General Timelines, When and Who Does What
Conference organisation timeline at a glance
The following table summarises the actions normally needed to organise a large JACoW conference like IPAC. C stays for the starting date of such a conference.
| Actions | Time |
|---|---|
| Request an Indico Instance, set parameters, define main classifications | C-24-20 |
| Composition of OC/SPC/LOC decided and entered in Indico with privileges and roles | C-24-20 |
| First SPC/OC meeting | C-20-17 |
| Invitations to join SAB | C-19 |
| OC/SPC/SAB invited to submit proposals (via Indico) for invited orals | C-17 |
| First Industrial Conference Announcement sent to Industry (by way of the JACoW Coordinator) | C-15 |
| SPC decides Main and Sub-classifications (Track Groups/Tracks), Indico customisation and invited oral presentations | C-14 |
| OC approves SPC proposals for invited oral presentations | C-12 |
| Invitations to invited speakers | C-12 |
| Conference Website On-line (at best) with Scientific Programme | C-10 |
| Conference Announcement and Call for Papers (by way of the JACoW Coordinator) | C-9 |
| Second Industrial Conference Announcement to Industry (by way of the JACoW Coordinator) with full information about exhibition registration package | C-9 |
| Start scouting for potential editors to invite (the Team Meeting is a good moment to take advantage from) | C-6 |
| Deadline for nominations for accelerator prizes | C-6 |
| Deadline for Abstract Submission | C-5 |
| Deadline early bird booth registration/deadline for payment | C-5 |
| Formally invite Editorial Staff (Editors, Paper Reception, Poster Session Managers, Presentations Management) | C-4 |
| SPC Meeting: Correct erroneous classifications (proposals from SPC, approval by Main Class. Coordinator). Select Contributed Orals, Decide Session Chairs | C-4 |
| Invite Contributed Oral Speakers via Indico or mail merge | C-4 |
| Accept/Reject Contributions via Indico, encourage registration via e-mail, remind concerning registered presenters | C-4 |
| Publish the guidelines for the preparation and upload of papers and inform authors, remind concerning registered presenters | C-3 |
| Deadline for early bird delegate registration | C-2 |
| Write to all contributors to warn of deadline for registration | C-2-1.5 |
| Check there is a registered presenter to for ALL contributions (policy is that to be scheduled for presentation each contributions must have a registered presenter). Write to all primary authors where there is uncertainty. If necessary, withdraw contributions that cannot be presented. | C-2-1.5 |
| Number posters into time and space (programme codes) through Indico/JICT | C-1.5 |
| Prepare mobile app and printed programme booklet | C-1.5 |
| Write to Contributors to announce programme codes, remind of deadline, etc. | C-1 |
| Programme to printer | C-1 |
| Set up a "master" PC with all software required for Editors, and clone to several PCs | C-1 |
| Clone software setup to all PCs to be installed in Proceedings Office | C-0.5 |
| Deadline for submission of papers for light peer review | C-21 days |
| Deadline for paper submission | C-5 days |
| Editors begin processing at venue | C-4 days |
| Conference | C |
| Publish "pre-press" proceedings | C+5 days |
| One week "grace"" for late paper submission and re-submissions | C+12 days |
| Publish proceedings on JACoW | C+3 to 4 weeks |
Main activities details
Announce your conference
- C-24 or when known
- Use the template published on JACoW.org
- Ensure JACoW BoD is informed of the dates and venue
- Provide JACoW BoD with names of OC/SPC/LOC Chairs, the Scientific Secretariat and/or the Editor
Request an Indico instance
- C-24 to 20 months for larger events, less for smaller ones
- Use the template published on JACoW.org
- Prepare the required agreement email as shown on the web page. Each conference Chair must request permission to use the JACoW tools of the JACoW Chair and/or Coordinator, who will organise the setting up the Indico event.
Composition of OC/SPC decided
- C-24 to 18 months
- Add the members of the OC/SPC to the groups in Indico.
- Create a collaboration space (shared drive, chat, ...) for the Organisers (typically OC/SPC) to be able to publish Agendas, Notes, Documentation.
- Invite OC/SPC members to meetings using the e-mail utility in Indico.
First SPC Meeting
- C-20 to 17 months
- The SPC normally meets immediately before the OC to decide the look and feel of the conference programme, approves Main and Sub-classifications, proposes a Scientific Advisory Board (SAB)
- Adjustments to Main and Sub-classifications are made in the Programme module.
First OC Meeting
- C-20 to 17 months
- The OC approves the proposals of the SPC
- The OC approves the proposals of the LOC, including decisions on the venue, the budget, etc.
Announcements of the Industrial Exhibition
- C-15 months / C-9 months
- While only 1 General Announcement may be sent to announce the conference and call for papers (around 9 to 10 months in advance of the conference), two mails to Industry are allowed to solicit for the exhibition and sponsorship; the first mail is normally sent 15 months in advance of the conference (when budgets are normally decided), and the second at the same time as the General Announcement, with complete information concerning the Exhibition package.
- Announcements are sent by the JACoW Coordinator on request by the Conference Organisers.
Conference Announcement and Call for Papers
- C-9 months
- Only 1 General Announcement email may go through the Central Repository according to JACoW policy. This email goes to only those who have signed up for this particular conference series announcement. It is highly recommended to be careful to craft and tailor the email properly before the actual send (do not copy and paste from word ...).
- Announcements are sent by the JACoW Coordinator on request by the Conference Organisers.
Deadline for Nominations for Accelerator Prizes
- C-6-5 months
- The procedure varies by region. The deadline for nominations/proposals is around the same time as for abstract submission. A Prizes Committee often meets just before the SPC that decides contributed orals. The names of winners should be decided and announced at the conference website, as well as to the press, and sufficient time allowed to contact the winners to organise their oral presentations during the conference.
Invite Editorial Team
- C-4 months
- The editorial team needed to run the whole scientific programme management and proceedings production is made up of Editors, IT Managers, Presentation and Poster Session Managers, Author Reception, etc.
The number of editors to be invited is decided by the Editor-in-Chief, coordinating with the LOC Chair re. budget.
Some rule-of-thumb considerations:
- the number of papers to be processed will be approximately 80% of the contributions submitted at abstract submission
- 80% of this 80% needs to be processed during 3 days of pre-conference processing
- editors should be careful chosen according to their skills and the expected number of Word/LaTeX papers
It is particularly critical for the larger events, with for example 1500 contributions, to have a slightly larger team to allow half a day or a day off for the editors who work a straight 9 working days, involving high levels of concentration.
The travel expenses of Editors are normally at the expense of their own institutes or conferences - constituting direct sponsorship of the conference. The hosting conference covers the cost of accommodation and a modest per diem, a conference bag and conference materials. Refreshments are normally provided for all of the staff in the proceedings office (breakfast, lunch, snacks). The full team is also invited to all social events (Chairman’s cocktail, reception and banquet). A special dinner is also on occasion organised for the whole team on the Saturday evening prior to the conference.
SPC Final Meeting
- C-4 months
- Tasks: Select Contributed Orals, Decide Chairs, Check papers are properly classified
Accept (occasionally reject) contributions
- C-4 months
- Remind authors of the deadline for early-bird registration (C-2) and necessity for a registered presenter for the work to be scheduled/presented.
Publish guidelines for Authors
- C-3 months
- Last guidelines for authors on the preparation and upload of contributions to the proceedings
- Email authors concerning the guidelines for the preparation and upload of contributions to the proceedings, with another reminder about the necessity for a registered presenter
Mail to Authors
- C-2-1.5 months
- Write to all contributors to warn of the imminent deadline for registration, and to ensure there is a registered presenter
- Ensure there is at least one registered co-author, and that the presenter for each contribution is also registered, in line with IPAC (and many other events) policy to only schedule contributions where at least one co-author is registered. Requires numerous iterations with authors and may require withdrawing contributions where nobody can attend to present the work.
Mail to Authors
- C-1 month
- Write to Contributors to announce program codes, to remind concerning templates, reference formatting, and how to prepare and how to upload
Prepare mobile app and printed programme booklet as necessary
- C-1 month (or less depending on printing time)
- Mobile app preparation should start at least 6 months before the event, considering contracts with external provider, agreements etc. This task is the final one that completes the programme available from the app
IT Staff set up at the venue (arrival is the previous day)
- C-5 days
- IT Staff set up the computers, etc. at the venue before the Editors will start their work
Publish "pre-press" proceedings
- Lunchtime on the last day of the conference