Contributions by individuals

An individual may not normally make more than two substantive contributions to the conference programme.  A substantive contribution includes:

• paper or poster presentation (of any length)
• panel member
• discussant or any session contribution of another kind.

Contributions to sessions which are not included in this limit are:

• session organiser, chair or facilitator
• non-presenting co-author.

The conference organisers will do their best, but may not always be able to schedule sessions to prevent clashes in these 'other' cases.

Sessions

A session may not normally occupy more than two timeslots in the conference programme.

Innovative session formats are strongly encouraged in order to maximise the time and space available, e.g. interactive short papers, panel presentations, roundtable discussions, walking tours, gallery visits etc. 

Session organisers are especially encouraged to consider off-site activities that do not require the use of a room at the conference. 

 Distance presentations

The conference organisers regret that Skype or other video/audio-conferencing cannot be supported at AC2012.

When based at the Society in London, the organisers are in a strong position to provide both the equipment and technical assistance needed to offer successful video/audio-conferencing for conference presenters. The level of technical support usually needed for these sessions is high, because the organisers do their very best to ensure that the experience is good for both the presenter and the audience.

The use of Skype and other video/audio-conferencing will not be offered in 2012 due to the logistical and technical challenges encountered when the conference is outside of London. Unfortunately, the same high level of support and experience cannot be guaranteed at a non-Society venue.

Presenters who cannot attend in person may send their session chair/organiser a pre-recorded video to play during the session.  Special reduced registration fees apply for video presentations - please contact the organisers for more information, AC2012@rgs.org. 

Although this option does not involve the same level of interaction that audio/video-conferencing or Skype allows, the organisers hope that it might be considered as a reasonable alternative. 

The limitation on Skype and audio/video-conferencing will be reviewed for AC2013 when the conference returns to London.

 Session scheduling

The conference organisers make every effort to prevent timetable clashes for individuals in the conference programme.  In addition, they attempt to minimise clashes for sessions sponsored by the same Research Group, or on a similar topic.  In some cases, clashes cannot be avoided.  All conference participants are asked to check the provisional programme carefully and advise the organisers of any potential problems. 

Session organisers are asked to be as flexible as possible about scheduling arrangements, and to advise the conference organisers as early as possible about potential conflicts or challenges and special requirements (including AV/IT and room setups) that may affect the timetable.

'Plenary' timeslot removed from timetable structure

There will no longer be a “plenary” timeslot in which time is set aside exclusively for plenary sessions. Plenaries will be distributed throughout the conference programme, with attention paid to topic/theme in terms of scheduling against Research Group and other convened sessions.

More information will be available when the Provisional Programme is published online in early 2012.  Session organisers can view a list of session timeslots for planning purposes.