IEEE Technical Activities Volunteer Training IEEE Conferences September

IEEE Technical Activities Volunteer Training IEEE Conferences September 2015

Topics Conference contributions and value to the community Description of conference sponsorship roles How to build a conference committee Getting involved with TAB conference organization Technical program criteria and standards Timelines for major activity areas 2

IEEE Global Conference Business In 2014 IEEE…. Sponsored 805 1635 conferences financially sponsored 830 Partnered with over in 90+ countries technically co-sponsored 1000 non-IEEE entities With Universities and other not-for-profit organizations Over 480, 000 attendees 266 K Acquired 3 1/9/2022 Financially sponsored conferences 215 K Technically co-sponsored conferences 1510 conference proceedings

Total Number of IEEE Conferences IEEE Society/Council/Geographic Unit/Other – Sponsored/Co-Sponsored In 2014 IEEE…. – Sponsored 1635 conferences (majority in R 7 -10) – 805 financially sponsored approved (majority in R 7 -10) – 830 technically co-sponsored approved (majority in R 7 -10) 2000 Financially Sponsored 1500 1000 1369 1103 1/9/2022 721 1635 830 643 665 576 636 688 729 768 805 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 527 Data as of 31 December 2014 4 1394 1489 733 500 0 1331 Technically Co-Sponsored

That is global… – IEEE sponsored conferences in 90+ countries 2014 Top 10 locations for conferences by country 46 45 39 52 368 53 58 59 132 5 145 USA India China France Italy Japan Malaysia United Kingdom Canada Germany

With community connections… v Partnering with 1000+ non-IEEE organizations v 77% of all IEEE conferences are co-sponsored üof these, 90% are co-sponsored by a non-IEEE organization 6 Sole Sponsor Co-Sponsored

Reaching many individuals… – Over 480, 000 attendees, estimated ― 266 K financially sponsored conferences ― 215 K technically sponsored conferences Events & Est. Attendees 2 000 1 500 1 000 500 0 2011 7 2012 2013 2014 ~75% of IEEE conferences have < 300 Attendees

Major source of content for Xplore The IEEE Xplore digital library is a powerful resource for the scientific and technical community, providing Web access to more than 3 -million full-text documents ü Conference publications account for 72% of total Xplore content In 2013, IEEE sponsored conferences contributed 83% of all new article entered into IEEE Xplore IEEE Conferences All other sources Sources of Xplore Content, 2013 52% of all articles downloaded are from IEEE sponsored conferences 8

Conferences contribute to scientific & technical communities in many ways… Leading driver of technical community satisfaction! Enabling knowledge dissemination and discussion Build & sustain global scientific & technical communities Networking opportunities Provide attendees & organizers with engaging, enriching and satisfying activities – Authoring and speaking opportunities – Awards and recognition – Leadership development – Conference volunteer opportunities Conferences develop Volunteers for all Activities 9

Conference organizing committee 10

Conference organizing committee roles and responsibilities Below are the “core” team roles that fulfill the critical conference functions: Conference Chair (often referred to as “General Chair”) Finance Chair (often referred to as “Treasurer”) Technical Program Chair Publications Chair A Strong Organizing teams brings Success 11

Conference chair The conference chair has full fiduciary, legal, quality & IEEE brand use responsibility Is appointed / approved by the sponsoring organization Usually is responsible for selecting the conference location Will often have oversight of a committee that is charged with specific responsibilities Identifies and appoints the chairs of the other committees, who make up the conference committee 12

Finance chair / Treasurer The finance chair or treasurer ensures all that all financial, tax and audit requirements are met, possibly with a committee (depending on the conference size) Some important activities include: – budget, accounting for all revenue & expenses, and producing the financial report (conference closing) – establishing and managing conference bank account(s) – indirect tax – insurance and bonding Is responsible for organizing the final audit, if required 13

Technical program chair Ensures that a high-quality, well-balanced program is organized and presented at the conference Manages all activity from the Call for Papers through peer review & selection of every accepted paper Responsible for technical review process quality and the content selected for potential inclusion into Xplore Responsible for recommending the non-presented paper and plagiarism checking policies Coordinates with the local arrangements chair to schedule session rooms for the program 14

Publications chair Is responsible for the preparation of materials as determined by the technical program chair – Selecting a production vendor for conference proceedings – Producing the conference program guide and tutorial materials – Collecting and submitting author copyright forms for the accepted papers in the proceedings – Oversees plagiarism checking, if performed – Coordinating all production logistics – Inclusion of papers from special sessions or colloquia – Exclusion of non-presented papers – Coordinating with authors on formatting or other non-content related issues Is responsible for submitting the conference proceedings to post-conference publishers such as IEEE – To be sent within 30 days of the conference end date 15

Customize your structure Depending on the size and complexity of your conference you can institute additional committees or additional resources if necessary to help support your conference – Do you need more help in a specific area? – promotion and advertising – reaching new un-tapped target markets of potential attendees and authors – social media integration – targeting younger engineers – executing the technical program – the addition of track chairs 16

Other conference roles Technical program track chair Participates in executing the technical program and oversees a specific technical area paper reviews and presentations Publicity or public relations chair Promotes the conference through placements in publications calendars, advertisements in IEEE and non-IEEE publications, news media past potential attendees for targeted outreach Marketing & social media integration chair Manage the conference website, social media applications and all marketing campaigns aimed at attracting authors and attendees Registration chair Plans and runs conference registration (both advance and on-site) procedures and logistics, including handling of credit card fees, cancellation policy and creation of name badges. Or, manages a registration management company 17

Other conference roles (cont’d) Patronage/Sponsorship chair Works with other organizations to identify, design and recruit opportunities for participation and support Exhibits chair Ensures proper handling of contracts, floor space, exhibitor registration, security and other logistics. Or manages an exhibits management company Local arrangements chair Works with local vendors, management companies, conference committees in the planning of the conference space as well as hiring entertainment, tours, logistics and working with the local Convention & Visitors’ Bureau 18

Volunteer roles and contacts 19 1/9/2022

Entry-Level Conference Roles Opportunities within a specific conference – Author Positions within a specific conference – Reviewer – Assist Chairs and core organizing group – Session chair 20

Mid-Level Conference Roles Positions within a specific conference – Technical Program Committee Member – Assist Chairs and core group – Tutorial Speaker – Special Session organizer – Publications Chair – Publicity Chair – Local Arrangement Chair – Tutorial Chair – Special Session Chair 21

Mid-Level Conference Roles (cont’d) Conferences positions within Societies/Technical Councils (defined by each Society/Technical Council) – Member of Conferences Committee of Society/Technical Council Conferences positions within geographic units – Member of Conferences Committee of Chapter, Section, or Region 22

Advanced-Level Conference Roles Positions within a specific conference – “Core Team” of Chairs: i. e. General Chair, Finance Chair, Technical Program Chair – Keynote Speaker Conferences positions within Societies/Technical Councils (defined by each Society/Technical Council) – Vice President for Conferences of the Society/Technical Council Conferences positions within geographic units – Chair of Conferences Committee of Chapter, Section, or Region IEEE Conference Committee – Member or Chair of the IEEE Conference Committee (TAB Committee) 23 1/9/2022

Who to contact to volunteer To submit papers to a specific conference – Visit the conference web site for instructions To volunteer within a specific conference – Contact the General or Program Chairs of desired conference To volunteer within a specific Society/Technical Council (different positions defined by Society, including Vice President for Conferences, Chairs of various committees, member of Conferences Committee, representative to steering/advisory conferences committees, or to propose a new conference) – Contact Vice President for Conferences of desired Society/Technical Council for more information Within IEEE Conferences Committee – Contact Chair of committee or IEEE Vice President for Technical Activities for more information 24

Conference Quality Issues 25

Quality Issues Experienced by IEEE Machine-generated papers Plagiarized papers Content outside of conference IEEE technical scope Poor English “Pay-to-Publish” (e. g. , most authors are no-shows) “Paper Stuffing” (e. g. 1000 papers from conference w/ 100 attendees) “Proceedings Hijacking” (unauthorized people substituting content) “Citation Stacking” (numerous self-references in a single paper) “Sponsorship Shopping” (TCS is denied by one OU, request TCS from other OUs) 26 1/9/2022 Rapid Increase in Volume in 2010 -2011

Quality Issues Potential Consequences Damage to IEEE Reputation Loss of IEEE Conference Publications’ Ability to be Indexed Driving Forces Need for Authors to Publish Monetary Profit Incentive Different Cultural Viewpoints Inexperienced Conference Organizers or IEEE OUs Decentralized, Trust-Based Model in IEEE Monitoring & Maintaining our Quality is Critical 27 1/9/2022

Observations Problems mostly associated with “Hotspots” – Mostly occurs in areas of the world experiencing rapid growth and in Technically Co-Sponsored conferences – Local communities may be unfamiliar with conference and publication processes and standards – Confluence of needy authors, predatory organizers, and naïve IEEE OU Best proactive solution is to eliminate Hotspots – Neutralize predatory organizers – Train IEEE OUs We need to collect data on rejected conferences 28 1/9/2022

Increased Screening in Place New Conference Approval Policies Joint Volunteer / Staff Quality Evaluation Team (TPIC—Technical Program Integrity Committee) Dedicated Support Staff Hired Tracking, Analyzing and Following Up on Complaints Screening 10% of Incoming Xplore® Content Coaching to Change Behavior Starting to collect TCS rejections Result of Cross-IEEE Partnership 29 1/9/2022

Scope Definition – Aerospace – Bioengineering – Communication, Networking & Broadcasting – Components, Circuits, Devices & Systems – Computing & Processing (Hardware/Software) – Engineered Materials, Dielectrics & Plasmas – Engineering Profession – Fields, Waves & Electromagnetics – General Topics for Engineers (Math, Science & Engineering) – Geoscience – Nuclear Engineering – Photonics & Electro. Optics – Power, Energy, & Industry Applications – Robotics & Control Systems – Signal Processing & Analysis – Transportation Would this Paper be Presented at an Seminar in an EECS Department at a Major University? 30 1/9/2022

Writing Quality Difficult to Define! Main Criteria – Can the technical content be understood? – We do not expect or require perfect English Also Look for Basic Scientific Paper Content – Hypothesis – Previous work in the field – Methods / Apparatus – Results / Data – Discussion – Does the Data support the Hypothesis? – Conclusions 31 1/9/2022

Working With Other Organizations 32

Why Partner with Organizations Benefits of Co-Sponsorship for OUs IEEE Why IEEE Sponsorship is Desired by Other Organizations § Desire to align conferences with the preeminent collection of engineers and scientists in the world § Conference promotion in IEEE conference search dramatically increases reach to potential attendees (increase revenue) Gain additional resources for conference planning and execution § Conference proceedings may be eligible for publishing in Xplore § Learning from others; seeing how other organizations execute events and conferences § The IEEE brand brings immediate credibility and establishes a quality expectation of a conference § Spread the risk and organizing efforts § Networking with peers, sharing of technical knowledge § Increase conference attendance and surplus § § Community building 33 1/9/2022 § The IEEE brand is valued at $1. 0 billion

The IEEE Brand … - a powerful global asset A brand is the set of perceptions and images that represent an organization, product or service. The essence or promise of what will be delivered or experienced. Effective branding can generate emotional connection. 34 1/9/2022

Appropriate Brands for Partnering with IEEE ? University of Berkley 35 1/9/2022

36 1/9/2022

Reminder Attendees do not know (or care about) the difference between Financial Sponsorship and Technical Co-Sponsorship – If it has the IEEE logo, it is an “IEEE Conference” The IEEE brand is very valuable (to both IEEE and the conferences we co-sponsor) Granting sponsorship to inappropriate conferences can cause a lot of damage Grant Sponsorship Very Carefully 37 1/9/2022

When to Partner with Organizations Sponsors should be engaged in the early stages of planning your conference. Your Organizational Unit should engage sponsors after you have determined: – Conference scope – Event scale (global, regional, local) – Volunteers availability to participate and execute the conference – Budget draft is constructed The budget draft will help you determine the need for co-sponsors and/or conference supporters. Don’t Be Rushed Into a Bad Sponsorship! 38 1/9/2022

Sponsorship Approval How do you decide which conferences to approve sponsorship of? Successful processes have several common features: – The conference is evaluated for several criteria, including scope, quality, and value to IEEE – IEEE volunteers have “Direct and substantial involvement in the technical program” – Involvement doesn’t end after approval granted • Carefully Investigate Before Granting Sponsorship • Maintain Oversight After Granting Sponsorship 39 1/9/2022

Working with IEEE Meetings, Conferences and Events (MCE) 40

Who is MCE? IEEE Staff Team Providing Integrated and Collaborative Event Strategy and Execution ü Bringing IEEE partners & professional expertise to your event ü Providing free services, tools and expertise to help conferences succeed ü Providing mentoring and IEEE “Know-How, ” to help you navigate through the conference process ü Providing one stop professional event management resources and services* ü Creating innovative and unique design aspects to enhance your events * Fee based services 41 January 9, 2022

Who we are IEEE Meetings, Conferences & Events (MCE) An IEEE Staff resource team dedicated to enable conference success within the technical community – Deliver effective, integrated, experiential solutions worldwide – Help grow and build your community – Explore new event models to enrich and engage – Harness next generation media for memorable experiences Synergy of professional experts – Offering a suite of services – Many “No fee” consultative and support roles – Access to a network of suppliers with preferred benefits – “For fee” event planning, management and execution services – Enabling a collaborative environment 42

Ways that MCE can assist you - Complimentary consultative services Overall conference guidance & support Identifying potential IEEE partners / assistance in evaluating non-IEEE partners Conference submission and approval* Finance, budgeting, insurance, contracts* Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs)* Publication of your proceedings Marketing your conference Site location, event management, meeting logistics Contract negotiations, food & beverage planning, supplier management Conference organizer training 43 * IEEE Required activities

Meetings Conferences & Events MCE has extensive experience that you can leverage at any time while planning your conference MCE can act, consult, guide or provide services for your conference or OU MCE single point of contact: MCE Customer Relations Management Team ieee-mce@ieee. org 44

Summary Conference are a valuable activity – Serves the community Build a strong conference committee – Find volunteers for other activities Quality is paramount – Conference organizers are the key – Information on rejected conferences – more to come Getting involved with TAB conference organization Ask for help when you need it – MCE is always on-call – The Conferences Committee is here for you 45

Any questions? 46

BACKUP 47

Technical program 48

Overall Structure Technical Program Chair Technical Program Committee Reviewers 49

What is the technical program? A series of presentations delivered at the conference that cover the range of scientific areas of the technical scope of the conference – the ‘heart of the conference’ The presentations should generate scholarly dialogue amongst attendees regarding the technical merit of the paper – Oral presentations – Keynote speeches – Panel and poster sessions – Workshops and tutorials Often sub-divided into tracks and sessions based on topical areas 50

Why review technical content? Enhance the quality and thus the reputation of the conference Determine the suitability of material for conference (scope) Determine the quality of suitable material – Innovation, novelty Determine originality, providing a potential filter for plagiarism Assess potential impacts of material 51

What is review? A process by which a scholarly work is evaluated by a group of experts in the same field to ensure it meets the necessary standards before it is published or accepted Common types of review processes § Blind Review The reviewers’ names are hidden from the author § Double Blind The reviewers’ names are hidden from the author and the author’s name is unknown to the reviewers 52

Ongoing challenges in review Getting enough high quality papers by the submission deadline Finding enough experts to provide quality reviews by the deadline Managing conflicts of interest – Reviewers should recuse themselves from conducting reviews if they have interacted or interact closely with any of the authors or if any authors are from the same institution – This reduces concerns about potential favoritism Improving conference quality and reputation will help with all of these issues 53

Review and scoring guidelines Establish review criteria: • number of reviews per paper (2 minimum, 3 preferred) • maximum number of papers assigned to a reviewer (suggested: 12 maximum for full paper, 20 maximum for abstract only) Define criteria that reviewers will use to determine if papers are within the scope of the conference Reviewers should focus on essential criteria that will apply when scoring papers for acceptance for publication. Typically： • • 54 Scope (relevance) Reproducibility Technical correctness Innovation / Novelty - new or innovative methods or approaches to a problem (or its examination) in a given subject area that is within the conference’s scope • Readability - sufficient written English quality to enable readers to follow the narrative easily, and which can be used by the appropriate audiences to further their knowledge or research

Types of IEEE conference sponsorship 55

IEEE sponsorship Type of sponsorship depends on the percentage of IEEE’s financial and technical responsibilities in running a conference Financial Sponsorships – Sole Sponsorship The IEEE OU* has full financial and technical responsibility for planning and executing the conference – Co-Sponsorship The IEEE OU shares financial and technical responsibilities with some other institution (university, professional society, etc. ) Technical Co-sponsorship The IEEE OU provides direct and substantial involvement only in development and management of the technical program Note: IEEE OU sponsorship agreement should be obtained prior to conference application submission 56 *OU – Organizational Unit (example: Society/Technical Council, Region, Section, Chapter, Geographical Council)

IEEE financial sponsorships IEEE Financial Sponsor responsibilities: Define the conference scope and execute a high quality technical program Conference execution responsibilities, including: venue selection, negotiating services, exhibit management, publication of programs and proceedings, marketing and public relations Ensure appropriate representation of the IEEE brand is included on all communications, websites and marketing materials Obtain approval of conference from IEEE Escalate any legal issues to the IEEE Meetings, Conferences & Events Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Team Develop and manage a positive budget that provides financial contributions to IEEE 57

IEEE financial sponsorship categories Sole Sponsorship IEEE OU has full financial and organizational responsibility – 100% of surplus or loss Conference execution is sole responsibility of IEEE OU No Memorandum of Understanding is required Co-Sponsorship IEEE OU has shared financial (surplus/loss) and organizational responsibility based on an agreed percentage – Example: § Sponsor A - 30% § Sponsor B - 70% Conference execution responsibility noted above is shared A Memorandum of Understanding (MOA) is required to define the responsibilities of each party 58

Technical co-sponsorship IEEE OU has no financial responsibility. The OU does not receive any financial gain or incur any loss Technical Co-Sponsorship indicates direct and substantial involvement by the IEEE OU solely in the organization of the technical program and scope definition – Technical program involvement examples: IEEE volunteer is a member of the technical program committee or a track chair, assigning reviewers to submitted papers – The conference is allowed to use the IEEE brand, following all guidelines. All conference promotional materials indicate IEEE as a Technical Co-sponsor – IEEE may not appear in the event title or website URL A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is required Must obtain conference approval from IEEE 59

Recovering Value from TCS Roll-out underway Applies to 2016 conferences – Those conferences are being approved now Still some need to communicate the policy and implementation options Third Party Conferences – Approve, Pay, Publish policy in cases where the conference pays the fee Outreach to OUs is underway Reminder – the fee is $1000/conference plus $15/paper 60

Conference supporters For-profit companies cannot sponsor an IEEE conference However, for-profit companies can be supporters of an IEEE conference – Supporter, Patron, Partner or Contributor are acceptable designations Supporters can contribute or donate goods and services to a conference. Involvement examples: – Donation or grant for a specific activity, such as a dinner – Providing conference attendees trinkets or small gifts – A university or business may donate use of facilities to host a conference Supporters must be noted separately from sponsors on all conference marketing materials including the conference web-site 61

How do you get your conference approved by a TAB OU? 62

General remarks Every TAB OU is independent, with its own approval requirements and approval process Most TAB OUs would like to operate more conferences in emerging geographic area TAB is relatively inexperienced with holding conferences in emerging geographical areas, and finds it difficult to do so (especially financially sponsored conferences) Local partners & support are considered to be essential ⇒ Strong desire for collaboration! 63 *OU – Organizational Unit (example: society, technical council, region, section, chapter, geographic council)

For technically co-sponsored conferences No financial risk to TAB OU ⇒ easier to get approved Significant concern about conference quality Formal evaluation and approval process Need to convince OU that conference is good quality & that there is a reason they should grant sponsorship – Conference is technically aligned with TAB OU – Good conference history / track record – Provide OU with copy of previous proceedings – Involvement of sponsoring TAB OU in the program committee – How does TAB OU benefit from sponsoring this conference? Can be time consuming ⇒ start planning / approval early (>1 year before conference) 64

For Financially Sponsored Conferences Financial risk to TAB OU ⇒ much more scrutiny Formal planning & organizing process Oversight from OU throughout entire life of conference If conference is new (to TAB OU), similar process to Technically Co-Sponsored conf, but more scrutiny If OU holds conference annually (but in a different location each year), convince OU to hold the conference in your location – Become member of conference organizing committee – Learn how conference operates, including site selection – Propose to hold the conference in your location 65

Personal relationship very important! Committed volunteers are always needed! ⇒ Become involved in conference and OU organization Learn by doing; taking on roles with increasing responsibility – Talk to Conference Chairman, volunteer to help with conference – Promote OU conferences in China (get attendees from China) – Perform one of the “Other Conference Roles” – Conferences are a good entry into OU organizing committees – Do a good job! – Be reliable, responsive, & accurate 66

Sponsorship Approval Guidelines 67

How to Partner with Organizations Are you aligning the IEEE brand with the appropriate technical or scholarly institutions or associations? – What is their reputation and brand? Can someone from your OU verify the organizations suitability as a partner for IEEE? Fully evaluate potential partner before agreeing to sponsorship. – Confirm not-for-profit status, is legal documentation available? 1/9/2022 Maintain Oversight of Conference!

How to Evaluate Organizations Best Practices: Step 1 1) FIT 2) RESOURCES 3) TIMING Ensure the new opportunity is in your field of interest, ideally filling a topical niche Your decision is always dependent on available OU resources to participate in the conference’s technical program development at minimum The conference sponsorship lead time should be no less then 12 months in advance of the conference date and should not compete with any existing IEEE or other conferences that are in the same field of interest If these three conditions are not met, you should not sponsor the conference. If the fit, available resources and timing is right, continue your evaluation 1/9/2022

How to Evaluate Organizations Best Practices: Step 2 Review the organization’s website and previous conference history. – Query the leadership team’s biographies, review previous conference locations, call for papers and key statistics: acceptance rates, papers/reviewer, reviews/paper Have the organization formally present to your OU’s conference committee. Implement an application process to collect previous conference history data for evaluation. After the organizational assessment is complete you can now determine if this the right opportunity for your OU. Utilize the - Organization Sponsorship Checklist 1/9/2022

Conference timelines • Following are “sample” timeframes for critical planning elements • Individual conferences may need to adjust timing based on complexity, location and size of the event 71

Conference application and approvals Reach sponsorship agreement and understanding with IEEE OU and all sponsors 24 -18 Months* Submit Conference Information to IEEE for approval 18 – 12 months* Application Review & MOU Validation 6 -12 Months* *Prior to conference start date 72 OU and Sponsor Approval of conference and MOU Conference posts in IEEE Conference Search

Conference finances timeline IEEE Financially Sponsored Conferences Only Budgeting, Banking & Insurance 18 -12 Months* Venue/Supplier Negotiations and Contract 24 -18 Months* Establish Event Registration Process 6 -12 Months* Transaction Processing (paying bills, receiving deposits) 6 Months* Post Event Closing your Conference Post Event 0 -6 Months Reporting will be on-going as you update budgets and reforecast revenue and expenses *Prior to conference start date 73

Technical program timeline Establish TP Committee 10 -12 Months* Recruit Reviewers Plan Key Dates 9 -10 Months* *Prior to conference start date 74 Call for Papers 6 -8 Months* Abstract/full paper submission deadline 4 -6 Months* Peer Review Process 2 -6 months* Notice of acceptances sent to authors 8 -10 weeks*

Conference publications timeline Applies to only Conferences Publishing With IEEE Submit Publications Form and Register for PDF Express 6 Months * IEEE Sends Letter of Acquisition 5 -6 Months * *Prior to conference start date 75 Pub Chair Collects Copyright Forms for Final Accepted Papers 8 -10 weeks * Pub Chair Prepares Content and Submits Proceedings to IEEE (Xplore Compliant) Within 30 Days Post Conference