Meeting Rooms and Food Functions
Scheduling of SIS Meetings
SISs may request meeting rooms for their meetings and/or food functions. AALL Headquarters will contact SIS chairs and vice chairs with instructions for scheduling meetings and/or food functions at the Annual Meeting.
SISs will be provided a schedule of when meetings and/or events may be scheduled to avoid conflicts with AALL education programs and additional AALL events and meetings. All scheduling will be based on room availability.
Important Deadlines
- SISs will be contacted in late 2023 regarding scheduling meetings and/or food functions at the 2024 Annual Meeting; additional information regarding the meeting scheduling process will be provided.
Due to limited space, please schedule meetings and events that are necessary. We encourage you to schedule business meetings virtually. AALL will assign rooms based on availability at the convention center and/or headquarters hotel. All charges for additional furniture, AV, food, etc. will be the responsibility of the SIS. Please make sure you review all these costs when ordering items.
SISs may choose to provide food and beverage service at any of their meetings; menus will be emailed to the person whose information was provided to us. SISs will work with the hotel and/or convention center directly to order their food, AV, and any other items. AALL will guarantee payment of charges for SISs at the headquarters hotel and/or convention and charges will be billed to AALL’s master account and deducted from individual SIS accounts after the Conference.
- If SISs would like to charge a registration for their event, AALL will need the information before the Conference registration opens as these events will be listed on the Conference registration page. For 2024, we are looking for Conference registration to open in February 2024.
Each SIS is responsible for maintaining historical records of their events to assist with ordering in future years. Information should be compiled after each Annual Meeting once event costs have been charged to the SIS’s account. This information should be part of an ongoing record of the SIS’s event history. SISs are urged to keep this information in the My Communities section on AALLNET for easy access. Information should include:
- Name of the Event
- Person planning the event
- Number of people ordered for (food & beverage guarantee)
- Menu selected
- Audio/visual selected
- Final charges for the event (available from your SIS quarterly statement)
- Comments: What was successful and what wasn’t, recommendations for the next year’s planner.
Audio/Visual Equipment for Meetings and Programs
SISs may order audio/visual equipment for their meetings. A price list and guidelines for ordering will be shared upon request. The SIS is responsible for all costs associated with the order; costs will be charged to the SIS account after the Conference.
SIS independently produced educational programs (as selected by the Annual Program Committee) are provided a standard room set with an audio/visual package for a flat fee of $850. See more information below for independently produced programs in the section titled, Responsibilities of the Sponsoring SIS.
Independently Produced SIS Educational Programs
Each SIS may independently produce/sponsor one program at the Annual Meeting at the SIS’s expense. If an SIS decides to do an independently produced program at the Annual Meeting, the proposal must meet the same criteria as any other proposals. Please visit the program proposal page for additional information.
If an SIS opts to have an independently produced program at the conference, they must submit two different proposals from which the Annual Meeting Program Committee (AMPC) can select the one that will be independently produced by the SIS. Again, these program proposals must be submitted by the proposal deadline, and designated within the proposal as an independently produced program option for the SIS. The AMPC will review all received proposals (both individually submitted and those sponsored by SISs) and select them based on the following:
- The content covered by other highly rated programs to avoid duplication, and to achieve a balance of relevant programming options across program time slots and conference days)
- The available program time slots
- The suitability of the proposed program for the length of time requested
- The suitability of the content when considering the specific and/or unique needs of attendees
Proposals
In considering all of the above, the AMPC will work strategically with SISs, keeping the focus on delivering the content that members need. Designing a thorough and thoughtful program lineup requires careful assembly of many puzzle pieces, so some flexibility may be asked of SISs during this process. Numerous proposer resources can be found here, including more detailed information about the elements of strong proposals.
All proposals should answer the following questions:
- What are the takeaways that attendees will be able to use and apply to perform their jobs better?
- How would you describe the problem/opportunity/scenario/challenge that reflects the takeaways?
- Who needs to attend this session?
- What methods do you plan to employ to engage attendees and keep the energy level up?
- Who should deliver this content, and why is he/she qualified to do it? (If this person is not an AALL member, are there anticipated expenses?)
A member of the AMPC will contact the proposer of the selected proposal(s) by early February. If you have questions, please contact any member of the AMPC.
Responsibilities of the Sponsoring SIS
The SIS is responsible for all costs related to their independently produced program and will have $850 charged to the SIS account to cover all AV needs, furniture, technical supports, etc.
If non-AALL member speakers on SIS programs require honoraria or reimbursement of travel-related expenses, the sponsoring SIS is responsible for these costs and should work directly with the speaker.
SISs may request a complimentary one-day registration for non-AALL member speakers so that they may participate; such requests must be made to AALL in advance of the conference so that registration materials can be provided. All AALL members attending or participating in any conference events must register for the Conference. SISs are responsible for securing Speaking Commitment and Copyright Agreements from all presenters on their SIS programs.
All scheduling will be based on room availability and the programs must be open to all registered attendees.
Activities Area at the Conference
The exhibit area at the AALL Annual Meeting includes an Activities Area for displaying materials illustrative of the work of the Association’s SISs, chapters, committees, and caucuses. AALL Headquarters will send a form to each SIS chair in April. If not completed, no display board will be reserved for the SIS.
SISs may include items such as brochures, section publications, reports of projects, posters, etc. for their exhibits. Materials can be mailed to the exhibit hall in advance of the conference, or materials can be brought to the hall before the exhibit hall opens. SISs are responsible for the cost of shipping materials. Mailing instructions are sent to SIS contacts identified on the reservation form. All materials that are not removed at the close of the exhibit hall will be discarded. SISs are responsible for staffing their displays during the conference, specifically during no-conflict exhibit hall break hours.
SIS VIP Program
Please refer to this page for information on the SIS VIP Program.