Requirements for Hosting an ICAS Congress
TEXT BELOW AVAILABLE AS PDF (here).
In general, the Host Society, acting as agent of ICAS, is responsible for the selection of a suitable Congress site and for the organizational and social arrangements needed for the success of the Congress. These are to be prepared in accordance with the Congress schedule approved by the Executive Committee.
The following presents the major responsibilities and financial requirements in more detail. Unless specified otherwise, the costs involved are met by the Host Society. They should appear in the Host Society's Congress budget and be met from the registration fees, see also § 12. At all stages, the Host Society should co-operate closely with the ICAS Secretariat from which they can expect every assistance.
1. Lecture rooms
- Large Hall (up to 700 persons) for Opening/Closing Ceremony, Named and General Lectures plus session track 1
- 9 Lecture Rooms (4 rooms capable of accommodating about 150 people, remaining rooms capable of accommodating about 100 people.)
- The above implies a congress with 10 parallel session tracks and with morning briefings to authors performed in the respective lecture rooms
2. Offices and Committee Meeting Room
- President's office (Sunday through Thursday)
- Secretariat office (Friday through Thursday)
Secretariat office may be shared by the local organizing committee.
- Meeting room The meeting room should be located close to the Secretariat office. A typical list of the meetings is given in appendix, with approximate number of attendants. The exact times will depend on the overall Programme of the Congress. One large room that can seat 50 persons may do for most of the meetings. Refreshments (e.g. water/juices, tea, coffee) should be available.
3. Facilities
Rooms should be equipped with laptops connected to projectors (beamers). The laptops should have software for English Powerpoint presentations. Operating staff should be available.
The Secretariat should be provided with a computer plus a fast colour printer and stationary and there must be direct access to the internet (via cable or wireless). Refreshments (e.g. water, tea or coffee) should be made available in the Secretariat office.
Free access to all parts of the venue must be granted on the Saturday before the Congress for the Secretariat and the Organising Committee representatives. The Secretariat office should be available from the Friday before the Congress. The positioning of signs and poster boards must be made on the Saturday afternoon or on the Sunday morning.
Six stations for reading of the Proceedings CD-Rom must be provided, plus stations for Internet access for the Congress participants. These can be suitably combined. Internet access via a “hotspot” is the preferred option.
4. Registration arrangements
Both prior to, and during, the Congress the registration arrangements are the responsibility of the Host Society, but a close liaison should be maintained with the ICAS Secretariat. A Registration Desk is required at the Congress site with staff, familiar with both the Congress site and the arrangements, to deal with delegates' queries, etc. The registration starts on Sunday afternoon and the desk must be open for most of the week. The Host Society will provide the ICAS Secretariat with a list of registrants and attendees starting on or about June 15 and then at two weeks interval and continuing through the Congress. As explained in § 12, the Host Society is responsible for preparing a list of delegates for distribution with the delegate packs at registration and a completed list on Thursday to be made available to all attendees.
The Registration Desk and ICAS Secretariat room should be close together.
5. Coffee and tea breaks, lunches
The provision of coffee or tea breaks for the delegates in suitable areas at the Congress site is the responsibility of the Host Society and the cost must appear in the Society's Congress budget as being funded from the registration fees. Arrangements must also be made for lunches at the site, unless very convenient restaurants or cafeteria services are available. A light sandwich lunch for all four Congress days, with the cost included in the registration fee, is the preferred arrangement.
6. Meals Requiring Reserved Accommodation
- ICAS Council Lunch immediately after the ICAS Council meeting (Wednesday):
60 persons with the cost charged to ICAS.
- Programme Committee Dinner (usually Wednesday evening):
75 persons (including partners) and charged individually (payments handled by ICAS)
- Banquet for delegates and accompanying persons:
Some 300 persons. Venue to be decided. Usually on Thursday evening and paid by registrants.
7. Social Events and Technical Tours
These are determined by the Host Society. Payment, if necessary, is usually individually charged to the delegates except for the initial receptions normally on Sunday and Monday, which are free of charge. The Technical Tours will be on the day or time kept clear of lectures (usually Friday and free of charge). It is hoped that the local authority and industrial sponsors will host the Sunday and Monday receptions and that the organizations visited on the Technical Tours will provide a measure of subsidy.
8. Hotels, etc.
The Host Society will do all it can to assist delegates, including students, to obtain suitable accommodation at preferential rates. Special low rates for students are absolutely necessary.
Appropriate rooms, or suites, will be provided free of charge for the President, the Executive Secretary and the Co-ordinator from the Thursday noon of the week preceding the Congress to the Saturday morning of the week of the Congress.
9. Printing and distribution of Programmes and CD Rom Proceedings
The costs of printing and distribution of the Preliminary Programme and Final Programme/Abstract booklet (single document from 2004) to the ICAS Member Societies shall be borne by ICAS and met by the levy.
The costs of the Proceedings (CD-Rom) shall be borne by ICAS and met by the levy.
It is essential to include details of the convention venue, e.g. a map around the venue, the convention venue floor plan, instructions for the participants of the social events and of the accompanying person’s programme in the Final Programme. This will be printed and only distributed at the Congress. An electronic version of the Final Programme will be published in the ICAS web site about one month before the Congress.
Following consultation with the Secretariat, the Host Society is required to prepare a cover photograph (or illustration), details of the Congress venue, social and tour arrangements, their President's message, agreed charges by way of Delegate's fees, registration and hotel accommodation details and any other information deemed helpful to the Delegates. This material is required for both the Preliminary and Final Programmes.
By the beginning of June in the Congress year, the Host Society must also prepare a suitable photograph or illustration for the cover of the Proceedings. This may well be the same as that used for the Programmes.
The costs of printing and distribution of the list of Delegates are to be borne by the Host Society's budget.
10. Delegates' Congress Bag
The production and packing of the congress bag, containing the Congress Final Programme, CD Proceedings, name tag and other material, is the responsibility of the Host Society. The printing on the congress bag must include the ICAS logo and the congress dates, together with the logos of the sponsors, in readable size. These bags are to be given to the Delegates upon arrival at the Congress (or upon registration at the congress)
11. Insurance
The Host Society is responsible for providing adequate insurance cover for all participants at the Congress. This must cover accidents and all other possible sources of claims for indemnity that may arise at the Congress venue, hotels and on the organized tours and visits.
12. Congress Budget and Registration Fees
The Host Society's budget covers all the costs to be met directly by the Society, as specified in the above, as well as the associated costs of administration, registration, initial publicity, signs and posters.
Since these costs, less any financial support from sponsors, are to be recovered from the delegate's registration fees, the budget must be formulated before the fees can be fixed
The fees must, as far as possible, not exceed the level of those of the preceding Congresses after allowance for inflation.
It is desirable to have a preliminary estimate of the fees for consideration by the Executive Committee two years in advance, i.e.at the time of the previous Congress, and a final figure must be agreed in time for the printing of the Preliminary Programme, i.e. in the November prior to the Congress. Fees are discussed again at the meeting of the Executive Committee at the end of the Programme Committee meeting in September/October of the year prior to the Congress. It has been the practice to set a higher registration fee for delegates who are not members of any ICAS Member Society or come from an ICAS Associate organisation. To provide an incentive to minimise the amount of on-site registration (and hence minimize no-shows in the programme) a three step registration fee is recommended (early June 15, normal August 1, onsite).
The fixing of the fees requires a break-even number of delegates to be agreed (normally 500). Smaller charges are made for students, retired persons and accompanying persons.
Regarding the ICAS levy per delegate, the full levy is paid for each full time registrant, 25% of the full levy is paid for day-delegates and for retired persons. No levy is paid for Student registrants. The levy may be changed for each Congress by the Executive Committee in the light of the circumstances. In some cases ICAS may require from the Host Society a guarantee of minimum overall payments to meet the basic costs to ICAS.
Further details are available from the ICAS Secretariat.
Updated November 2009
Date |
Time |
Event |
Room |
Sunday |
09:00-10:00 |
Strategic Planning Subcommittee Meeting No1 |
10 |
|
10:00-12:00 |
1st Executive Committee Meeting |
15 |
|
14:00-16:00 |
1st PPSC Meeting |
15 |
|
16:30-18:00 |
1st Programme Committee Meeting |
50 |
Monday |
11:30-13:00 |
MERSC Meeting No 1 |
15 |
|
14:00- |
|
|
|
15:00 |
Finance Committe Meeting |
5 |
|
15:00-16:00 |
Honours Awards Committee Meeting |
5 |
|
16:30-18:00 |
2nd Executive Committee Meeting |
15 |
|
18:00-18:30 |
2nd PPSC Meeting |
15 |
Tuesday |
14:30-16:30 |
3rd Executive Committee Meeting |
15 |
|
18:30-19:00 |
3rd PPSC Meeting |
15 |
Wednesday |
10:00-12:30 |
ICAS Council Meeting |
60 |
|
18:00-18:30 |
4th PPSC Meeting |
15 |
Thursday |
10:00-12:00 |
MERSC No 2 |
15 |
|
12:30-13:30 |
Strategic Planning Subcommittee Meeting No 2 |
10 |
|
14:00-16:00 |
2nd Programme Committee Meeting |
50 |
PPSC = Programme Planning SubCommittee
MERSC = Membership and External Relations SubCommittee