Notes for Panel Chairs The 32nd Annual Conference of the Society for Caribbean Studies
Wednesday 2nd July - Friday 4th July, 2008
University of Edinburgh
Institute of Geography, Drummond Street, Edinburgh
Please consult the separate ‘Notes for Delegates’ for details concerning the conference venue, accommodation and registration. The following notes relate to the chairing of panels at the conference:
As Panel Chair, you are asked to contact panellists two weeks before the start of the conference to confirm their attendance; to request a copy of all papers in advance of the conference for the Society archives; to confirm the panel format with presenters and to ensure the punctual and efficient running of the session.
If a panellist is unable to present her/his paper due to unforeseen circumstances, please notify Christer Petley (C.Petley@soton.ac.uk) as soon as possible to allow for modification of the conference programme.
All panels will be held in the Institute of Geography in one of three rooms: The Old Library, the Ogilvie Room and the Lecture Hall. The draft conference programme is available here [to be posted]. Please note that the programme might be updated before the conference, so it is advisable to check the confirmed programme in advance of the conference.
Please arrive at least ten minutes before the scheduled start time of your panel to greet presenters and to allow Powerpoint presentations to be readied.
Each presenter will have twenty minutes in which to deliver her/his paper, with an additional five minutes to answer questions. It is important to agree the question and answer/discussion format in advance with the panellists. Please introduce each panellist to the audience and maintain strict and fair time-keeping throughout the panel. Timings might vary according to the number of panellists and length of the session, but all panellists and the audience should be made aware of the panel format.
All rooms will have standard PowerPoint facilities If panellists require additional audio-visual equipment or are unsure about digital compatibility for visual or audio clips, please contact David Howard david.howard@ed.ac.uk (tel: 0131 650 8164) by 1st June, 2008 at the latest.
Panellists have been asked to send an electronic copy of their paper in advance to Sandra Courtman for the Society’s Archives and possible publication in the online Conference Proceedings (please promote the latter). Please could you confirm that they have done this or confirm receipt of a printed copy at the conference itself. Failing this, please ask panellists to send an electronic copy to Sandra Courtman s.courtman@sheffield.ac.uk
To assist the smooth-running, coherence and friendliness of the conference, it is often helpful to meet with panellists informally during the first day’s activities. Any queries or additional requirements can then be usually dealt with in advance of the panel itself.
After the conference, all Panel Chairs are requested to write up a brief summary of the panel and forward a copy to David Clover (David.Clover@sas.ac.uk)by 1st September, 2008 for publication in the Society Newsletter.