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ILLINOIS CLASSICAL CONFERENCE RESPONSIBILITIES OF LOCAL HOSTS
I. Meeting Rooms A. Provide rooms for the various sessions of the conference with the necessary equipment for the presentations to be given. The room reservations should be in place by the time of the February meeting of the Advisory Council.
B. Members of the local committee are responsible for seeing that presenters at the meeting have the necessary audiovisual equipment for their presentations. Ideally the Vice-President(s) will remind the presiders to check with the presenters so the presiders can relay requests to the Vice-Presidents or directly to the local committee.
C. In planning for needed rooms the committee should provide a lockable room with a number of tables for the Book Exhibit and some preparation should be made in advance with the Book Exhibit chairman for the storage of materials that are sent by publishers in advance. If at all possible, the Book Exhibit should be on the same floor in close proximity to the room(s) where the sessions are to be held and, if above the first floor, should be accessible by elevator. Arrangements should also be made for the Book Exchange tables in consultation with the Book Exchange chairman.
D. Arrange for a suitable auditorium for an archaeological presentation Friday evening if there will be a joint meeting with the local society of the Archaeological Institute of America.
E. If at all possible, arrangements should be made for a Latin Mass to be available to members on Sunday morning before the first session (usually about 8:00 A.M.).
F. Adequate signage should be provided to guide participants to the various venues of the conference.
II. Meals.
A. Arrange for suitable venues for the conference meals which include a Saturday luncheon, a Saturday banquet, and a Sunday brunch. Reservations for the necessary locations and caterers should also be made by the time of the February Advisory Council meeting or as soon as possible thereafter and no later than 1 May.
B. Arrange for a reception to take place Friday evening after the Advisory Council Meeting or after the archaeological lecture. This social occasion should be open to all attending the conference (and the archaeological presentation). (If there is a joint meeting with a local society of the A.I.A., that society may assist in arranging and paying for the reception.)
C. If the meeting is held in Chicago, the Saturday luncheon is traditionally a joint meeting with the Chicago Classical Club whose President and Secretary-Treasurer should be consulted in discussions of the venue, menu, and price.
D. In planning meals for the meeting consideration should be taken of the various needs of members by avoiding, for example, pork and offering vegetarian options.
E. It is very important to keep careful records of what menu choices are made by the members for the various meals and to keep an accurate count so that the I.C.C. will only have to pay for a proper number of meals and people will get what they ordered. If there is to be joint luncheon meeting with the C.C.C., the C.C.C. Secretary-Treasurer should be consulted for a count of C.C.C. members who will attend the luncheon. Some provision needs to be made for walk-in registrants.
III. Sleeping Accommodations
An important responsibility is to arrange for sleeping accommodations for attendees at the meeting. It is best to have a block of rooms reserved, usually at a special group rate, at a convenient hotel or college building as soon as possible preferably by the time of the February Advisory Council meeting. There should be a clear understanding as to the deadline for reservations for rooms in the block and every effort should be made to do the conference mailing a month in advance of that deadline.
Registration
A. The conference mailing which includes the program for the meeting and an updated registration form should also include a letter of invitation from the chairman of the local committee which includes an overview of the meeting and instructions about how to reach the conference location along with, possibly, a map. The mailing has to be done in cooperation with the Vice-President(s) who are in charge of the program.
B. The chairman of the local committee is responsible for figuring out the registration fee for the meeting. The fee should cover the cost of putting on the meeting and sending out the mailing. The amount should be arrived at after consultation with the Treasurer of I.C.C. and the President. For some years it has been the practice to offer new members and students a reduced registration fee. One point to consider is that some schools and boards of education will pay registration fees but will not pay for meals so that adjustments may be made to increase the cost of the registration fee and keep the meal costs as low as possible.
C. The local committee is expected to keep records of those who register and the fees they pay and to provide some way of identifying meal preferences to wait staff at meals where choices are offered. The committee usually provides each registrant with a folder containing a name badge, list of registrants with names of institutions and email addresses, tickets for meals (if needed), a copy of the conference program, a campus map, and information about the host institution and the local community.
D. Name badges should be provided to all meeting participants. The best (in my opinion) are those that hang around one’s neck with a card inside. The local host can prepare badges in advance for those who are pre-registered and include them in their folders. Extra badges can be available for those who register at the meeting. I believe I.C.C. has a supply which can be maintained by asking participants to return theirs when they leave the meeting for the last time.
E. The local committee should provide personnel at a table with chairs to welcome people to the meeting and give them their folders and to handle walk-in registration (for which some plan should be made). Very often students handle some or all of this job.
N.B. Having been involved in the planning of several meetings I am happy to consult with local committees. Alice Mulberry (773) 288-1242 |