what kind supplied to the local AFS General Chairman and of requirements the Parent Society or Governing AFS business offi ce for accurate pricing for the Board place on the Transportation Committ ee particular event. for airport pickups, helping VIPs get oriented Pricing quotes for car rentals, limos and charters to the host city, errands the Local Arrangements were regularly requested by numerous AFS staff , Committ ee requests, and many other kinds of vendors, and members for additional functions. transportation needs. I found it very handy to keep a rate sheet The Anchorage meeting venues were close available to e-mail information to all requesting enough together that the Local Arrangements information. Committ ee declined to set up a periodic bus or Pickups/Vans other transport system; people could easily walk from one location to the others. Some hotels were The week prior to the AFS 2005 meeting we up to 6-7 blocks away, but Anchorage has a bus secured two covered 4 door pickups from the U.S. system, and walking a few blocks during our Fish and Wildlife for one week’s use. This proved autumn weather could be considered a desirable extremely helpful to transport items stored in respite from spending time in meeting rooms. local warehouses and offi ces to the convention site, run errands during the convention, and We did, however, provide transportation on transportation for committ ee chairs, VIPs, and the request for AFS staff , Plenary speakers, foreign Trade Show social entertainment staff . visitors, and other VIPs. We also had numerous errands to run, and thus required a reliable Communications transportation program to accommodate these It was extremely helpful having a cell phone needs. and being physically located at the registration

Final Report 115 Technical Support

desk. During the AFS meetings most requests Also, as part of the recycling eff orts, we asked for transportation and logistical support came hotels to help conserve water and detergents via committ ee chairs using the cell phones and through conservation of daily cleaning of towel some also stopped by the registration desk for and/or bed linens. This was met with mixed requested assistance. support from the hotels and it is not known to what degree it was actually carried through. Recycling (Jerry Berg) Recycling at the 2005 AFS meeting was a challenge and required a very dedicated eff ort. The greatest benefi t was the show of support for recycling eff orts and to provide fi shery professionals the opportunity to continue to help protect the environment. It was rewarding in the end but it did require that the volunteers be “hardcore” recycling advocates to keep up with the quantity of materials for such a large event. At times it is a dirty job and felt like we worked for a garbage company. It would be worth exploring the possibilities of paying a local company to collect and haul the recycle materials away. We were not able to fi nd a company willing to do this in Anchorage. Anchorage has a recycling center but requires participants to collect and transfer all materials to the center. Anchorage also has a “Green Star Program” that provided containers or bins for collecting the recyclables for special events. The 2005 meeting was the largest event to have a coordinated recycling eff ort supported by Green Star. We collected and transferred recyclable materials at each of the three meeting locations as well as at each social event every night of the conference. It helped to work closely with the catering staff and know ahead of time what was going to be served at each event for potential recyclable materials. The recycled materials collected throughout the fi ve day event were: Cardboard 8.10 cubic yards = 810 lbs Mixed paper 0.88 cubic yards = 351.64 lbs Glass 3.60 cubic yards = 2157.66 lbs Clear Plastic bottles 0.65 cubic yards = 22.64 lbs Aluminum 1.29 cubic yards = 97 lbs Total Recycled 14.5 cubic yards = 3439 lbs = 1.72 tons

116 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Directory of Meeting Planning Contacts—Appendix 1

Appendix 1. Directory of Local Arrangements Committee Members and others involved in planning the 2005 AFS annual meeting.

Title Last First City Number E-mail

General Chair Wilson Bill Anchorage PH: 907-271-2809 [email protected] FX: 907-271-2817 Program

Program Committee

Co-Chair (Sympos) Knudsen Eric Washington PH: 360-424-5767 [email protected]

Co-Chair (Contrib Margraf Joe Fairbanks PH: 907-474-6044 [email protected] Pprs)

Poster Co-Chair Kerkvliet Carol Homer PH: 907-235-1891 carol_kerkvliet@fi shgame.state.ak.us FX: 907-235-2448

Poster Co-Chair Otis Ted Homer PH: 907-235-1891 ted_otis@fi shgame.state.ak.us FX: 907-235-2448

Scheduling Hood Marla Anchorage [email protected]

Scheduling Hennessy Joe Wisconsin PH: 608-267-0548 [email protected] FX: 608-266-2244

Member Cannon Rich Chugiak [email protected]

Member Geiger Hal Juneau hal_geiger@fi shgame.state.ak.us

Member Bryant Buck Juneau PH: 907-586-8811 [email protected]

Plenary Session

Knuth Barb AFS PH: 607-255-2822 [email protected] FX: 607-255-0349

Slide Show Starnes Lynn WDAFS [email protected]

Slide Show Grabacki Steve Anchorage PH: 907-272-5600 [email protected] FX: 907-272-5603

Coordinator Grabacki Steve Anchorage PH: 907-272-5600 [email protected] FX: 907-272-5603

Molly Ahlgren Wilson Bill Anchorage PH: 907-271-2809 [email protected] Memorial FX: 907-271-2817

Garza Dolly Ketchikan PH: 907-247-4978 [email protected] FX: 907-247-4976

Deerkop Kyle Sitka [email protected]

Norcross Brenda Fairbanks PH: 907-474-7990 [email protected] FX: 907-474-1943

Continuing Education Long Jim [email protected]

Continued on next page

Final Report 117 Appendix 1—Directory of Meeting Planning Contacts

Title Last First City Number E-mail

Western Division

Liaison McMahon Tom Phoenix PH: 602-789-3268 [email protected] FX: 602-789-3265

Fundraising Chair Harthorn Casey New Mexico [email protected]

Fundraising Bradshaw Bill Wyoming PH: 307-672-7418 [email protected] Assistance FX: 307-672-0594

Fundraising Hughes Bob Oregon PH: 541-754-4516 [email protected] Assistance FX: 541-754-4716

Annual Meeting Margraf Joe Fairbanks PH: 907-474-6044 [email protected]

Alaska Chapter Annual Joyce Tim Cordova PH: 907-424-4747 [email protected] Meeting FX: 907-424-7214

Geiger Hal hal_geiger@fi shgame.state.ak.us

Wakefi eld Symposium Pristash Sherri Fairbanks PH: 907-474-6707 [email protected] FX: 907-474-6285

DiCosimo Jane Anchorage PH: 907-271-2809 [email protected] FX: 907-271-2817

Hartmann Cindy Juneau PH: 907-586-7585 [email protected] FX: 907-586-7358 Budget and Finance

PH: 907-271-1332 Chair Peltz Larry Anchorage [email protected] FX: 907-271-3030

PH: 907-271-1332 Overall Budget Peltz Larry Anchorage [email protected] FX: 907-271-3030

Fundraising/Sponsors Wilson Bill Anchorage PH: 907-271-2809 [email protected] FX: 907-271-2817

Peltz Larry Anchorage PH: 907-271-1332 [email protected] FX: 907-271-3030

Mundy Phil Anchorage PH: 907-677-6301 [email protected]

Bechtol Bill Homer PH: 907-235-8191 bill_bechtol@fi shgame.state.ak.us FX: 907-235-2448

Hartmann Cindy Juneau PH: 907-586-7585 [email protected] FX: 907-586-7358

Seafood Donations/ Reed Glenn Seattle [email protected] Corporate

Continued on next page

118 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Directory of Meeting Planning Contacts—Appendix 1

Title Last First City Number E-mail

Seafood Donations Joyce Tim Cordova PH: 907-424-4747 [email protected] FX: 907-424-7214

Allee Brian Fairbanks PH: 907-474-7949 [email protected] FX: 907-474-6285

Silent Auction Chair Lafferty Bob Anchorage PH: 907-267-2220 robert_lafferty@fi shgame.state. ak.us

Silent Auction/Costs/ Timmons Saree Anchorage PH: 907-267-2518 saree_timmons@fi shgame.state.ak.us Proceeds/Permits

Door Prizes Timmons Saree Anchorage PH: 907-267-2518 saree_timmons@fi shgame.state.ak.us

Woody Carol Ann Anchorage PH: 907-786-7124 [email protected] Registration and Welcoming

Chair Bingham Allen Anchorage PH: 907-267-2327 allen_bingham@fi shgame.state.ak.us FX: 907-267-2422

On-site Registration Love Andra Anchorage PH: 907-644-2018 [email protected] Helpers FX: 907-644-2022

Registration - General Dion Cheryl King Salmon PH: 907-246-1231 [email protected] FX: 907-246-4237

Registration - General Chilton Liz Kodiak PH: 907-481-1725 [email protected]

Website Whalen Mary Anchorage PH: 907-786-3496 [email protected] FX: 907-786-3636

Bingham Allen Anchorage PH: 907-267-2327 allen_bingham@fi shgame.state.ak.us FX: 907-267-2422

Wakefi eld Registration Pristash Sherri Fairbanks PH: 907-474-6707 [email protected] FX: 907-474-6285

Registration Packets/ DiCosimo Jane Anchorage PH: 907-271-2809 [email protected] Inserts FX: 907-271-2817

Registration Totes Walker Sue Juneau PH: 907-586-7646 [email protected] FX: 907-586-7358

Mayer Elaine Fairbanks PH: 907-456-0209 [email protected] FX: 907-456-0208

Luggage tags Lafferty Bob Anchorage PH: 907-267-2220 robert_lafferty@fi shgame.state. ak.us

Bingham Allen Anchorage PH: 907-267-2327 allen_bingham@fi shgame.state.ak.us FX: 907-267-2422

Ourso Bob Anchorage PH: 907-786-7148 [email protected] FX: 907-786-7154

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Final Report 119 Appendix 1—Directory of Meeting Planning Contacts

Title Last First City Number E-mail Socials

Chair Trudgen Dave Anchorage PH: 907-258-4880 [email protected] FX: 907-258-4033

Opening Social/Hilton Erickson Allison Anchorage PH: 907-659-4789 [email protected]

Barber Will Anchorage PH: 907-277-0929 [email protected]

Student Social Trudgen Dave Anchorage PH: 907-258-4880 [email protected] FX: 907-258-4033

Peirce Courtenay Anchorage PH: 907-317-2457 [email protected] (cell)

Hasbrouck James Anchorage PH: 907-267-2124 james_hasbrouck@fi shgame.state. FX: 907-267-2401 ak.us

Offsite Extravaganza Erickson Allison Anchorage PH: 907-659-4789 [email protected]

Trudgen Dave Anchorage PH: 907-258-4880 [email protected] FX: 907-258-4033

Sullivan Joe Anchorage PH: 907-345-0527 [email protected] FX: 907-345-2742

Spawning Run

Burwen Debby Anchorage PH: 907-267-2225 debby_burwen@fi shgame.state. FX: 907-267-2424 ak.us

logistics Bosch Dan Anchorage PH: 907-267-2153 dan_bosch@fi shgame.state.ak.us FX: 907-267-2424

Assistant Mayer Elaine Fairbanks PH: 907-456-0209 [email protected] FX: 907-456-0208

Assistant - Students Dann Tyler Fairbanks [email protected]

Hospitality/Spouses/ Gardner Lee Ann Chugiak PH: 907-688-1400 [email protected] VIPs FX: 907-688-1400

Trade Show Social Rowell Kathy Anchorage PH: 907-243-7370 [email protected] w/TS Chair

Options Night Gardner Lee Ann Chugiak PH: 907-688-1400 [email protected] FX: 907-688-1400

Whitekeys Wedemeyer Kate Anchorage PH: 907-334-5278 [email protected] FX: 907-334-5242 Accommodations

Chair Hauser Bill Anchorage PH: 907-349-7175 [email protected]

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120 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Directory of Meeting Planning Contacts—Appendix 1

Title Last First City Number E-mail

Hilton Headquarters Hauser Bill Anchorage PH: 907-349-7175 [email protected]

Other Hotels Hauser Bill Anchorage PH: 907-349-7175 [email protected]

Egan Center and Hauser Bill Anchorage PH: 907-349-7175 [email protected] Performing Arts Center, Space/Catering

Whalen Mary Anchorage PH: 907-786-3496 [email protected] FX: 907-786-3636

Master Scheduling Hauser Bill Anchorage PH: 907-349-7175 [email protected]

Bingham Allen Anchorage PH: 907-267-2327 allen_bingham@fi shgame.state.ak.us FX: 907-267-2422

Trade Show Rowell Kathy Anchorage PH: 907-243-7370 [email protected]

Trade Show Manager Grist Anne Virginia PH: 703-433-9435 [email protected] - AFS FX: 703-433-9436

Box Lunches/Egan & Santos Lynne Anchorage PH: 907-786-3544 [email protected] Performing Arts Center FX: 907-786-3848 Catering

AFS Business Offi ce McClain Vince Anchorage PH: 907-786-3886 [email protected] FX: 907-786-3898

Poster Session Logistics/ Rowell Kathy Anchorage PH: 907-243-7370 [email protected] Layout

Kerkvliet Carol Homer PH: 907-235-1891 carol_kerkvliet@fi shgame.state.ak.us FX: 907-235-2448

Otis Ted Homer PH: 907-235-1891 ted_otis@fi shgame.state.ak.us FX: 907-235-2448

ADA/Signer for Hauser Bill Anchorage PH: 907-349-7175 [email protected] Plenary

Signage Love Andra Anchorage PH: 907-644-2018 [email protected] FX: 907-644-2022

Hauser Bill Anchorage PH: 907-349-7175 [email protected]

Whalen Mary Anchorage PH: 907-786-3496 [email protected] FX: 907-786-3636

Internet Café McClain Vince Anchorage PH: 907-786-3886 [email protected] FX: 907-786-3898

Facility mapping Childs Jeff Anchorage PH: 907-334-5262 [email protected]

Hauser Bill Anchorage PH: 907-349-7175 [email protected]

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Final Report 121 Appendix 1—Directory of Meeting Planning Contacts

Title Last First City Number E-mail Student Support Coordination

Chair Peirce Courtenay Anchorage PH: 907-317-2457 [email protected] (cell)

Ahlgren Molly In memoriam

Chapter Booth/Meeting Cox Keith Sitka [email protected] Student Coordinator

Student Attendance Smoker Bill Juneau PH: 907-796-6444 [email protected] FX: 907-796-6447

Margraf Joe Fairbanks PH: 907-474-6044 [email protected]

Norcross Brenda Fairbanks PH: 907-474-7990 [email protected] FX: 907-474-1943

Student Unit UAF Plumb Miranda Fairbanks [email protected] Fairbanks

Student Unit UAF Palof Katie Juneau PH: 907-465-6328 [email protected] Southeast

Student Unit UAA Peirce Courtenay Anchorage PH: 907-317-2457 [email protected] (cell)

Student Unit Sheldon Deerkop Kyle Sitka [email protected] Jackson College

Offi cial Meeting Peirce Courtenay Anchorage PH: 907-317-2457 [email protected] T-Shirts/Sales (cell)

T-Shirt Orders Hauser Bill Anchorage PH: 907-349-7175 [email protected]

Rowell Kathy Anchorage PH: 907-243-7370 [email protected]

Student T-Shirt Sales Tanner Theresa Fairbanks PH: 907-474-7264 [email protected]

Cox Keith Sitka [email protected] Technical Support

Volunteer Coordination Seeb Lisa Anchorage PH: 907-267-2249 lisa_seeb@fi shgame.state.ak.us FX: 907-267-2442

Sullivan Joe Anchorage PH: 907-345-0527 [email protected] FX: 907-345-2742

Tours and Sightseeing Gardner Lee Ann Chugiak PH: 907-688-1400 [email protected] FX: 907-688-1400

Program Layout/ Whalen Mary Anchorage PH: 907-786-3496 [email protected] Printing FX: 907-786-3636

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122 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Directory of Meeting Planning Contacts—Appendix 1

Title Last First City Number E-mail

Medeiros Andrea Anchorage PH: 907-786-3674 [email protected]

Knudsen Eric Washington PH: 360-424-5767 [email protected]

Program Maps Childs Jeff Anchorage [email protected]

Publicity Wedemeyer Kate Anchorage PH: 907-334-5278 [email protected] FX: 907-334-5242

Olson Lisa Anchorage PH: 907-267-2219 lisa_olson@fi shgame.state.ak.us FX: 907-267-2424

Grabacki Steve Anchorage PH: 907-272-5600 [email protected] FX: 907-272-5603

Advertising Wedemeyer Kate Anchorage PH: 907-334-5278 [email protected] FX: 907-334-5242

Olson Lisa Anchorage PH: 907-267-2219 lisa_olson@fi shgame.state.ak.us FX: 907-267-2424

Fisheries Insert Wedemeyer Kate Anchorage PH: 907-334-5278 [email protected] FX: 907-334-5242

Whalen Mary Anchorage PH: 907-786-3496 [email protected] FX: 907-786-3636

Olson Lisa Anchorage PH: 907-267-2219 lisa_olson@fi shgame.state.ak.us FX: 907-267-2424

On-site Communications Orzechowski Kathy Anchorage PH: 907-786-3645 [email protected] FX: 907-786-3612

A/V - Hilton/Egan/ Zemke Steve Anchorage PH: 907-743-9521 [email protected] PAC/Outsource FX: 907-743-9480

A/V Support Berg Jerry Anchorage PH: 907-786-3876 [email protected] FX: 907-786-3898

Computer Projection Olson John Anchorage PH: 907-271-1508 [email protected]

A/V Assistance - Peirce Courtenay Anchorage PH: 907-317-2457 [email protected] Students (cell)

Brown Evelyn Fairbanks PH: 907-474-5801 [email protected] FX: 907-474-1943

Computer Coordination Brown Evelyn Fairbanks PH: 907-474-5801 [email protected] - Presentations FX: 907-474-1943

Computer Support Brown Evelyn Fairbanks PH: 907-474-5801 [email protected] - Training FX: 907-474-1943

Transportation Santos Lynne Anchorage PH: 907-786-3544 [email protected] 786-3848

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Final Report 123 Appendix 1—Directory of Meeting Planning Contacts

Title Last First City Number E-mail

Recycling Berg Jerry Anchorage PH: 907-786-3876 [email protected] FX: 907-786-3898

Poster/Logo/Theme/ Rowell Kathy Anchorage PH: 907-243-7370 [email protected] Décor/Ray Troll

Walker Sue Juneau PH: 907-586-7646 [email protected] FX: 907-586-7358

Mayer Elaine Fairbanks PH: 907-456-0209 [email protected] FX: 907-456-0208

Lybrand Karen Maine PH: 207-655-1014 [email protected] General support

Carufel Lou Fairbanks PH: 907-452-6709 [email protected] FX: 907-455-6709

Klosiewski Steve Anchorage PH: 907-786-3523 [email protected] FX: 907-786-3895

Klein Steve Anchorage PH: 907-786-3605 [email protected] FX: 907-786-3898

Martin Don Juneau PH: 907-586-8712 [email protected] FX: 907-586-7877

Nielsen Jennifer Anchorage PH: 907-786-3670 [email protected] FX: 907-786-3636

Price Mary Anchorage [email protected]

Robards Martin Anchorage [email protected]

Stuby Lisa Fairbanks PH: 907-479-2679 lisa_stuby@fi shgame.state.ak.us

Woody Carol Ann Anchorage PH: 907-786-7124 [email protected]

124 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Meeting Room and A/V Survey Responses—Appendix 2

Appendix 2. Meeting room and A/V survey responses. Meeting Room Screen A/V Room Size Size Operations Comments Egan 2 About OK Good right Egan 2 Too OK Good The room was marginal, crowded, poorly ventilated. A/V setup was small very good, we used our own computers and it went smoothly. I would much rather have had the Wakefi eld as a separate meeting altogether. It was impossible to get over there and back without missing part of the presentation. Egan 2 About OK Good A/V screen appropriate? Yes—but I was surprised by the small screen right that was used in the Atwood. It was too small for me to see even when seated relatively close. A/V set-up: Imig supplied us with a switch box that handled up to 12 computers and this worked well for us. We had so many people using proprietary software and various video codecs that we allowed people to use their own computers. Most speakers took advantage of that option. General comments: Our A/V technicians were very helpful and alert throughout the session which made for smooth transitions between speakers. Additional comment from S Maxwell, co- organizer: I would recommend that the host computer have its hibernation mode and the many ways it can shut down automatically be turned off. It wasn’t something we thought about in the hectic phase of getting everything together. One of our people closed the lid without thinking and we had to stop and reboot before the next speaker could start. Egan 2 About OK Good Most of the problems are best handled ahead of time and you all did a right great job planning and staying on top of things. Of course the uploading of talks was a complete and total disaster, but may be useful as a good lesson. Perhaps it is best for folks to just bring and load talks. I think everyone will bring their talks anyway as they will not trust that loading them over an internet site will work. The best thing was having someone there who could help with the A/V. The students were very helpful. Egan 3 About OK Poor Screen was about right size, but the podium was in a fi xed position to the right side of the screen which made it impossible for people to use a pointer and still use the microphone. It probably would have been better to locate the screen and podium at either end of the long axis of the room. I hate to carp, but the A/V problems delayed talks. Speakers should have been asked to show up 15 min. before the start of their secession, or to turn in their talks to a centralized A/V room by 7:00 a.m. of the day they presented. I had people show up just before their talk, assuming that it was loaded and ready to go. (Well, may be there is no controlling folks who do that). I know many talks were not downloaded at the website and folks showed up with talks on fl ash sticks, zip disks, and CD/DVDs. I think the fi rst talk of every secession in our symposium began late due to A/V problems (so we had to rush them to keep on schedule). Because of seeming ongoing problems with running video from notebooks, there should be a spec

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Final Report 125 Appendix 2—Meeting Room and A/V Survey Responses

Meeting Room Screen A/V Room Size Size Operations Comments Egan 3 Too OK Good Too small for several talks, just right for most talks. We worked with Steve small Z. and IMIG to accommodate our video intensive presentations. The switch box IMIG provided worked perfectly and allowed our presenters with proprietary software and video codecs to run their presentations off their own laptops. Thank you very much for helping to facilitate that Eric. It was invaluable towards allowing our presenters to fully showcase their work using video technology for fi sheries applications. I’d also give huge kudos to Steve Z. and Evelyn Brown. They did a terrifi c job of organizing volunteers, equipment, and generally holding everything together. Overall, everything was great. However, I’d echo some earlier comments that the rooms (especially our relatively small rooms in the Lower Egan) got VERY warm as a result of being overly packed with people. The noise in the corridor did not allow us to leave the doors open for ventilation. Thanks again for putting together a great program. Egan 4 Too Good Standing room only for some talks, with lots of people in and out, and small no place to sit. Room was very wide, which prevented moderators from seeing presentations except on laptop. A more square shaped room would have been preferable. A/V was excellent—our techs and the equipment were outstanding. Egan 4 About OK Good right Egan 5 Too Good The use of wireless remotes to drive the projectors was a problem when small they went missing—in our session and in several others, by Wednesday enough of these had gone missing that the A/V company was refusing to replace them. There must be a better way of doing this—wireless is great but if they are not going to support it when the inevitable happens. Egan 5 Too Bad Mediocre We had SRO all day long, and I was told that there was a large knot of small people outside the doors trying to peer in at the talks for most of the day. The projector really should be placed back farther from the screen and higher up so that (a) the whole screen was used instead of just a portion of it and (b) the top of the screen is used instead of the bottom. There wasn’t much AFS could do about this because it is just poor management of the space by the conference center management, but the projectors really should be mounted on the ceiling and well back to fi x this. Also, it would open up a lot of fl oor space for chairs. I needed to spend a fair amount of time putting **my** books under the projector just to raise its projected image up, and moving the table back. This should be pro forma for the A/V company to do. Continued on next page

126 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Meeting Room and A/V Survey Responses—Appendix 2

Meeting Room Screen A/V Room Size Size Operations Comments Egan 5 About OK Good The room seemed to be the appropriate size. Sometimes there were right a number of people standing but most of the time there was seating available. The screen was a great size and all the equipment worked well. I think we were without a remote operator/pointer for a little while but was replaced at one of the breaks. One volunteer A/V person was less than helpful (she happen to be falling asleep, while sitting up front right next to the presenter), but the rest were great. Egan 6 Too Ok Good For the most part the room was of adequate size, though like most sessions small there were times of overfl ow crowds. The A/V setup was quite adequate. I had one near glitch when the A/V person didn’t arrive on time and I had a stand-in for a brief moment, but it didn’t interrupt the fl ow of the presentations. The two things that I would address in the future are the noise outside of meeting rooms (people congregating to talk while presentations were in progress) and heat. With so many bodies in a small space, the temperatures were often quite uncomfortable. However, the large crowds just outside the door made it impossible to open doors and still hear presentations. I was impressed that presenters were able to carry on with aplomb, despite hot, stuffy rooms. One poor woman from Ohio punctuated her speech by repeatedly wiping perspiration off her lip, but carried on gamely. I heard nothing but good comments about the scope and range of presentations, and appreciation for the activities and opportunities to network. Egan 6 Too OK Good Most talks had standing audience; room size could have been larger. small A/V was Very good. It really helped to have the “agenda” on the screen, listing all the talks for that session, then the ability to simply click on the link to get to each talk. Very smooth. Student assistant was terrifi c— particularly because he was genuinely interested in the subject matter as well as being very computer-profi cient. Egan 6/7 About OK Good 1) the speaker could not see the screen. 2) Test the laser pointers before right each session! Egan 6/7 About OK Good right Egan 6/7 About OK Good Full house for all but the last speaker. Only thing that is hard to do right is manage the in-and-out fl ow of audience when speakers go a bit short or long, thereby throwing off the 20-minute time blocs. But it’s understandable and manageable. Egan 9/10 About OK Good right Egan 9/10 About OK Good Room was too small during the opening talks, about right later on. right Continued on next page

Final Report 127 Appendix 2—Meeting Room and A/V Survey Responses

Meeting Room Screen A/V Room Size Size Operations Comments Egan 10 Too OK Poor Room was too small for our group, which was well attended. Many folks small were left standing. Still, very diffi cult to predict these attendances, although I think that surveying co-chairs in advance on what size they think they need might be good in future. This could pick up the extremes where chairs would expect small intimate gathering. In afternoon session we lost remote controller and speakers had to work off laptop. A/V folks said that the controllers were getting ripped off and they had no more to distribute. Also had no laser pointer provided in afternoon session. General comments: Given oversubscribed nature of meeting, I thought Program committee did excellent job. There was grumbling about coffee breaks, etc. but unless AFS wants to move towards the 4000+ participant venues, I think folks should be a bit forgiving here. I did not like the fact that the museum site venue was so distant from Egan—did not permit any ability to sample across sessions at either of these sites. Egan Too Bad Good A/V set up was good but the wireless advance of slides never worked. 11/12 small Some kind of interference we were told. Took too much time to try to get it to work so all the speakers had to forward their slides by hitting the enter button (or arrow) directly on the computer. Judging of student presentations should be planned well in advance. We had to ask for people in the audience to judge the student papers because there was absolutely nobody in the room that had already been assigned that task for the fi rst set of presentations. This is really not great because the students know who is judging them (people put up their hands to get the forms to grade the talks), as well as everyone else in the room, including their advisors. That doesn’t really matter to me personally but it obviously made others uncomfortable. Based on my experience on Monday, it is possible that some students gave presentations that were to be judged and in fact were not. I hope that this did not happen.

Egan 13 Too OK Good Room way too small. This was the best AFS meeting I have attended in small 32 years of AFS membership. Thank you Bill Wilson, Eric Knudsen, Alaska AFS, et al. There is a lot of demand for fi sheries oceanography and ecosystem approaches to fi shery management, as shown by the “standing room only” attendance for most of our papers.

Continued on next page

128 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Meeting Room and A/V Survey Responses—Appendix 2

Meeting Room Screen A/V Room Size Size Operations Comments Egan 13 About OK Good Room size was a bit small at times. There was a bit of confusion twice right about folks whose talks weren’t pre-loaded, but the A/V people or students or someone fi xed the problems without my help, which was fortunate. The students were really on the ball and did a seamless job of keeping the presentations going. The student paper judging essentially didn’t happen in my session, as far as I know, for lack of judges, judging forms, and info in general. It is not cool to have to ask if there are two judges in the room before each student paper, and besides, it gets forgotten. Room size was my only major frustration at the meeting in general—not for my session but for many other ones I wanted to attend. All in all, I thought it was a really good, very well run meeting and I thoroughly enjoyed it. And having the artwork everywhere added such a unique ambiance. Congrats and thanks to all of you organizers. Egan 13 About OK Poor Everything turned out okay, but we did not have an A/V “attendant” in right our room as expected; also, it was a bit disconcerting to fi nd out on site that the company who had been contracted to collect the PowerPoint Presentations via e-mail in advance, did not have any PowerPoints for our symposium at the start of the meeting; fortunately all presenters showed up with a copy of their PPoint on CD, disk, or fl ash drive; the company was very accommodating on site; so I would rate the on-site management “good”, but the setup “poor” due to the loss of PowerPoints prior to the meeting. The room was a bit too small, but there was room for everyone to sit who attended; I think some folks peaked into the room, thought it looked tight … and moved on down the hall. Overall, it was a well run meeting; I am an old-timer that continues to feel that there are far too many concurrent sessions for one person’s good; but it certainly does lead to a large meeting and attendance; the program in its entirety was awesome. Egan 14 About OK Good right Egan 14 Too OK Mediocre Room was way too small. A lot of people complained they simply could small not get in the room. We had a few A/V problems. As with many other sessions, running videos were a problem. This needs to be fi xed before next year since so many have videos now. General comments: Our support folks were great! Dave Hewitt was the student helping out. He defi nitely was an asset. Overall, I thought the meeting was great and that things were handled pretty well given the number of attendees. I don’t think the receptions had enough food or drink stations and that was pretty frustrating to stand in line for so long, especially if the food ran out. But, to repeat the good part, you and the other organizers deserve a lot of thanks. I know you worked very hard and it showed. Egan 14 Too OK Good Crowd in hallway much of time. Space planning is always a dicey thing, I small imagine. Hard to plan for 2800 people when that is the biggest facility you have in town. Continued on next page

Final Report 129 Appendix 2—Meeting Room and A/V Survey Responses

Meeting Room Screen A/V Room Size Size Operations Comments Atwood About OK Good It was an excellent meeting overall. The contractor glitch with submitting Theatre right the PowerPoint fi les over the internet was unfortunate, but not a major problem in our session. The student help was good and appreciated. The venues were very good and the breaks excellent. Atwood About Bad Good Room size was fi ne, although there were many empty seats. Screen was Theatre right much too small for the venue. There could have been two screens, or one much larger screen in the middle. A/V ran smoothly, thanks to advance help from the A/V committee chair. We reviewed all A/V systems and timing of individual elements on Sunday night. An advance walk-through helped considerably. Discovery Too big OK Good Good A/V, except for those with video presentation; then, bad. Theatre Discovery Too big OK Good The room was really large, but I do not think there was an appropriate Theatre alternative option. I did not see another room that I thought would have worked better, that is just the way it goes. Even though, we oftentimes had 60–120 people in the room at once, it still appeared rather empty. But, it was comfortable, the acoustics were fabulous, and the ushers were very helpful in keeping everyone on the bottom level of the large theatre. People tend to want to sit in the back and the ushers helped to condense the audience in the front. The screen was great. It was very large and nice and clear for that large of a room. The lighting was also perfect. The A/V set up was good, it went very well and as long as all of the presenters had the presentations loaded on time the process was extremely streamlined. The helper students were great. They did a wonderful job of making sure everything was set up and ran smoothly, fi xing possible glitches. The only problem we had was that we did not have a pointer or a remote Explorer- About Good I moderated the Conservation Genetics section the afternoon of the last Artega right day in the Explorer-Artega in the Egan Center. The room size was very generous for our group—we didn’t fi ll it, but I was glad we had the room, as we were about 2/3-3/4 full. The A/V worked great, and we had superb help from staff to keep things going smoothly. I thought the A/V setup and mgmt of the presentations was a great idea—I was skeptical at fi rst, but in the end I thought it prevented a lot of problems. I think it should be adopted in future! You guys did a really fi ne job, given that you were so overwhelmed with participants. It was a very enjoyable venue and meeting! Continued on next page

130 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Meeting Room and A/V Survey Responses—Appendix 2

Meeting Room Screen A/V Room Size Size Operations Comments Explorer- About OK Good A/V was mostly ok. We had some initial troubles to organize a laser Artega right pointer, but that was worked out. One of the speakers had movies which didn’t work at all, even though he had tried them in the room for uploading talks before. The student responsible for the A/V system had no idea what to do about it or who to contact. Not really her fault, but I would have thought that A/V personnel would know who to get in a crisis. Apart from the movie problem, the meeting was well planned, especially considering it’s size. Many thanks for putting it together. Thanks also for accommodating my requests for moving it away from the very last slot. The fact that there was a concurrent salmon symposium was a shame for some speakers, but I guess it’s diffi cult to stay away from salmon at an AFS meeting. Hilton Too Poor Denali—small for fi rst day (standing room only for keynote presentation Denali small by Milton Love, then pretty full most of the rest of the day). OK size for the next two days as attendance dropped signifi cantly (sometimes down to about 45 or 50 participants). We were not able to set up the room classroom style. King Salmon/Illiamna—just right for posters. A/V forgot about us the fi rst morning of our symposium! No laptop, no projector, no presentations, and no tech. Had to make a few frantic calls and had everything in place just in time! The next two days were better, but we did not have consistent student help from AFS (when Bill Bechtol? was there, he was very good, but he had other presentations to see so could only be with us about 30% of the time). Luckily, I had some grad students lined up to help with our symposium so they were put on A/V tech duty. Hilton was very confused about who should set up what A/V equipment, and which equipment belonged to who. I got them to just set up what we needed an Hilton Too big OK Poor Handling the presentations that had to be loaded at the last minute went Denali very well and smoothly. That was good and it is expected. We had many technical problems with presentations that included video clips and/or audio clips. The presentations with video clips crashed the system that was provided. That should be investigated and rectifi ed. If you need further information, I can provide it. One of the presenters had requested speakers and an audio set-up that was not provided. However, the A/V support attempted to get something together for after the break but that didn’t work out so we ended up playing it on the computer and using the microphone to try to broadcast the sound. Not the best. Despite the technical diffi culties the session went great and was on time. Laurence Too big OK Good Improvements could be made in identifying student presentations which Theatre require judging and having the judging papers available. It would have also been nice to have judges available instead of “begging.” However, begging worked easier than not having the forms available. Continued on next page

Final Report 131 Appendix 2—Meeting Room and A/V Survey Responses

Meeting Room Screen A/V Room Size Size Operations Comments Laurence Too big OK Good This theatre was simply too big for the session, and was intimidating (to Theatre say the least) to the student presenters. Otherwise, the A/V (screen size, computer, etc.) seemed fi ne, except that the wireless remote for advancing the slides bonked out once or twice. Also, we had a mix-up and two A/V persons showed up for the session. That wasn’t a big deal, but the way the theatre was laid out they couldn’t stay up on stage to work the computer without distracting attention from the speaker. So I ended up changing the presentations, etc. and the A/V person had nothing to do. Lastly, the management for the ACPA wouldn’t let me in until like 10 minutes before starting, so we were rushing to get set up and organized with the A/V and details. I don’t know what their deal was, but they reminded me of the Sienfeld soup nazi. Laurence Too big Bad Good The A/V staff was generally very attentive. The building manager was Theatre also available before the 8:00 and 10:00 convening times. However, the screen was too small; bottoms of presentations were cut off (projector problem? A “fi x” was attempted a couple times without success); computer could not accommodate videos. I had two problems with my session. First, since so many presenters were students and three judges were requested for each, not enough judging sheets were provided. It would also be helpful if there were a box for collecting the sheets rather than leaving each judge to take his/her own to the Egan Center central location; the moderator could then take all sheets at once after the session. Second, only peripherally related to space issues, is that per the on-line information, I was assigned to the 8:00–10:00 segment of the morning session, for which I prepared. However, I arrived at the meeting to fi nd I had been given the second set of presenters as well, yet had no way to contact them. Voth About Good Plenty of room, A/V was fi ne. Apparently on speaker’s presentation was right lost somewhere between his morning upload and the session start. The A/ V tech was great and fi xed any small problems, like that. The only major problem was we didn’t have student judging forms, or student judges present in the room. We eventually found volunteers from the crowd for the 2 student presenters, but again, without the standard form. Voth Too OK Good Meeting way too large; too many concurrent sessions; meeting lost small. effectiveness, maybe a money-maker for the society, but a disservice to the members. Thank you for all your hard work to make this happen. Voth About OK Good Everything was great. The room was out of the way, but plenty of people right found it Voth About Good The shark symposium (ACPA-Voth) went well. The room was adequate right except for a few papers in the fi rst session when we had standing room only. There were some technical problems when presenters tried to show video clips within their Power Point presentations, and one of the A/V people showed up fi ve minutes late for one session. In general I was very pleased with the facilities. Continued on next page

132 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Meeting Room and A/V Survey Responses—Appendix 2

Meeting Room Screen A/V Room Size Size Operations Comments Too Good While we had perfect technical performance (no glitches at all in our small A/V equipment), the space we had was pretty tight. We were certainly at capacity for most, if not all, talks. At times people were three deep along the back of the room! While it made me very happy to see that many people attending the talks, speaking as a presenter, it was pretty distracting to have folks standing, shuffl ing, etc. around the outer edge of the room. It was noisy, hot and pretty uncomfortable for a lot of audience members. I would highly recommend adjusting the size of the rooms based on the number of people registered for the conference. I’d assume this was one of the larger AFS meetings, and I wish the planning would have taken that into consideration a bit more. The sheer number of attendees seemed to overwhelm the facilities during talks, social events, poster sessions, etc. About Bad Good No, it was in the wrong location so presenter had trouble seeing screen. right We moved the podium to make it more presenter friendly. There were also some sound issues. Overall, you did a good job of managing the conference with what you had available. The Egan Center left little to be desired for giving the presentations. It was too dark.

Final Report 133 Appendix 3—Plenary Session Plan

Appendix 3. Plenary Session Plan. many people on many stage spot when Bill talks drums to bring people? recipients sit close recipients sit close recipients sit close w/ music soundtrack oor mikes oor mikes CD on projector fl on stage fl on stage DVD on DVD projector PPT from PPT from row front PPT from laptop PPT from row front PPT from PPT from laptop PPT from PPT from row front PPT from his PPT from Mac PPT from row?? front ash house ash house Barb thanks Lee Bill thanks Dolly Bill thanks Dolly fl lights Barb to podium Barb intro Lee Molly tribute applause Barb thanks Patricia applause Barb thanks Heather fl lights applause Barb thanks Ray lunch”“enjoy ash house ood on Barb ood on Barb ood on Lynn ood on Lynn spot on Lee spot on Dolly fl lights delay silence, spot fl others + many spot on podium fl + others spot on podium Bill says “20 minutes” fl + others spot on podium stairs & podium stairs & podium stairs up to stage podium spot on Barb DVD-9min w/ music stairs spot on Barb applause awards on awards table stairs on awards table stairs stairs awards on awards table stairsstairs Ray Barb intro back to seat in wings back to seat on stay stage on stay stage back to seat back to seat back to seat back to seat back to seat back to seat on stay stage from front front from row housefrom to wings wingsfrom to wings stairs Dolly Bill intro from back from of hall front from row front from row front from row stay on stay stage from front front from row front from row from front front from row from front front from row from front front from row from front front from row front from row Garza + 2 Garza & many Garza, Jones 0745 0815 Peake Cross0825 0832 Grabacki Stephan 0853 0855 CD Wilson none 0700 0800 0700 0800 0920 09500950 Knuth 1010 Knuth Cochran Knuth 1200 1205 Knuth Knuth Salmon Song 0832 0835 Garza PPT of sponsors SongEntrance 0815Knuth Welcome 0820 0820Stephan Garza 0825Welcome Knuth Knuth Wilson Welcome 0835Those Gone 0853Before WilsonKnuth Address Wilson 0855 0905 Knuth Knuth Event Bkfst for etc. Speakers Start Stop In Charge Star(s) Entry Exit Set Up Intro Outro A\V Other Equip Notes General Bkfst General Refreshments AFS Awards 0905 0920 Knuth Knuth Choice Catch 1030 1100 Knuth Tausig Traditional Traditional Knowledge Sullivan, Ricker, Service Awards Break 1010 1030 Wilson Grabacki WDAFS AwardsWDAFS 1100 1120 Knuth Starnes Fish Worship 1120 1200 Knuth Troll Closing & Announcements

134 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Example Contribution Thank You Letter—Appendix 4

Appendix 4. Example of a contribution thank you letter.

[Date]

[Name, Title] [Organization Name] [Address]

Re: Financial support for Anchorage American Fisheries Society National Meeting, September 11–15, 2005 Dear [Name]: The 135th Annual Meeting of the American Fisheries Society was held in Anchorage, Alaska from September 11–15, 2005. The support provided by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game was critical to making this meeting such a great success. The Anchorage meeting broke all previous records for an annual American Fisheries Society Meeting. Att endance for the meeting was over 2800 and surpassed the previous high mark of 1930 at the 1993 Meeting in Portland, Oregon. The att endance record set by the Anchorage meeting will not be broken any time soon. The meeting provided a forum for 50 Symposia with a huge range of topics. Approximately 1200 oral presentations were made at the meeting. Over 600 posters were on display at this meeting. More fi sheries science information was exchanged at the 2005 meeting than any other meeting in the 135 year history of the American Fisheries Society. The meeting att racted approximately 430 students. A special student colloquium and job fair were a component of the meeting. The students had a unique opportunity to interact with a large number of professional fi sheries scientists and learn a great deal about the fi sheries profession and potential employment. Continuing education was an important component of the meeting. A total of 15 courses were off ered covering a variety of far ranging topics. Over 400 meeting att endees participated in the classes. The 135th Annual Meeting of the American Fisheries Society provided an unparalleled opportunity for over 2800 fi sheries professionals to exchange information and ideas. Through this opportunity for information exchange, it is likely that scientifi c advances will occur in many sectors of fi sheries science. In addition, this meeting provided a tremendous opportunity for many individuals to make professional contacts that will be invaluable in the future. Everyone att ending had high praise for the meeting organization, venue and opportunities to interact with other professionals. On behalf of the American Fisheries Society, the Alaska Chapter, and the 135th Meeting Planning Committ ee, we extend our sincere appreciation for the support provided by you and your agency.

Sincerely,

Larry Peltz Bill Wilson AFS 2005 National Meeting Finance Chairman AFS 2005 National Meeting Program Chairman AFS Alaska Chapter c/o North Pacifi c Fishery Management Council c/o NMFS 605 West 4th Avenue, Suite 306 222 W. 7th Ave., #43 Anchorage, Alaska 99501-2252 Anchorage, AK 99513

Final Report 135 Appendix 5—Estimated Budget and Income

Appendix 5. Estimated Budget and Income

Modified 09/20/05 Expenses

2005 Budget ($) Notes General Chair Gen. Chair Expenses 2,000 Hosting planning mtg., local committee meetings Planning Committee Retreat 2,000 Spring 2005 offsite program/meeting prep Welcoming CD production 1,000 Blueberry Productions - Jeff Silverman Administrative assistance 1,000 Local arrangements support (Hauser) Worker breaks 3,272 BH revised 8/18 Memorabilia (to be offset by sales) 11,000 Theobroma (3850), pins (2025), mugs (4600) Committee parking 1,000 At rate of about $10/d Committee housing contingency 0 Based on 3 @ 600 Ahlgren Memorial 1,000 Contrib. to MOAhlgren Scholarship Fund

Accommodations Performing Arts Center 20,320 2/24/05 info from BH Labor for PAC 9,713 per 5/26 email from Bill H Overtime Labor for PAC 1,152 8/18 email BH Labor for Egan Center 7,000 per 3/24 email from BH - rental waived and 8/2 email from BH Meeting breaks - AM and PM 54,000 Coffee/tea/pastries/sodas/cookies Additional coffee service - 7 am breaks 9,000 Tues, Wed, Thurs 7 am no food Business Meeting Refreshments 3,200 Coffee/cookies/fruit for Business Mtg. Guest svcs/spouse + companion room 1,000 Refreshments/amentities Local hospitality 2,000 Hospitality for program committee, workers, registration helpers Communications 0 Cell phones, phone minutes, etc. (was $5,000)(GCI in kind) Egan drapery rental 1,000 Configure Arteaga & Cook rooms for Thurs sessions Box lunches - optional for 3 days 3,375 Poster sessions @ $4.50 (M=300, T=300, Th=150)(offset by sales) Box lunches - catered for Wed posters 8,106 Poster sessions $13.51 x 600 people (Wed) Tour cost recovery 1,000 In case tours don't meet minimums

Budget and Fundraising Credit card fees 12,000 Baltimore $8216; QC $10,000; Madison $11,131 Rebate AK Chapter seed money 5,000 Misc fees/supplies/office 2,500 Baltimore $2000 Fundraising costs 1,500 Madison flyer + copies for advertising Travel - committee 11,500 Committed w/ 5/18, 6/2 and 6/9 emails: Kate, Molly, Bill H, Kathy, Eric K [3600], and Poster Ch Travel - AFS Hdqtrs staff 18,000 Estimate Continuing Ed Expenses 8,000 Self supporting Contingency 5,000 Reduced from 30,000

Program Program Committee travel to Anch 5,800 Eric K. email 6/2 Travel for Plenary speakers 6,000 Eric K. email 6/2 Honoraria for Plenary 1,000 Eric K. email 6/2 A/V 43,000 IMIG Photography 1,000 Plenary, Business Mtg, candids Fisheries insert/Publicity 9,000 Per Kate W. 6/28 meeting Program Printing 14,450 AT Printing bid accepted Abstracts CDs 1,950 2700 copies Poster Easels and supplies 7,000 Eric K. email 6/2 ($5000) + $2k (Baltimore) Signage/displays 16,000 Banner paper, ink, foam core - $15,300 in Madison! Poster Artwork - Commission/Troll 4,000 Ray Troll fee email 4/30 Poster logos and other artwork 2,000 Bill W. email 6/11 Poster printing & mailing 2,200 1200 posters = $1061 + 650 shipping + 560 mailing Shirts for Program Committee 6,000 100 shirts @ $24 + 150 shirts @ $24 Shirts for Meeting Workers 2,100 190 shirts @ $11

Registration Registration totes 21,000 Paid by vendors per S. Moberly Tote supplement 8,500 Text - covered with increased fund raising Student Help (tentative - may increase) 6,890 $10/hr x 689 student-hours Registration computers 2,000 2 computers, 1 printer, phones Registration materials 9,000 Forms, receipts - Madison $8,500 Lanyards + badges 2,000

Socials Trade show and Poster social 55,500 Was 41,000 - Wakefield adds another 1 K Welcoming social 82,000 $44/p x 1500 + $1500 dec (increase from 67,500)(assumes seafood donated)

136 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Estimated Budget and Income—Appendix 5

Off-site social 100,000 Facility rental, food, beverages, entertainment, transportation, tents Closing social 6,625 800 = 7 kegs Amber + food (4000) Student Social 10,000 400 = $3750 beer + $6250 food Spawning run 3,100 Recent update Entertainment 600 Ray Troll ratfish brother 6/11 email Entertainment set-up in Egan 2,500 Ratfish brothers stage, PA, lighting, video equip, sound, screens Local Arrangements Social 3,000 Post-meeting thank you Div and Chapt Mtg Luncheons 12,000 WDAFS 9000, AK Chapt 3000 (may go 200 WDAFS@$10 and 100 AK@$10=$3,000) Seafood contributions 24,000 Partially offset by industry donations via Glenn Reed

Technical Support/Miscellaneous Tech support 4,000 Supplies, auction items, transportation Student T shirts/expenses 7,200 Printing, shipping WDAFS Cost Recovery 10,000 In lieu of profit share Sea Grant cost recovery 10,000 Rebate Total 708,053

Final Report 137 Appendix 5—Estimated Budget and Income

Income - Fee Option Scenarios Funds In The Bank Registration Fee 295/450 295/450 295/450 295/450 295/450 295/450 295/450 To Date* Attendance Scenario: 1500-diff spread** 1700 2200 2400 1500 1400 2000 (6/20/05) Fund raising Parent AFS $70,000 $70,000 $70,000 $70,000 $70,000 $70,000 $70,000 $78,000 Fund raising AK Chapter (excludes tote bag $) $79,000 $79,000 $79,000 $79,000 $79,000 $79,000 $79,000 $79,400 Fund raising Western Division $30,000 $30,000 $30,000 $30,000 $30,000 $30,000 $30,000 $58,000 Alaska Chapter seed money $5,000 $5,000 $5,000 $5,000 $5,000 $5,000 $5,000 $5,000 Vendor contributions for tote bags (AK Chapt) $21,000 $21,000 $21,000 $21,000 $21,000 $21,000 $21,000 $21,500 Fund Raising AK Chapt tote supplement $8,500 $8,500 $8,500 $8,500 $8,500 $8,500 $8,500 $8,500 Fund Raising AK Chapt Sea Grant $10,000 $10,000 $10,000 $10,000 $10,000 $10,000 $10,000 $10,000 Memorabilia Sales $9,000 $9,000 $9,000 $9,000 $9,000 $9,000 $9,000 Trade show $10,000 $10,000 $10,000 $10,000 $10,000 $10,000 $10,000 Registration $420,875 $438,175 $567,050 $618,600 $380,625 $360,850 $515,500 Continuing ED Registration $8,000 $8,000 $8,000 $8,000 $8,000 $8,000 $8,000 Spawning run $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 Student T shirts/income $7,200 $7,200 $7,200 $7,200 $7,200 $7,200 $7,200 ACVB Credit - Offsets PAC labor $20,000 $20,000 $20,000 $20,000 $20,000 $20,000 $20,000 $20,000 In-kind Support $10,000 $10,000 $10,000 $10,000 $10,000 $10,000 $10,000 $13,000 Box lunch sales $10,133 $10,133 $10,133 $10,133 $10,133 $10,133 $10,133 Seafood donations $19,000 $19,000 $19,000 $19,000 $19,000 $19,000 $19,000 $19,000 Total $739,708 $757,008 $885,883 $937,433 $699,458 $679,683 $834,333

Profit Total $31,655 $48,955 $177,830 $229,380 -$8,595 -$28,370 $126,280 Bethesda 90% $28,490 $44,060 $160,047 $206,442 -$7,736 -$25,533 $113,652 Chapter 10% $3,166 $4,896 $17,783 $22,938 -$860 -$2,837 $12,628 Western Division = 0 (Count sum verification) $31,655 $48,955 $177,830 $229,380 -$8,595 -$28,370 $126,280 Madison spread 2005 Attendance Scenarios 1500 1700 2200 2400 1500 1400 2000 1500 Category Registration fee (early member) 295 295 295 295 295 295 295 295 Registration fee (late member) 395 395 395 395 395 395 395 395 Registration fee (early nonmember) 450 450 450 450 450 450 450 450 Registration fee (late nonmember) 550 550 550 550 550 550 550 550 Registration fee (student member) 95 95 95 95 95 95 95 95 Registration fee (student nonmember) 125 125 125 125 125 125 125 125 Registration fee (retired AFS member) 150 150 150 150 150 150 150 150 Registration fee (Daily) 150 150 150 150 150 150 150 150 Staff Fee 150 150 150 150 150 150 150 150 Registration fee (guests) 70 70 70 70 70 70 70 70

Members (early) attending 660 799 1034 1128 705 658 940 585 Members (late) attending 140 102 132 144 90 84 120 75 Nonmembers (early) attending 210 136 176 192 120 112 160 105 Nonmembers (late) attending 50 34 44 48 30 28 40 30 Student members attending 150 204 264 288 180 168 240 255 Student non-members attending 35 34 44 48 30 28 40 60 Retired members attending 35 34 44 48 30 28 40 30 Dailes attending - walk-ins 120 272 352 384 240 224 320 120 Guests attending 100 85 110 120 75 70 100 90 Exhibitors 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 90 Staff 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 45 Complimentary 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 Total Estimated Attendance 1500 1700 2200 2400 1500 1400 2000 1500

Attendance Attendance Attendance Attendance Attendance Attendance Attendance Revenue Projections Attendance 1500 1700 2200 2400 1500 1400 2000 1500 Revenue - early members $194,700 $235,705 $305,030 $332,760 $207,975 $194,110 $277,300 $172,575 Revenue - late members $55,300 $40,290 $52,140 $56,880 $35,550 $33,180 $47,400 $29,625 Revenue - early nonmembers $94,500 $61,200 $79,200 $86,400 $54,000 $50,400 $72,000 $47,250 Revenue - late nonmembers $27,500 $18,700 $24,200 $26,400 $16,500 $15,400 $22,000 $16,500 Revenue - Student member $14,250 $19,380 $25,080 $27,360 $17,100 $15,960 $22,800 $24,225 Revenue - Student nonmember $4,375 $4,250 $5,500 $6,000 $3,750 $3,500 $5,000 $7,500 Revenue - Retired AFS member $5,250 $5,100 $6,600 $7,200 $4,500 $4,200 $6,000 $4,500 Revenue - Daily $18,000 $40,800 $52,800 $57,600 $36,000 $33,600 $48,000 $18,000 Reveune - Guests $7,000 $12,750 $16,500 $18,000 $5,250 $10,500 $15,000 $6,300 Revenue - staff, exhibitor, complimentary $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $6,750 Subtotal revenue $420,875 $438,175 $567,050 $618,600 $380,625 $360,850 $515,500 $333,225

138 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Estimated Budget and Income—Appendix 5

NOTE: Some of the increased revenues from registration over 1500 will be used for increased services (breaks, reg. costs, food, etc.) NOTE: In-kind support anticipated: cell phones, seafood, beer, program printing NOTE: Includes AK Chapter fundraising goal of $79,000 + fund raising in specific categories of $44,500 NOTE: Includes provision for tote bags to be self-paying (part of AK Chapter fund-raising) NOTE: Includes additional AK Chapter fundraising for tote supplement and AK Sea Grant contribution NOTE: Tote bag costs are for 2450 bags; program printing is for 2500 programs; breaks and socials based on 2000 (1500 first, 1000 last nights) NOTE: Total AK Chapt fund raising goal sums to $123.5 K, less rebates to AK Chapt (5K seed money) and Sea Grant (10K) = $108.5 K NOTE: Guest registr. fee of $70 based on assumed participation in 2 socials (@$35) ** Different spread of 1500 attendance by category - can "game" with alternative scenarios of member, nonmember, student, early, late, etc. attendance (Madison had exhibitor, staff, and complimentary categories; no revenue assumptions are included above for these categories) ("Madison Spread" is the distribution of their attendance into each category)

Revenue Projections by category at 1500 Person Registration: % of Budget Registration fees 379,125 55 Fund raising 233,500 33.9 Memorabilia, t shirt sales 16,200 2.4 Spawning run, trade show, continuing ed 20,000 2.9 Anchorage Conv & Visitors Bureau credit 20,000 2.9 In kind, special outings sales 20,000 2.9 688,825 100

NOTE: Profit calculations based on cell C76 (total budget) unadjusted for increased costs of more (fewer) attendees (which likely will be small) (Budget assumes 2000 at breaks and socials, approx 2500 programs and tote bags; therefore, profit calculations are fairly reliable)

AK Chapter Fund Raising Goal Total = $108,500 (Excludes AK Chapt seed, Sea Grant, WDAFS, Parent Society) (As of 8/22 have $88,000; Pending: $23,000 (USFS 5, USGS 10, USFWS 8)($111,000 if we get these)

Final Report 139 Appendix 6—Example Contribution Request Letter

Appendix 6. Example of a fundraising contribution request letter ($10K letter)

[Date]

[Name, Title] [Organization Name] [Address]

Re: Financial support for Anchorage American Fisheries Society National Meeting, September 11 - 15, 2005

Dear [Name]: I am writing to ask your help in arranging a cash contribution from your organization for the American Fisheries Society (AFS) meeting to be held in September 2005 in Anchorage. The Alaska Chapter of AFS has already invested hundreds of hours of volunteer labor over the past three years to bring this major international scientifi c meeting to Anchorage. We now need some fi nancial help to make this meeting a success. As a matt er of AFS policy, registration fees cover only part of the total cost of the meeting. This assists entry level professionals, educators, students and others with limited fi nancial means to take advantage of the many information sources available at meeting. The Alaska Chapter is responsible for raising most of the balance of the meeting costs. In past years, leading agencies in natural resource management and research from within the geographic area of the meeting have provided generous support enabling AFS to keep its registration costs aff ordable for a large cross section of scientifi c professionals and students.

I ask that you consider providing $10K in support of the meeting. The funds could be provided in two contributions over a period of two fi scal years, FY 2004 and FY 2005, to reduce the size of the annual fi scal impact. For a contribution at this level your agency name and logo would be featured prominently in the program, and you would be identifi ed in the program as a sponsoring partner of the meeting. Noted fi sheries artist and humorist Ray Troll has agreed to illustrate the cover of the program, so it will be a professionally designed att ractive collectible.

Cash contributions of any amount are welcome, and all donors will be acknowledged in the program. In addition, in-kind contributions of personnel and materials are also welcome. Bill Wilson (907-271- 2809, [email protected]) and Larry Peltz (907/271-1332 [email protected]) are coordinating and receiving all contributions, so please contact Bill or Larry with your fi nancial contribution, or for ideas on what kinds of in-kind contributions are most needed. A partial list of potential in-kind sponsorship ideas is provided below

In the event that your process may require a writt en explanation of the AFS or its annual meeting, I have att ached some additional information on both, along with a donor registration form to insure we have the information to properly credit your contribution.

Thanks for your consideration of this request, and please call me if there are any questions.

140 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Example Contribution Request Letter—Appendix 6

Sincerely, Phil Mundy AFS 2005 National Meeting Finance Committ ee AFS Alaska Chapter c/o EVOSTC 441 W. 5th Ave., Ste 500 Anchorage, AK 99501 ph: 907/278-8012 fax: 907/235-2448 [email protected] POTENTIAL IN-KIND SPONSORSHIP IDEAS ● Hosting coff ee breaks ● Hosting an entire social event ● Seafood donation ● Alcoholic beverages and food items for private hospitality events ● Tote bags for registration materials ● Items for registrants tote bags ● Luggage tags for registrants ● Student registrations or student hotel rooms ● Cell phones 30-40 for a week ● Two vehicles for a week of errands, VIP pickups at airport, etc. ● Buses for transport of att endees to social events ● Printing of the program

Final Report 141 Appendix 6—Example Contribution Request Letter

135th Meeting of the American Fisheries Society September 11–15, 2005 Anchorage, Alaska, USA INFORMATION

The American Fisheries Society is a nonprofi t organization dedicated to improving the conservation and sustainability of fi shery resources and aquatic ecosystems by advancing fi sheries and aquatic science and promoting the development of fi sheries professionals. The 135th meeting of the American Fisheries Society, in combination with the Lowell Wakefi eld Fisheries Symposium and meetings of the American Fisheries Society Western Division and the American Fisheries Society Alaska Chapter, is scheduled for September 11-15, 2005. The meeting theme of Creating a Fisheries Mosaic; connections across jurisdictions, disciplines, and cultures is anticipated to att ract over 2,000 fi sheries and aquatic resource professionals from the academic, public, and private sectors of Canada, the United States, and a wide variety of other countries. Due to the large number of participants, meeting events will be distributed among the upper, lower, and lobby portions of the Egan Center; the Atwood, Discovery, and Sidney Laurence, and lobby portions of the Performing Arts Center, and several portions of the Hilton Hotel. There will be up to 12 concurrent sessions among all locations. The American Fisheries Society is a 501(c)3 non-profi t organization, EIN # *********, so your contributions may be tax deductible to the extent permitt ed by law.

142 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Example Contribution Request Letter—Appendix 6

2005 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY MEETING MEETING SUPPORT REGISTRATION FORM September 11-15, 2005, Anchorage, AK

Organization:

Contact Person:

Mail Address:

City, State Zip:

Phone: Fax :

Email:

Activities You Wish to Support:

Contributions/Services to be Provided:

:

Would you be willing to have your organization identifi ed as a sponsor of an activity? YES______NO______

Do you have organization decals or placards that may be displayed at the activity? YES______NO______

Would you like to have an organization representative available at the activity? YES______NO______

Are you interested in donating a door prize? YES______NO______

Please return this form, plus any contributions, payable to the “Alaska Chapter AFS” to Larry Peltz. You are encouraged to register as soon as possible to ensure your support of the activity most appropriate for your company.

National Marine Fisheries Service Western Alaska Field Offi ce 222 West 7th Ave. #43 Anchorage, Alaska 99513 907/271-1332 [email protected]

Final Report 143 Appendix 7—Registration Forecasting Model

Appendix 7. Allen Bingham’s model for forecasting the fi nal number of registrants (fi ve weeks from the start of the meeting). 327 figure for 2005 is 13 weeks out 2004 2003- Average % of final 2004 % of final 2003 % of final 2002 % of final e g Total 2004) (using 2005 - nchora Projected A 2005 2004) (using Weekly Projection e g 2003 g Total 2004) 2005 - nchora Weeks out from Start of Meeting Projected usin A ( 2003 g 2005 2004) Weekly Projection usin ( Registration Statistics for AFS Meetings 2002-2005 2005 - Anchorage Registration Statistics for AFS Meetings 2002-2005 2004 - Madison 2002 - Baltimore 2003 - Quebec 2004 - Madison 2005 - Anchorage 2005 Weekly Projection (using 2003-2004) 2005 Weekly Projection (using 2004) 2003 - Quebec 1211109876543210 2002 - Baltimore 0 500

3,500 3,000 2,500 2,000 1,500 1,000

98765 1934 2443 299 3382 373 4111 462 5130 643 334 690 910 408 1,222 955 1,321 549 1,411 1,468 765 570 1,669 1,594 1,191 1,304 705 1,680 1,335 878 1,858 1,441 1,182 1,872 1,532 1,666 634 695 1,204 1,749 916 2,981 3,025 2,846 2,275 3,047 2,899 2,424 647 2,624 1,223 696 2,778 1,840 949 3,047 2,843 2,574 2,879 2,619 11.6% 2,664 22.3% 14.6% 27.7% 2,050 18.2% 17.9% 2,098 37.1% 22.1% 2,265 51.4% 20.0% 27.6% 2,408 45.9% 24.5% 71.5% 2,619 19.1% 33.0% 41.5% 23.3% 61.4% 30.3% 1,872 figure for 38.5% 54.5% 73.2% 71.1% 84.5% 79.0% 100.0% 85.8% 78.3% 90.4% 100.0% 80.1% 86.5% 74.7% 100.0% 92.0% 2005 is really 4.7 79.6% 86.1% 100.0% weeks out 91.2% 121110 113 138 161 164 208 269 130 187 255 327 481 494 327 441 639 3,933 4,291 3,317 327 470 656 4,191Registrants 4,285of 3,227 6.8% 8.3% 9.6% 8.8%Number 11.2% 14.5% 7.8% 11.2%Total 15.3% 11.2% 8.3% 14.9% Meeting Start Week out from

144 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Registration Forecasting Model—Appendix 7

Appendix 7. Final pre-meeting attendance forecast. 327 figure for 2005 is 13 weeks out Average % of final 2003-2004 2004 % of final 2003 % of final 6.8%8.3%9.6% 8.8% 11.2% 14.5% 7.8% 11.2% 15.3% 11.2% 8.3% 14.9% 33.1%38.5% 61.2%54.5% 71.1%73.2% 74.9% 79.0%84.5% 78.3% 85.8% 68.1% 80.1% 90.4% Stats for 2002- 74.7% 86.5% 79.6% 92.0% 2004 interpolated 86.1% 91.2% 11.6%14.6% 18.2%17.9% 22.1%22.3% 20.0% 27.6%27.7% 24.5% 37.1% 19.1% 33.0% 51.4% 23.3% 45.9% 30.3% 71.5% 41.5% 61.4% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 2002 % of final 2,604 2,587 2,676 2,608 2,619 4,191 4,285 3,227 2,843 2,879 2,664 2,574 2,619 2004) 2005 - Projected Anchorage Total (using 2,619 2005 2004) (using Weekly Projection 2005 - Weeks out from Start of Meeting nchorage Projected A 2003-2004) Total (using - 2005 2004) Weekly Projection (using 2003 Registration Statistics for AFS Meetings 2002-2005 2005 - Anchorage Registration Statistics for AFS Meetings 2002-2005 2004 - Madison 2002 - Baltimore 2003 - Quebec 2004 - Madison 2005 - Anchorage 2005 Weekly Projection (using 2003-2004) 2005 Weekly Projection (using 2004) 2003 - Quebec 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4.5 4 3 2 1 0 2002 - Baltimore 0 500

3,500 3,000 2,500 2,000 1,500 1,000

43210 643 910 1,222 1,321 1,411 1,468 1,669 1,594 1,304 1,680 1,335 1,858 1,441 1,532 2,025 1,666 2,144 2,256 2,408 2,140 2,157 2,321 2,388 2,711 2,694 2,619 2,641 2,038 2,641 2,073 2,314 2,398 98765 193 244 299 338 373 411 462 513 334 690 408 955 549 765 570 1,191 705 878 1,182 1,872 634 695 1,204 1,749 916 2,981 3,025 2,846 3,047 2,899 647 1,223 696 1,840 949 121110 113 138 161 164 208 269 130 187 255 327 481 494 327 441 639 3,933 4,291 3,317 327 470 656 Registrants of Number Total 4.5 553 1,138 1,248 1,950 2,074 2,865 1,961 Meeting Start Week out from

Final Report 145 Appendix 8—Preprinted Name Badge Form

Appendix 8. Preprinted name badge form.

146 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Venue Maps/Illustrations—Appendix 9

Appendix 9. Maps/illustrations of venue fl oor plans.

Hilton Anchorage, Street Level

Hilton Anchorage, Second Level

Final Report 147 Appendix 9—Venue Maps/Illustrations

Egan Convention Center, Street Level, Explorers Hall

Cook Arteaga LaPerouse d

Lobby

Escalators Down

5th Avenue

Egan Convention Center, Lower Level, Summit Hall

Kitchen Williwaw Redoubt Foraker

14 13 11-12 9-10 7-8 6 O’Malley

1 2 3 4 5 Spurr Elevators

Lobby Escalator Up Womens Mens

148 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Venue Maps/Illustrations—Appendix 9

Alaska Center for the Performing Arts Second Floor Lobby, Atwood Concert Hall and Skybridge to Egan Center Leads to/from: Discovery and Sydney Laurence Theaters and Voth Hall

2SHQWR Atwood Concert Hall 6WUHHW /HYHO

Exit to 6th Exit to 5th Ave. (City Ave. (Egan Hall side) Center side) 6WDLUV 6WDLUV 6WDLUV 6WDLUV Womens Mens

6N\EULGJH WRIURP(JDQ&RQYHQWLRQ&HQWHU

Final Report 149 Appendix 9—Venue Maps/Illustrations

Alaska Center for the Performing Arts Second Floor Lobby, Sydney Laurence and Discovery Theatres, and the Elvera Voth Hall

150 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Meeting Space Assignments—List Format—Appendix 10

Appendix 10. Meeting space assignments—list format.

AFS 2005 - Schedule at a Glance; September 8 - 15. SUBJECT TO CHANGE VERSION: 8-Jul-05 DATE/ TIME EVENT LOCATION ROOM Thursday, September 8 8:00 AM 12:00 PM AFS Officer's Meeting Hilton Anchorage President's Suite 11:00 AM 5:00 PM AFS Business Office & Internet Café Hilton Anchorage Portage 1:00 PM 5:00 PM AFS Management Committee Meeting Hilton Anchorage Foraker Friday, September 9 8:00 AM 5:00 PM Governing Board Retreat Alyeska Prince Hotel off-Site Saturday, September 9 7:00 AM 6:00 PM AFS Business Office & Internet Café Hilton Anchorage Portage 8:00 AM 5:00 PM AFS Governing Board Meeting Hilton Anchorage Alaska/Denali 8:00 AM 5:00 PM American Institute of Fishery Research Biologists Hilton Anchorage Aleutian 12:00 N 5:00 PM Registration/ Information/ Spawning Run Hilton Anchorage Promenade Continuing Education 7:30 AM 5:00 PM Basic GIS Techniques for Fisheries Biologists University of Alaska 7:30AM Bus from Anchorage Center Hilton 8:00 AM 12:00 PM Conflict Resolution Skills for Natural Resource Professionals Hilton Anchorage Iliamna 8:00 AM 5:00 PM Alaska Native Cultures Hilton Anchorage Lupine 8:00 AM 5:00 PM Hydroacoustic Tools for Fish and Habitat Assessment Hilton Anchorage Katmai 8:00 AM 5:00 PM Using MCMC in WinBUGS and Python to Fit Random Effects and Hilton Anchorage Dillingham Hierarchical Models 8:00 AM 5:30 PM Radio Telemetry for Freshwater Fisheries Studies Hilton Anchorage Fireweed 9:00 AM 5:00 PM An introduction to ecological modeling and programming using AD Hilton Anchorage King Salmon Model Builder 1:00 PM 5:00 PM Thrive, Not Just Survive a ‘Hot” Public Meeting Hilton Anchorage Iliamna Sunday, September 11 7:00 AM 6:00 PM AFS Business Office & Internet Café Hilton Anchorage Portage 8:00 AM 3:00 PM Western Division Executive Committee Meeting Hilton Anchorage Aspen/Spruce 8:00 AM 5:00 PM American Institute of Fishery Research Biologists Hilton Anchorage Aleutian 9:00 AM 12:00 PM AFS Time & Place Meeting Hilton Anchorage Prince William 10:00 AM 9:00 PM Registration/ Information/ Spawning Run Hilton Anchorage Promenade 12:00 PM 3:00 PM Journal Editors Meeting Luncheon Hilton Anchorage Prince William 1:00 PM 6:00 PM Speaker AudioVisual Check-In Egan Convention Center Williwaw Room 1:00 PM 6:00 PM Speaker A/V Practice Room Egan Convention Center Williwaw Room 1:00 PM 6:00 PM Speaker A/V Practice Room Hilton Anchorage Prudhoe Bay 5:00 PM 6:00 PM Student Worker Training Egan Convention Center Lower Level - Space 1

6:00 PM 10:00 PM Symposia Posters and Contributed Posters Session 1 - Set up Egan Convention Center Explorer Hall (Street Level) & Lower Level

7:00 PM 10:00 PM Welcome to Anchorage Social Hilton Anchorage Level Two Continuing Education 7:30 AM 5:00 PM Basic GIS Techniques for Fisheries Biologists University of Alaska 7:30AM Bus from Anchorage Center Hilton 8:00 AM 12:00 PM Leadership regardless of position: you don’t have to be a chief to have Hilton Anchorage Lupine influence 8:00 AM 5:00 PM Choosing the Appropriate Biotelemetry Technology for Aquatic Hilton Anchorage Katmai Research: A Detailed Examination of Available Technologies, their Characteristics and their Use. 8:00 AM 5:00 PM Use of the Fishery Analysis Simulation Tool (FAST) to model the Hilton Anchorage Fireweed dynamics of exploited fish populations 8:00 AM 5:00 PM Writing for Publication: The Dos and Don’ts for Successful Hilton Anchorage Dillingham Publishing 9:00 AM 5:00 PM An introduction to ecological modeling and programming using AD Hilton Anchorage King Salmon Model Builder 12:30 PM 3:30 PM AFS Leadership Principles Workshop Hilton Anchorage Iliamna Continued on next page

Final Report 151 Appendix 10—Meeting Space Assignments—List Format

DATE/ TIME EVENT LOCATION ROOM Section Meetings 1:00 PM 3:00 PM Fisheries Administrators Section Hilton Anchorage Alaska 1:00 PM 3:00 PM International Fisheries Section Hilton Anchorage Willow 3:00 PM 5:00 PM Canadian Aquatic Resources Section Hilton Anchorage Willow 3:00 PM 5:00 PM Fisheries Management Section Hilton Anchorage Alaska 3:00 PM 5:00 PM Socioeconomics Section Hilton Anchorage Lupine 5:00 PM 7:00 PM Bioengineering Section Hilton Anchorage Fireweed 5:00 PM 7:00 PM Education Section & Student Subsection Hilton Anchorage Aspen/Spruce 5:00 PM 7:00 PM Fisheries History Section Hilton Anchorage Birch 5:00 PM 7:00 PM Native Peoples' Fisheries Section Hilton Anchorage Willow 5:00 PM 7:00 PM Physiology Section Hilton Anchorage Lupine Monday, September 12 7:00 AM 6:00 PM AFS Business Office & Internet Café Hilton Anchorage Portage 7:00 AM 12:00 PM Symposia Posters and Contributed Posters Session 1 - Set up Egan Convention Center Explorer Hall (Street Level) & Lower Level

7:00 AM 12:00 PM Symposia Poster Set up Alaska Center for Lobby - Level 2 Performing Arts 7:15 AM 8:15 AM Plenary Speakers Breakfast Alaska Center for the Patrons Lobby Performing Arts 7:15 AM 8:15 AM Plenary Coffee and Refreshments Service Alaska Center for the Lobby - Level 2 Performing Arts 7:30 AM 10:00 AM Guest/Spouse Hospitality Hilton Anchorage Spruce 7:30 AM 5:40 PM Media Room Egan Convention Center Mezzanine/ Boardroom

8:00 AM 5:00 PM Speaker AudioVisual Check-In Egan Convention Center Williwaw Room 8:00 AM 5:00 PM Speaker A/V Practice Room Egan Convention Center Williwaw Room 8:00 AM 5:00 PM Speaker A/V Practice Room Hilton Anchorage Prudhoe Bay 8:15 AM 12:00 N Plenary Session Alaska Center for the Atwood Concert Hall Performing Arts 9:00 AM 6:30 PM Registration/ Information/ Spawning Run Egan Convention Center Lobby (Street Level) 12:00 PM 1:00 PM Plenary Speakers and Awards Luncheon Hilton Anchorage Foraker 12:00 PM 1:20 PM Poster Lunch Egan Convention Center Explorer Hall (Street Level) & Lower Level

3:00 PM 5:30 PM Journal Editorial Boards Meeting Hilton Anchorage Aspen 5:30 PM 9:30 PM Trade Show/Poster Social Egan Convention Center Explorer Hall (Street Level) & Lower Level

5:40 PM 6:30 PM Ray Troll Shark Presentation Alaska Center for the Atwood Concert Hall Performing Arts 6:30 PM 8:30 PM University of Washington SAFS Student and Alumni Social Hilton Anchorage Dillingham Room 7:00 PM 7:30 PM Ray Troll and his Ratfish Brother Musical Performance Egan Convention Center Stage in Trade Show Area 7:45 PM ?? Ray Troll Shark Meeting Poster Signing and Sales Egan Convention Center Alaska Chapter Trade Show Booth Section Meetings 12:00 PM 1:30 PM Computer User Section Hilton Anchorage Aspen 12:00 PM 1:30 PM Equal Opportunities Section Hilton Anchorage Dillingham 12:00 PM 2:00 PM Water Quality Section Luncheon Hilton Anchorage Spruce 5:00 PM 7:00 PM Genetics Section Hilton Anchorage Spruce 6:00 PM 7:00 PM Introduced Fish Section Hilton Anchorage Birch Continued on next page

152 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Meeting Space Assignments—List Format—Appendix 10

DATE/ TIME EVENT LOCATION ROOM Tuesday, September 13 7:00 AM 6:00 PM AFS Business Office & Internet Café Hilton Anchorage Portage 7:00 AM 9:30 AM Fisheries Extension Breakfast Hilton Anchorage Aspen 7:00 AM 9:30 AM Fisheries Magazine Breakfast Hilton Anchorage Prince William 7:30 AM 5:00 PM Registration/ Information/ Spawning Run Egan Convention Center Lobby (Street Level) 7:30 AM 10:00 AM Guest/Spouse Hospitality Hilton Anchorage Spruce 7:30 AM 5:40 PM Media Room Egan Convention Center Mezzanine/ Boardroom 8:00 AM 5:00 PM Speaker AudioVisual Check-In Egan Convention Center Williwaw Room 8:00 AM 5:00 PM Speaker A/V Practice Room Egan Convention Center Williwaw Room 8:00 AM 5:00 PM Speaker A/V Practice Room Hilton Anchorage Prudhoe Bay 8:00 AM 3:20 PM Poster Session Egan, ACPA See: Program Book 8:00 AM 12:00 N Symposia and Contributed Papers Egan, ACPA, Hilton See: Program Book 9:00 AM Silent Auction Bidding Begins Eagan Convention Center Trade Show Area

10:00 AM 1:40 PM Poster Set up for Wakefield Symposium Hilton Anchorage King Salmon/Iliamna Room 12:00 PM 1:30 PM Award Winners Luncheon Hilton Anchorage Aspen 12:00 PM 1:40 PM Poster Lunch Egan Convention Center Explorer Hall (Street Level) & Lower Level 12:00 PM 2:00 PM Ray Troll Book Signing Egan Convention Center AFS Book Sales Booth 12:00 PM 2:00 PM Western Division Luncheon Hilton Anchorage Aleutian/Alaska 1:40 PM 3:20 PM Symposia and Contributed Papers Egan, ACPA, Hilton See: Program Book 2:00 PM 3:00 PM Book Editorial Advisory Board Meeting Hilton Anchorage Prince William 3:30 PM 5:30 PM AFS Business Meeting Hilton Anchorage Aleutian/Alaska 5:30 PM 6:30 PM NOAA Town Hall Meeting Hilton Anchorage Aleutian/Alaska 5:30 PM 7:30 PM US Forest Service All-Hands Meeting Hilton Anchorage Aspen 5:30 PM 7:00 PM Virginia Tech Alumni and Friends Reception Hilton Anchorage Spruce 5:30 PM 7:30 PM Michigan State University Alumni and Friends Hilton Anchorage Fireweed 5:30 PM Partnerships for a Common Purpose: Cooperative Fisheries Alaska Center for the Research and Management, Symposium Poster Social Performing Arts 5:40 PM 7:00 PM Contributed Poster Session 1 - Take Down Egan Convention Center Explorer Hall (Street Level) & Lower Level 6:00 PM 8:00 PM USGS and USFWS All-Hands Meeting and Social Hotel Captain Cook 6:00 PM 8:00 PM Cornell University Alumni and Friends Hilton Anchorage Birch 6:00 PM 8:00 PM Wakefield Symposium Poster Session Hilton Anchorage King Salmon/Iliamna Room 6:00 PM 6:30 PM Sockeye Poster Symposium - Setup Hilton Anchorage Dillingham/Katmai Room 6:30 PM 9:30 PM Sockeye Poster Symposium Social Hilton Anchorage Dillingham/Katmai Room 6:30 PM 7:30 PM Pacific Deep Sea Sea Corals Hilton Anchorage Aleutian/Alaska 7:30 PM 9:30 PM Sockeye Symposium and Posters Hilton Anchorage Dillingham/Katmai 8:00PM 12:00 AM Swing Dance Club Soroya 4th Avenue and C Street 9:30 PM 10:00 PM Sockeye Poster Symposium - Take Down Hilton Anchorage Dillingham/Katmai Room Section Meetings 7:30 AM 9:30 AM Fish Culture Section Breakfast Hilton Anchorage Dillingham 6:00 PM 6:30 PM Marine Fishes Section Meeting Hilton Anchorage Willow 6:30 PM 7:00 PM Estuaries Section Meeting Hilton Anchorage Willow 7:00 PM 9:00 PM Marine Fishes and Estuaries Section Social Hilton Anchorage Willow 6:00 PM 9:00 PM Marine Fishes and Estuaries Meeting and Social Hilton Anchorage Willow (?) Student Programs 1:00 PM 3:20 PM Student Colloquium (two featured presentations) 4th Avenue Theater Main Theater 5:45 PM 8:00 PM Registration, University and Employment Fair 4th Avenue Theater Main Theater 8:00 PM 11:00 PM Student Social with food and entertainment 4th Avenue Theater Main Theater Continued on next page

Final Report 153 Appendix 10—Meeting Space Assignments—List Format

DATE/ TIME EVENT LOCATION ROOM Wednesday, September 14 7:00 AM Spawning Run Tony Knowles Coastal 2nd Ave. and Trail Christensen 7:30 AM 5:00 PM Registration/ Information Egan Convention Center Lobby (Street Level) 7:00 AM 6:00 PM AFS Business Office & Internet Café Hilton Anchorage Portage 7:30 AM 10:00 AM Guest/Spouse Hospitality Hilton Anchorage Spruce 7:30 AM 5:40 PM Media Room Egan Convention Center Mezzanine/ Boardroom 8:00 AM 12:00 PM Contributed Posters Session 2 - Set up Egan Convention Center Explorer Hall (Street Level) & Lower Level 8:00 AM 5:00 PM Speaker AudioVisual Check-In Egan Convention Center Williwaw Room 8:00 AM 5:00 PM Speaker A/V Practice Room Egan Convention Center Williwaw Room 8:00 AM 5:00 PM Speaker A/V Practice Room Hilton Anchorage Prudhoe Bay 8:00 AM 9:30 AM Publications Overview Committee Meeting Hilton Anchorage Katmai 8:00 AM 5:40 PM Poster Session Egan, ACPA, Hilton See: Program Book 8:00 AM 12:00 PM Symposia and Contributed Papers Egan, ACPA, Hilton See: Program Book 12:00 PM Silent Auction Bidding Ends Eagan Convention Center Trade Show Area

12:00 PM 1:30 PM AFS Past Presidents Luncheon Hilton Anchorage Birch 12:00 PM 1:40 PM Poster Lunch Social with Free Bag Lunches Egan Convention Center Explorer Hall (Street Level) & Lower Level 12:00 PM 2:00 PM Alaska Chapter Lunch/Business Meeting - For Chapter Members Hilton Anchorage Dillingham/Katmai

1:00 PM 2:00 PM Bull Trout Committee Annual Meeting Egan Convention Center Redoubt Room(???) 1:40 PM 5:40 PM Symposia and Contributed Papers Egan, ACPA, Hilton See: Program Book 6:00 PM 10:00 PM Social at Alaska Native Heritage Center Off-Site Bus from Hilton Thursday, September 15 7:30 AM 12:00 N Registration/ Information Egan Convention Center Lobby (Street Level) 7:00 AM 8:30 AM AFS Incoming Board Breakfast Hilton Anchorage Chart 7:00 AM 6:00 PM AFS Business Office & Internet Café Hilton Anchorage Portage 7:30 AM 10:00 AM Guest/Spouse Hospitality Hilton Anchorage Spruce 7:30 AM 1:00 PM Media Room Egan Convention Center Mezzanine/ Boardroom 8:00 AM 12:00 PM Speaker AudioVisual Check-In Egan Convention Center Williwaw Room 8:00 AM 12:00 PM Speaker A/V Practice Room Egan Convention Center Williwaw Room 8:00 AM 12:00 PM Speaker A/V Practice Room Hilton Anchorage Prudhoe Bay 8:00 AM 5:40 PM Poster Session Egan, ACPA, Hilton See: Program Book 8:00 AM 12:00 N Symposia and Contributed Papers Egan, ACPA, Hilton See: Program Book 12:00 PM 1:20 PM Poster Lunch Egan Convention Center Explorer Hall (Street Level) & Lower Level 1:00 PM 1:20 PM Poster Take Down for Wakefield Symposium Hilton Anchorage King Salmon/Iliamna Room 1:00 PM 6:00 PM Fisheries Conservation Foundation Board Meeting Hilton Anchorage Fireweed 1:20 PM 5:40 PM Symposia and Contributed Papers Egan, ACPA, Hilton See: Program Book 5:40 PM 6:30 PM All Poster Take Down Alaska Center for Lobby - Level 2 Performing Arts 5:40 PM 6:30 PM All Poster Take Down Egan Convention Center Explorer Hall (Street Level) & Lower Level 6:00 PM 8:00 PM Closing Reception - See you in Lake Placid! Hilton Anchorage Alaska & Bristol Bay Ballroom

ACPA = Alaska Center for the Performing Arts Egan = W. A. Egan Convention Center

154 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Meeting Space Assignments—Graphical Format—Appendix 11

Appendix 11. Space assignments—graphical format. 7:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 8:00 13:00 18:00 9:00 10:00 14:00 11:00 12:00 19:00 21:00 22:00 20:00 Chart (15th) Non AFS Prince William Fireweed Lupine BOOK EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Estuaries FRIENDS ALUM & Marine FRIENDS Fishes & Mich SU ALUM & Group CORNELL n QUAL GUEST/SPOUSE BREAKFAST SEC 20 Virginia Receptio HOSPITALITY O D A S WARD LL HAN EXTENSI FISHERIES FISHERIES A A BREAKF LUNCH WATER USFS Tech Bay Aspen Spruce Birch Willow Prudhoe Preview OFFICE STORAGE King Salmon Iliamna Kenai Portage Susitna ROOM SETUP POSTER SETUP Speaker SESSION Dillingham Katmai SEC 14 F. CULTURE B-FAST Sockeye Symp & Posters WAKEFIELDSYMP WAKEFIELD POSTER Alaska Denali Hilton Aleutian Alaska Ballroom Bristol Bay Ballroom AFS BUS. MEETING NO CONFLICTS! NOAA Town LUNCH Meeting WAKEFIELD ADD BERING SOCIAL WEST DIV SEA CORALS Promenade Tuesday September 13 8:00 7:00 9:00 Day: Date: 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 13:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 Room: DAILY SCHEDULE:

Final Report 155 Appendix 12—Volunteer Spreadsheet

Appendix 12. Volunteer Spreadsheet Continued on next page 230-3964 262-9863 907-260-2928 608-469-3053 208-634-0618 267-2394 907-481-1725 775-861-6394 e Assignment Phone Poster? Forwarded to Carol Registration, 9/10 786-3813 registration registration registration Hauser: Monitor Activities in Board Room Spawning run, contacted Debbi but can get more people JOB request 3/24/2006 Volunteers laska Chaper booth Alaska Chapter Booth VIP Registration or other? VIP Alaska Chapter Boothregistration, et al. VIP 747-5296 907 Alaska Chapter A registration, stuffing packets, etc. postersregistration, forwarded to Carol registration Spawning run, help record results digital SLR (6.1 Megapixels), which I registration Kerkvliet times available, etc. VIP coordinators raffle, registration, posters Help Hauser? spawning run, registration interested in 5K run t r 12-Sep registration 9/8 & 9/9 stuffing, vip registration bag stuffing 271-2809 9/8-9/9 registration registration 9/7, 9/8; 9/14; 9/15open Registration9/8, 9/129/13, 7-10 am 9/11, 9/12; 4 hours/day registration registration 443 4384 907 267-2244 9/12; volunteered for registration: registration 874-4022 Home 9/11 registration registration 907-364-1568 Contact person for: Patrician Andersson, Linda Beller, Darlene Houle, and Vonnie Dixon registration bag stuffing [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Karin [email protected] Can work evenings weekends, works for Stellar Design and may be able to help with conference gear Jennifer [email protected] Anything except not on Sunday Ray [email protected] Steve [email protected] Tuesday [email protected] Glee [email protected] Last First email Availability y r mbruzs ndrews DarrDeerkop* Kyle Seth [email protected] [email protected] DiCosimoDietz Dion Jane [email protected] Cheryl [email protected] few days before and du a CoxCudne Keith [email protected] Eidam DonaGuthridge [email protected] Jared [email protected] BighamBoschBottBoyleBrasse Dana Buklis MelanieBurton [email protected] Kristin Larry Audra [email protected] Larry [email protected] [email protected] Tammy [email protected] [email protected] 11-Sep 9/12-9/15 9/10-? registration EdwardsEskelinEvansFaurot Mike Fergurson Tony Wally Jim [email protected] Hamner MaryHamner [email protected] Hande [email protected] [email protected] Helen Helen [email protected] [email protected] 9/11-9/16 DionDunmall Karen Cheryl CadyChildsChilton Thomas Jeff [email protected] Elizabeth [email protected] [email protected] now Geiger Hal ChiltonChristianCorum Liz Richard [email protected] Kara [email protected] Gardner Lee Ann [email protected] Daigneault Michael [email protected] 12-15th BalesBednarskiBegich Julie James Robert [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] 9/13 late morning/early af 9/10-9/15 A A Anderson Anderson Jeffrey Dann Tyler [email protected]

156 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Volunteer Spreadsheet—Appendix 12 Continued on next page 907 7896042 541-426-3198 907-747-4322 907-456-0209 907-786-3886 267-2384 cell: 425-879-1136 907-465-1174 907-271-1508 786-3645 907-260-0127 267-2392 349-1567, 580-371-5353(cell) 907 / 822-3309 voice on ti ra t s i reg registrationRegistration, wed 7-10 425-478-4235, 541-737-1943, 541-737-1964 (w) 907-424-3213 registration sent to Carol cell (907) 957-2277 registration 271-2809 registration (907) 586-7585 Registration, 9/11 er t ap th th Ch a oo oo k 3 b b as er er t t own Al d , silent auction, sales ap ap e k 3/24/2006 on, Volunteers a ti Ch Ch t a a ra t er k k t s i as as os reg Alaska Chapter booth and can do some photography) student volunteer registration and printing/stuffing (outside of regular work hours only)forwarded to Keith Cox registration 267-2375 cell phones, internet café Poster session, Wed. morning Internet café Registration , spawning run Registration , spawning run cell phones, internet café registration P Al Al registrationViP pickup posters forwarded to Allen VIP media/publicity Student functions, alaska chapter Needs student work, AV? Alaska Chapter booth computers, internet café solicit prizes, sell tickets, drawings help with directing people from Hilton? registration registration, poster registration Signage, color printer Alaska Chapter booth, publicityregistration forwarded to Kate Wedemeyer 11-Sep ll day 9/8, afternoon 9/9 possibly 9/12/9/1 9/6, 9/8, 9/9 registration registration 9/14 & 9/15 9/9-9/12 registration registration 9/13during conference registration registration registration 9/11 & 9/12 (plus->) registration and printing/stuffing registration 786-7148 9/13, 9/15 registration Registration or so)8/12 to clarify availability registration registration registration A s u u t v [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Shannon [email protected] Lynne [email protected] Sam [email protected] 17:40 - 18:30 9/15, Katie [email protected] CaraBill [email protected] [email protected] Looking for support Robert [email protected] r f Royse Santora Maura [email protected] SeebSiddeekSloanSpeckman Lisa Shareef Susan [email protected] Cindy [email protected] [email protected] 13-Sep Santos Jennings Gretchen [email protected]. MacleanMarston Scott Brian [email protected] [email protected] Alaska Chapter McClainMeyerMillerMillerMull VinceNeely Scott [email protected] Jim [email protected] Matt Kristin [email protected] Kathleen [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Ourso Bob [email protected] Palmer Douglas [email protected] 9/12-9/15 Palo PlumbRidgway Miranda Michelle [email protected] StalzerStarkStarkey Cassandra [email protected] Chris Norman [email protected] [email protected] Ivey KaminKendallKircherLassayLawley Lisa Neala Peggy [email protected] [email protected] Denny [email protected] Gary [email protected] [email protected] HayesIslamJoyce Susie Asiful [email protected] [email protected] Tim [email protected] MacClellan Joanne [email protected]. MartinMayer Brooke Elaine martinbr@[email protected] [email protected] NeilNemethNorcrossOdohertyOlsonOrzechowski Matt Jodi Brenda Gillian [email protected] Kathleen [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] John [email protected] 9/10-? Rodgvelle Romberg Hasbrouck Jim [email protected] Hartmann Cindy [email protected] Perry-PlakePrendergast Linda Linda [email protected] [email protected] 9/11-9/16 Piorkowski Pritash Sherri

Final Report 157 Appendix 12—Volunteer Spreadsheet Continued on next page (907) 772-5936 (907)235-1739 209 946-6400 x307 907-456-0453 248-1183 Registration 907-586-8811 Registration bag stuffingforwarded to Allen Bingham 258-4880 3/24/2006 Volunteers Alaska Chapter booth registrationAV? Audio-Visual or registration Registration registration Registration solicit prizes, set up prize tables Poster takedown stuffing packets poster, recyclilng as needed VIP pickup registration Forwarded to Hauser g nytime, lives in Anchora 9/12 registration registration 9/10;9/11; 8 hours "open"? --- sent email 8/12 to clarify availability registration A [email protected] Heath [email protected] RichardMaureen [email protected] 17:40 - 18:30 9/15, [email protected] Aaron [email protected] registration, poster, AV? Whitton Kellie Stuby Lisa [email protected] SzarziTemplinThompsonTrudgen Nicky Bill Josie [email protected] Dave [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] WilliamsWismarWrightWyattYanusz BenYap Dave [email protected] Brenda [email protected] Ty [email protected] [email protected] Before as well at meeti Szarzi Nicky [email protected] Wikert John [email protected] Job not yet assigned Wiedmer Gwyn [email protected] Truesdell VanPoortenViavant Brett [email protected] Tim [email protected] noon 11th to 14th Whitacre

158 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting Volunteer Spreadsheet—Appendix 12

Committee: Committee Contact Computer Room/Internet Café Vince McClain 907-786-3886

Volunteers needed: man the computer room/internet café, collect and track cell phones

Last Coordinator Update AFS Business Office and Internet Cafe Vince McClain 8/23/05

Days Hours Volunteers Thursday, Se 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM Vince McClain, Kathy Orzechowski Shift 11:00 Am to 2:00 PM Steve Freid Shift 2:00 PM T0 5:00 PM Friday, Sept 911:00 AM to 5:00 PM Vince McClain, Kathy Orzechowski 11:00 Am to 2:00 PM Steve Freid 2:00 PM T0 5:00 PM Seth Darr Saturday, Sep7:00 AM to 6:00 PM Vince McClain 8:00 AM to 11:00 PM Vince McClain 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM Matt Miller 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM Sunday, Sept7:00 AM to 6:00 PM Vince McClain 8:00 AM to 11:00 PM Vince McClain 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM Monday, Sep 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM Vince McClain 8:00 AM to 11:00 PM Vince McClain 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM Matt Miller 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM Tuesday, Sep7:00 AM to 6:00 PM Vince McClain 8:00 AM to 11:00 PM Vince McClain 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM Wednesday, S7:00 AM to 6:00 PM Vince McClain 8:00 AM to 11:00 PM Vince McClain 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM Vince McClain Thrusday, Se 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM Vince McClain 8:00 AM to 11:00 PM Vince McClain 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM Matt Miller 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM Vince McClain

Notes Vince McClain is the Committee chair and will be there every morinng and

Final Report 159 Appendix 13—A/V Student Assignments

Appendix 13. A/V Student Assignments Session Date No. Start End Title and Location Volunteer Monday, September 12, 2005 10 3:40 AM 5:45 PM Native Fishes, Egan 14 0 Monday, September 12, 2005 18 3:40 AM 5:45 PM Fisheries and IOOS, Egan 13 0 Monday, September 12, 2005 21 1:20 PM 3:20 PM Fishing for the Future: managing fisheries and aquatic ecosystems using…, Egan 7-8 0 Monday, September 12, 2005 22 3:40 AM 5:45 PM Fishing for the Future: managing fisheries and aquatic ecosystems using…, Egan 7-8 0 Monday, September 12, 2005 23 1:20 PM 3:20 PM From the Laboratory to the Field: Practrical Applications of Physiological…, Egan 9-100 Monday, September 12, 2005 24 3:40 AM 5:45 PM From the Laboratory to the Field: Practrical Applications of Physiological…, Egan 9-100 Monday, September 12, 2005 27 1:20 PM 3:20 PM Influence of Offshore Platforms on Marine Fish Ecology, Hilton Denali 0 Monday, September 12, 2005 28 3:40 AM 5:45 PM Influence of Offshore Platforms on Marine Fish Ecology, Hilton Denali 0 Monday, September 12, 2005 29 1:20 PM 3:20 PM New Uses of Acoustic Tags in Fisheries Research, Egan 5 0 Monday, September 12, 2005 30 3:40 AM 5:45 PM New Uses of Acoustic Tags in Fisheries Research, Egan 5 0 Tuesday, September 13, 2005 36 1:20 PM 3:20 PM Fish Culture, Egan 2 0 Tuesday, September 13, 2005 44 1:40 PM 3:00 PM Policy, Voth 0 Tuesday, September 13, 2005 50 8:00 AM 10:00 AM Ecology and Taxonomy of Freshwater and Diadromous Sculpins, Egan 13 0 Tuesday, September 13, 2005 52 1:40 PM 3:00 PM Ecology and Taxonomy of Freshwater and Diadromous Sculpins, Egan 13 0 Tuesday, September 13, 2005 55 8:00 AM 10:00 AM From the Laboratory to the Field: Practrical Applications of Physiological…, Egan 9-10 0 Tuesday, September 13, 2005 60 8:00 AM 10:00 AM National and International Challenges and Lessons Learned on Fish. Mngmt Chem., Egan 6 0 Tuesday, September 13, 2005 61 10:20 AM 11:40 AM National and International Challenges and Lessons Learned on Fish. Mngmt Chem., Egan 6 0 Tuesday, September 13, 2005 68 1:40 PM 3:00 PM Partnerships for a Common Purpose: Coop. Fish. Res. and Mngmt., Discovery 0 Tuesday, September 13, 2005 69 8:00 AM 10:00 AM POST - The Pacific Ocean Shelf Tracking Network, Egan 5 0 Tuesday, September 13, 2005 72 8:00 AM 10:00 AM Second International Burbot Symposium, Egan 14 0 Tuesday, September 13, 2005 74 1:40 PM 3:00 PM Second International Burbot Symposium, Egan 14 0 Wednesday, September 14, 2005 80 10:20 AM 11:40 AM Communities and Ecosystems, Egan 4 0 Wednesday, September 14, 2005 85 10:20 AM 11:40 AM Fisheries Management, Egan 1 0 Wednesday, September 14, 2005 90 8:00 AM 10:00 AM Fish Ecology, Lawrence 0 Wednesday, September 14, 2005 92 1:40 PM 4:20 PM Fish Ecology, Lawrence 0 Wednesday, September 14, 2005 97 1:40 PM 3:00 PM Crustacean Fisheries Science and Assessment, Egan 5 0 Wednesday, September 14, 2005 98 3:40 PM 5:30 PM Crustacean Fisheries Science and Assessment, Egan 5 0 Wednesday, September 14, 2005 110 8:00 AM 10:00 AM Partnerships for a Common Purpose: Coop. Fish. Res. and Mngmt., Discovery 0 Wednesday, September 14, 2005 111 10:20 AM 11:40 AM Partnerships for a Common Purpose: Coop. Fish. Res. and Mngmt., Discovery 0 Wednesday, September 14, 2005 112 1:40 PM 3:00 PM Partnerships for a Common Purpose: Coop. Fish. Res. and Mngmt., Discovery 0 Wednesday, September 14, 2005 116 1:40 PM 3:00 PM Recent Advances in Hydroacoustic Assess. of Fish. Pop. in Marine and Riverine…, Egan 2 0 Wednesday, September 14, 2005 117 3:40 PM 5:40 PM Recent Advances in Hydroacoustic Assess. of Fish. Pop. in Marine and Riverine…, Egan 2 0 Wednesday, September 14, 2005 118 8:00 AM 10:00 AM Science Bridging the Five Nations: The Bering-Aleutian Salmon Internat. Survey, Voth 0 Wednesday, September 14, 2005 121 3:40 PM 5:30 PM Science Bridging the Five Nations: The Bering-Aleutian Salmon Internat. Survey, Voth 0 Thursday, September 15, 2005 140 1:40 PM 3:00 PM Fisheries Conservation, Lawrence 0 Thursday, September 15, 2005 141 3:40 PM 5:30 PM Fisheries Conservation, Lawrence 0 Thursday, September 15, 2005 142 8:00 AM 10:00 AM Fisheries Management, Egan 1 0 Thursday, September 15, 2005 143 10:20 AM 11:40 AM Fisheries Management, Egan 1 0 Thursday, September 15, 2005 146 8:00 AM 10:00 AM Habitat and Water Quality, Explorer-LaParouse 0 Thursday, September 15, 2005 149 3:40 PM 5:30 PM Habitat and Water Quality, Explorer-LaParouse 0 Thursday, September 15, 2005 150 8:00 AM 10:00 AM Advances in Telemetry: Opportunities and Challenges for Fish. and Aq. Ecol., Egan 14 0 Thursday, September 15, 2005 154 8:00 AM 10:00 AM Application of Bayesian Statistical Methods to Fisheries, Egan 9-10 0 Thursday, September 15, 2005 155 10:20 AM 11:40 AM Application of Bayesian Statistical Methods to Fisheries, Egan 9-10 0 Thursday, September 15, 2005 156 1:40 PM 3:00 PM Application of Bayesian Statistical Methods to Fisheries, Egan 9-10 0 Thursday, September 15, 2005 157 3:40 PM 5:30 PM Application of Bayesian Statistical Methods to Fisheries, Egan 9-10 0 Thursday, September 15, 2005 158 8:00 AM 10:00 AM Behavorial Perspectives in Fish Conservation and Management, Egan 4 0 Thursday, September 15, 2005 159 10:20 AM 11:40 AM Behavorial Perspectives in Fish Conservation and Management, Egan 4 0 Thursday, September 15, 2005 160 1:40 PM 4:20 PM Behavorial Perspectives in Fish Conservation and Management, Egan 4 0 Thursday, September 15, 2005 162 10:20 AM 11:40 AM Ecological Significance of Marine Forage Species, Egan 6 0 Thursday, September 15, 2005 174 3:40 PM 5:10 PM Habitat: What is it? How is it measured? How do Fish Assemblages Respond to it?, Egan 2 0 Thursday, September 15, 2005 180 10:20 AM 11:40 AM Invasive Species in Large River Systems, Egan 5 0 Thursday, September 15, 2005 181 1:40 PM 4:00 PM Invasive Species in Large River Systems, Egan 5 0 Thursday, September 15, 2005 184 1:40 PM 3:00 PM Non-salmonid Stock Enhancement in North America: Status and Challenges, Egan 13 0 Thursday, September 15, 2005 185 3:40 PM 5:10 PM Non-salmonid Stock Enhancement in North America: Status and Challenges, Egan 13 0 Thursday, September 15, 2005 186 8:00 AM 10:00 AM Salmon 2100 Project, Atwood 0 Thursday, September 15, 2005 187 10:20 AM 11:40 AM Salmon 2100 Project, Atwood 0 Thursday, September 15, 2005 189 3:40 PM 5:10 PM Salmon 2100 Project, Atwood 0 Thursday, September 15, 2005 194 8:00 AM 10:00 AM The Influence of Dams on River Fisheries, Egan 11-12 0 Thursday, September 15, 2005 196 1:40 PM 3:00 PM The Influence of Dams on River Fisheries, Egan 11-12 0 Thursday, September 15, 2005 197 3:40 PM 5:30 PM The Influence of Dams on River Fisheries, Egan 11-12 0 Thursday, September 15, 2005 198 8:00 AM 10:00 AM The New State Comprehensive Wildlife Cons. Strategies: Aq./Fish. Components, Egan 13 0 Thursday, September 15, 2005 199 10:20 AM 11:40 AM The New State Comprehensive Wildlife Cons. Strategies: Aq./Fish. Components, Egan 13 0 Thursday, September 15, 2005 203 3:40 PM 5:30 PM Using Video Technology for Fisheries Applications, Egan 3 0 Tuesday, September 13, 2005 78a 8:00 AM 10:00 AM Conservation and Recovery of North America's Imperiled Freshwater Fauna.., Egan 3 0 Tuesday, September 13, 2005 78b 10:20 AM 11:40 AM Conservation and Recovery of North America's Imperiled Freshwater Fauna.., Egan 3 0 Tuesday, September 13, 2005 78c 1:40 PM 3:00 PM Conservation and Recovery of North America's Imperiled Freshwater Fauna.., Egan 3 0 Tuesday, September 13, 2005 37 8:20 AM 10:00 AM Freshwater Fish Ecology, Egan 1 Aaron Martin Tuesday, September 13, 2005 38 10:20 AM 11:40 AM Freshwater Fish Ecology, Egan 1 Aaron Martin Wednesday, September 14, 2005 101 1:40 PM 3:00 PM Fluvial Geomorphology and Fish Habitat Symposium, Egan 7-8 Aaron Martin Wednesday, September 14, 2005 131 10:20 AM 11:40 AM The Influence of Dams on River Fisheries, Egan 11-12 Aaron Truesdell Tuesday, September 13, 2005 70 10:20 AM 11:40 AM POST - The Pacific Ocean Shelf Tracking Network, Egan 5 Andy Seitz Tuesday, September 13, 2005 71 1:40 PM 2:40 PM POST - The Pacific Ocean Shelf Tracking Network, Egan 5 Andy Seitz Thursday, September 15, 2005 152 1:40 PM 3:00 PM Advances in Telemetry: Opportunities and Challenges for Fish. and Aq. Ecol., Egan 14 Andy Seitz Thursday, September 15, 2005 175 8:00 AM 10:00 AM Innovative Approaches in Managing N. Pac. Groundfish Species, Discovery Bill Bechtol Thursday, September 15, 2005 177 1:40 PM 3:00 PM Innovative Approaches in Managing N. Pac. Groundfish Species, Discovery Bill Bechtol Thursday, September 15, 2005 178 3:40 PM 5:30 PM Innovative Approaches in Managing N. Pac. Groundfish Species, Discovery Bill Bechtol Tuesday, September 13, 2005 35b 1:40 PM 5:30 PM Pacific Rockfish (Lowell Wakefield), Hilton Bill Bechtol Monday, September 12, 2005 31 1:20 PM 3:20 PM Ocean Ecology of Salmon in West. No. America, Atwood Caroline Jezierski Monday, September 12, 2005 32 3:40 AM 5:45 PM Ocean Ecology of Salmon in West. No. America, Atwood Caroline Jezierski Tuesday, September 13, 2005 42 1:40 PM 3:00 PM Marine Fish Ecology, Lawrence Caroline Jezierski Tuesday, September 13, 2005 66 8:00 AM 10:00 AM Partnerships for a Common Purpose: Coop. Fish. Res. and Mngmt., Discovery Caroline Jezierski Tuesday, September 13, 2005 67 10:20 AM 11:40 AM Partnerships for a Common Purpose: Coop. Fish. Res. and Mngmt., Discovery Caroline Jezierski Wednesday, September 14, 2005 81 1:40 PM 3:00 PM Communities and Ecosystems, Egan 4 Caroline Jezierski Wednesday, September 14, 2005 93 8:00 AM 10:00 AM Connections Between Economic Growth and Fish Conservation, Egan 14 Caroline Jezierski Wednesday, September 14, 2005 113 3:40 PM 5:30 PM Partnerships for a Common Purpose: Coop. Fish. Res. and Mngmt., Discovery Caroline Jezierski Wednesday, September 14, 2005 123 10:20 AM 11:40 AM Stream and Watershed Restoration: Planning, Prior., and Monitoring, Egan 3 Caroline Jezierski Wednesday, September 14, 2005 79 8:00 AM 10:00 AM Communities and Ecosystems, Egan 4 Cassie Mellon Wednesday, September 14, 2005 124 1:40 PM 3:00 PM Stream and Watershed Restoration: Planning, Prior., and Monitoring, Egan 3 Cassie Mellon Thursday, September 15, 2005 147 10:20 AM 11:40 AM Habitat and Water Quality, Explorer-LaParouse Cassie Mellon Monday, September 12, 2005 11 1:20 PM 3:20 PM Population Dynamics, Egan 3 Dave Hewitt Wednesday, September 14, 2005 115 10:20 AM 11:40 AM Recent Advances in Hydroacoustic Assess. of Fish. Pop. in Marine and Riverine…, Egan 2 Dave Hewitt

Continued on next page 160 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting A/V Student Assignments—Appendix 13

Wednesday, September 14, 2005 136 1:40 PM 3:00 PM Written Communications: Writing and Reviewing Papers for Fisheries Journals, Egan 14 Dave Hewitt Wednesday, September 14, 2005 137 3:40 PM 5:30 PM Written Communications: Writing and Reviewing Papers for Fisheries Journals, Egan 14 Dave Hewitt Monday, September 12, 2005 12 3:40 AM 5:45 PM Statistics and Modeling, Egan 3 Evelyn Brown Monday, September 12, 2005 5 1:20 PM 3:20 PM Genetics, Egan 11-12 Josh Israel Tuesday, September 13, 2005 63 8:00 AM 9:40 AM Ocean Ecology of Salmon in West. No. America, Atwood Josh Israel Tuesday, September 13, 2005 64 10:20 AM 11:40 AM Pacific Salmon Environment and Life History Models: Advancing Science for Sust…., Atwood Josh Israel Tuesday, September 13, 2005 65 1:40 PM 3:00 PM Pacific Salmon Environment and Life History Models: Advancing Science for Sust…., Atwood Josh Israel Thursday, September 15, 2005 138 8:00 AM 10:00 AM Fisheries Conservation, Lawrence Josh Israel Thursday, September 15, 2005 188 1:40 PM 3:00 PM Salmon 2100 Project, Atwood Josh Israel Wednesday, September 14, 2005 106 8:00 AM 10:00 AM Ecology and Management of N. Amer. Prairie Streams, Egan 13 Katie Bertrand Wednesday, September 14, 2005 108 1:40 PM 3:00 PM Ecology and Management of N. Amer. Prairie Streams, Egan 13 Katie Bertrand Wednesday, September 14, 2005 109 3:40 PM 5:30 PM Ecology and Management of N. Amer. Prairie Streams, Egan 13 Katie Bertrand Monday, September 12, 2005 6 3:40 AM 5:45 PM Genetics, Egan 11-12 Katie Palof Wednesday, September 14, 2005 88 8:00 AM 10:00 AM Genetics, Egan 9-10 Katie Palof Wednesday, September 14, 2005 89 10:20 AM 11:40 AM Genetics, Egan 9-10 Katie Palof Tuesday, September 13, 2005 41 10:20 AM 11:40 AM Marine Fish Ecology, Lawrence Lynn Goodman Tuesday, September 13, 2005 53 8:00 AM 10:00 AM Elasmobranch Research in No. Pacific, Voth Lynn Goodman Wednesday, September 14, 2005 84 8:00 AM 10:00 AM Fisheries Management, Egan 1 Lynn Goodman Wednesday, September 14, 2005 120 1:40 PM 3:00 PM Science Bridging the Five Nations: The Bering-Aleutian Salmon Internat. Survey, Voth Lynn Goodman Wednesday, September 14, 2005 125 3:40 PM 5:30 PM Stream and Watershed Restoration: Planning, Prior., and Monitoring, Egan 3 Lynn Goodman Thursday, September 15, 2005 139 10:20 AM 11:40 AM Fisheries Conservation, Lawrence Lynn Goodman Thursday, September 15, 2005 144 1:40 PM 3:00 PM Fisheries Management, Egan 1 Lynn Goodman Thursday, September 15, 2005 153 3:40 PM 5:30 PM Advances in Telemetry: Opportunities and Challenges for Fish. and Aq. Ecol., Egan 14 Lynn Goodman Thursday, September 15, 2005 179 8:00 AM 10:00 AM Invasive Species in Large River Systems, Egan 5 Lynn Goodman Tuesday, September 13, 2005 47 1:40 PM 3:00 PM Behavior and Ecology of Stream Salmonids: Indiv., Pop. and Comm., Egan 7-8 Matthew Jones Tuesday, September 13, 2005 73 10:20 AM 11:40 AM Second International Burbot Symposium, Egan 14 Matthew Jones Wednesday, September 14, 2005 104 10:20 AM 11:40 AM Pacific Salmon Environment and Life History Models: Advancing Science for Sust…., Atwood Matthew Jones Wednesday, September 14, 2005 105 1:40 PM 4:30 PM Pacific Salmon Environment and Life History Models: Advancing Science for Sust…., Atwood Matthew Jones Tuesday, September 13, 2005 75 8:00 AM 10:00 AM Selectivity and Catch Performance of Commercial and Survey Gears, Egan 11-12 Neala Kendall Tuesday, September 13, 2005 76 10:20 AM 11:40 AM Selectivity and Catch Performance of Commercial and Survey Gears, Egan 11-12 Neala Kendall Tuesday, September 13, 2005 77 1:40 PM 3:00 PM Selectivity and Catch Performance of Commercial and Survey Gears, Egan 11-12 Neala Kendall Wednesday, September 14, 2005 94 10:20 AM 11:40 AM Connections Between Economic Growth and Fish Conservation, Egan 14 Neala Kendall Wednesday, September 14, 2005 132 1:40 PM 3:00 PM The Influence of Dams on River Fisheries, Egan 11-12 Neala Kendall Thursday, September 15, 2005 190 8:00 AM 10:00 AM The Evolution and Ecology of Biocomplexity as a Key to Fish. Sustain., Artega Neala Kendall Thursday, September 15, 2005 191 10:20 AM 11:40 AM The Evolution and Ecology of Biocomplexity as a Key to Fish. Sustain., Artega Neala Kendall Tuesday, September 13, 2005 56 10:20 AM 11:40 AM From the Laboratory to the Field: Practrical Applications of Physiological…, Egan 9-10 Nikki Koehler Tuesday, September 13, 2005 57 8:00 AM 10:00 AM Historical and Cultural Importance of Alaska Fisheries, Egan 4 Nikki Koehler Wednesday, September 14, 2005 102 3:40 PM 5:30 PM Fluvial Geomorphology and Fish Habitat Symposium, Egan 7-8 Nikki Koehler Wednesday, September 14, 2005 114 8:00 AM 10:00 AM Recent Advances in Hydroacoustic Assess. of Fish. Pop. in Marine and Riverine…, Egan 2 Nikki Koehler Wednesday, September 14, 2005 119 10:20 AM 11:40 AM Science Bridging the Five Nations: The Bering-Aleutian Salmon Internat. Survey, Voth Nikki Koehler Wednesday, September 14, 2005 128 1:40 PM 3:00 PM The Theory and Practice of Aquatic Stewardship Education, Egan 6 Nikki Koehler Thursday, September 15, 2005 161 8:00 AM 10:00 AM Ecological Significance of Marine Forage Species, Egan 6 Nikki Koehler Thursday, September 15, 2005 173 1:40 PM 3:00 PM Habitat: What is it? How is it measured? How do Fish Assemblages Respond to it?, Egan 2 Nikki Koehler Monday, September 12, 2005 19 1:20 PM 3:20 PM Fishery Management - Ecosystem-based and role of science, Discovery Rm. Nina Barton Monday, September 12, 2005 20 3:40 AM 5:45 PM Fishery Management - Ecosystem-based and role of science, Discovery Rm. Nina Barton Wednesday, September 14, 2005 134 1:40 PM 3:00 PM Why is Sustainability so Difficult:, Egan 9-10 Nina Barton Wednesday, September 14, 2005 135 3:40 PM 5:10 PM Why is Sustainability so Difficult:, Egan 9-10 Nina Barton Thursday, September 15, 2005 176 10:20 AM 11:40 AM Innovative Approaches in Managing N. Pac. Groundfish Species, Discovery Nina Barton Thursday, September 15, 2005 182 1:40 PM 3:00 PM MPAs: Fitting the Pieces into the Fisheries Mosaic, Egan 6 Nina Barton Thursday, September 15, 2005 183 3:40 PM 5:10 PM MPAs: Fitting the Pieces into the Fisheries Mosaic, Egan 6 Nina Barton Monday, September 12, 2005 25 1:20 PM 3:20 PM Native Participation in Fisheries Management, Egan 4 Olav Ormseth Monday, September 12, 2005 26 3:40 AM 5:45 PM Historical and Cultural Importance of Alaska Fisheries, Egan 4 Olav Ormseth Tuesday, September 13, 2005 58 10:20 AM 11:40 AM Historical and Cultural Importance of Alaska Fisheries, Egan 4 Olav Ormseth Tuesday, September 13, 2005 62 1:40 PM 3:00 PM National and International Challenges and Lessons Learned on Fish. Mngmt Chem., Egan 6 Olav Ormseth Wednesday, September 14, 2005 86 1:40 PM 3:00 PM Fisheries Management, Egan 1 Olav Ormseth Wednesday, September 14, 2005 87 3:40 PM 5:30 PM Fisheries Management, Egan 1 Olav Ormseth Wednesday, September 14, 2005 91 10:20 AM 11:40 AM Fish Ecology, Lawrence Olav Ormseth Monday, September 12, 2005 9 1:20 PM 3:20 PM Native Fishes, Egan 14 Paige Drobny Monday, September 12, 2005 14 3:40 AM 5:45 PM Catch and Release Science/Conservation Management, Egan 2 Paige Drobny Tuesday, September 13, 2005 40 8:00 AM 10:00 AM Marine Fish Ecology, Lawrence Paige Drobny Tuesday, September 13, 2005 59 1:40 PM 3:00 PM Historical and Cultural Importance of Alaska Fisheries, Egan 4 Paige Drobny Wednesday, September 14, 2005 83 4:20 PM 5:30 PM Fisheries Conservation, Lawrence Paige Drobny Wednesday, September 14, 2005 103 8:00 AM 10:00 AM Pacific Salmon Environment and Life History Models: Advancing Science for Sust…., Atwood Paige Drobny Thursday, September 15, 2005 200 8:00 AM 10:00 AM Using Video Technology for Fisheries Applications, Egan 3 Pete J Schneider Thursday, September 15, 2005 201 10:20 AM 11:40 AM Using Video Technology for Fisheries Applications, Egan 3 Pete J Schneider Monday, September 12, 2005 4 3:40 AM 5:45 PM Freshwater Fish Ecology, Egan 1 R. Bruce Medhurst Monday, September 12, 2005 13 1:20 PM 3:20 PM Catch and Release Science/Conservation Management, Egan 2 R. Bruce Medhurst Tuesday, September 13, 2005 39 1:40 PM 3:00 PM Freshwater Fish Ecology, Egan 1 R. Bruce Medhurst Tuesday, September 13, 2005 51 10:20 AM 11:40 AM Ecology and Taxonomy of Freshwater and Diadromous Sculpins, Egan 13 R. Bruce Medhurst Wednesday, September 14, 2005 82 3:40 PM 5:30 PM Communities and Ecosystems, Egan 4 R. Bruce Medhurst Wednesday, September 14, 2005 122 8:00 AM 10:00 AM Stream and Watershed Restoration: Planning, Prior., and Monitoring, Egan 3 R. Bruce Medhurst Thursday, September 15, 2005 148 1:40 PM 3:00 PM Habitat and Water Quality, Explorer-LaParouse R. Bruce Medhurst Thursday, September 15, 2005 195 10:20 AM 11:40 AM The Influence of Dams on River Fisheries, Egan 11-12 R. Bruce Medhurst Monday, September 12, 2005 3 1:20 PM 3:20 PM Freshwater Fish Ecology, Egan 1 Sam Decker Monday, September 12, 2005 8 3:40 AM 5:45 PM Human Dimensions of Fisheries, Egan 6 Sam Decker Tuesday, September 13, 2005 45 8:00 AM 10:00 AM Behavior and Ecology of Stream Salmonids: Indiv., Pop. and Comm., Egan 7-8 Sam Decker Tuesday, September 13, 2005 46 10:20 AM 11:40 AM Behavior and Ecology of Stream Salmonids: Indiv., Pop. and Comm., Egan 7-8 Sam Decker Wednesday, September 14, 2005 99 8:00 AM 10:00 AM Fluvial Geomorphology and Fish Habitat Symposium, Egan 7-8 Sam Decker Wednesday, September 14, 2005 100 10:20 AM 11:40 AM Fluvial Geomorphology and Fish Habitat Symposium, Egan 7-8 Sam Decker Thursday, September 15, 2005 171 8:00 AM 10:00 AM Habitat: What is it? How is it measured? How do Fish Assemblages Respond to it?, Egan 2 Sam Decker Thursday, September 15, 2005 172 10:20 AM 11:40 AM Habitat: What is it? How is it measured? How do Fish Assemblages Respond to it?, Egan 2 Sam Decker Monday, September 12, 2005 17 1:20 PM 3:20 PM Fisheries and IOOS, Egan 13 Sean Charles Rooney Tuesday, September 13, 2005 43 1:40 PM 3:00 PM Physiology, Egan 9-10 Sean Charles Rooney Tuesday, September 13, 2005 35a 8:00 AM 11:40 PM Pacific Rockfish (Lowell Wakefield), Hilton Sherry Pritash Thursday, September 15, 2005 145 3:40 PM 5:30 PM Fisheries Management, Egan 1 Stephan Ambruzs Thursday, September 15, 2005 151 10:20 AM 11:40 AM Advances in Telemetry: Opportunities and Challenges for Fish. and Aq. Ecol., Egan 14 Stephan Ambruzs Thursday, September 15, 2005 202 1:40 PM 3:00 PM Using Video Technology for Fisheries Applications, Egan 3 Stephan Ambruzs Monday, September 12, 2005 15 1:20 PM 3:20 PM Elasmobranch Research in No. Pacific, Voth Sue Hazlett Monday, September 12, 2005 16 3:40 AM 5:45 PM Elasmobranch Research in No. Pacific, Voth Sue Hazlett Tuesday, September 13, 2005 54 10:20 AM 11:40 AM Elasmobranch Research in No. Pacific, Voth Sue Hazlett Wednesday, September 14, 2005 95 8:00 AM 10:00 AM Crustacean Fisheries Science and Assessment, Egan 5 Sue Hazlett Wednesday, September 14, 2005 96 10:20 AM 11:40 AM Crustacean Fisheries Science and Assessment, Egan 5 Sue Hazlett Wednesday, September 14, 2005 107 10:20 AM 11:40 AM Ecology and Management of N. Amer. Prairie Streams, Egan 13 Timothy R. Strakosh Continued on next page

Final Report 161 Appendix 13—A/V Student Assignments

Wednesday, September 14, 2005 130 8:00 AM 10:00 AM The Influence of Dams on River Fisheries, Egan 11-12 Timothy R. Strakosh Wednesday, September 14, 2005 133 3:40 PM 5:10 PM The Influence of Dams on River Fisheries, Egan 11-12 Timothy R. Strakosh Monday, September 12, 2005 7 1:20 PM 3:20 PM Human Dimensions of Fisheries, Egan 6 Tom Lang Tuesday, September 13, 2005 48 8:00 AM 10:00 AM Catch and Release Science/Conservation Management, Egan 2 Tom Lang Tuesday, September 13, 2005 49 10:20 AM 11:40 AM Catch and Release Science/Conservation Management, Egan 2 Tom Lang Wednesday, September 14, 2005 126 8:00 AM 10:00 AM The Theory and Practice of Aquatic Stewardship Education, Egan 6 Tom Lang Wednesday, September 14, 2005 127 10:20 AM 11:40 AM The Theory and Practice of Aquatic Stewardship Education, Egan 6 Tom Lang Wednesday, September 14, 2005 129 3:40 PM 5:30 PM The Theory and Practice of Aquatic Stewardship Education, Egan 6 Tom Lang Thursday, September 15, 2005 163 8:00 AM 10:00 AM Fisheries, Fishermen, and Fishing Communities: Socioeconomic Perspec. West Coast, Voth Tom Lang Thursday, September 15, 2005 164 10:20 AM 11:40 AM Fisheries, Fishermen, and Fishing Communities: Socioeconomic Perspec. West Coast, Voth Tom Lang Thursday, September 15, 2005 165 1:40 PM 3:00 PM Fisheries, Fishermen, and Fishing Communities: Socioeconomic Perspec. West Coast, Voth Tom Lang Thursday, September 15, 2005 166 3:40 PM 5:30 PM Fisheries, Fishermen, and Fishing Communities: Socioeconomic Perspec. West Coast, Voth Tom Lang Thursday, September 15, 2005 192 1:40 PM 3:00 PM The Future of Conservation Genetics: Integrating Molecular and Quantitative Gen. Apps., Artega Tyler Dann Thursday, September 15, 2005 193 3:40 PM 5:30 PM The Future of Conservation Genetics: Integrating Molecular and Quantitative Gen. Apps., Artega Tyler Dann Monday, September 12, 2005 33 1:20 PM 3:20 PM Small-scale spatial variation in pop. biology of fishes, Lawrence Tyler Grosshuesch Monday, September 12, 2005 34 3:40 AM 5:45 PM Small-scale spatial variation in pop. biology of fishes, Lawrence Tyler Grosshuesch Thursday, September 15, 2005 167 8:00 AM 10:00 AM Geographic Information System and Geospatial Analyses in Fish. Res. and Mngmt., Egan 7-8 Tyler Grosshuesch Thursday, September 15, 2005 168 10:20 AM 11:40 AM Geographic Information System and Geospatial Analyses in Fish. Res. and Mngmt., Egan 7-8 Tyler Grosshuesch Thursday, September 15, 2005 169 1:40 PM 3:00 PM Geographic Information System and Geospatial Analyses in Fish. Res. and Mngmt., Egan 7-8 Tyler Grosshuesch Thursday, September 15, 2005 170 3:40 PM 5:10 PM Geographic Information System and Geospatial Analyses in Fish. Res. and Mngmt., Egan 7-8 Tyler Grosshuesch

162 American Fisheries Society 135 Annual Meeting