Chair guidelines

Please read these guidelines if you are chairing or facilitating a session at AIEC 2024.

This role is significant to the professional and timely delivery of the program and in ensuring the quality and relevance of the information provided to delegates. Good chairing is a vital component of a successful event, and AIEC appreciates your contribution.

All session chairs must be available in person at the conference to chair a session.

	Key tasks and responsibilities The chair/facilitator has an essential part to play in the overall success of a conference session. The critical aspects of the role are to: Ensure the smooth conduct of the session. Prepare opening and closing remarks for the session, stimulating audience interest and adding value. Start and finish the session on time, according to the program schedule. Introduce yourself and the session topic and welcome the speakers. Ask delegates to submit their questions via the blue Q&A button on the app. Moderate the question and discussion time. If required, deliver any housekeeping announcements at the beginning or end of the session. Announcements will be provided to you by the conference organisers.
	Meeting speakers Before the conference Please arrange a meeting with the speakers in your session prior to AIEC to learn more information and discuss how they would like to conduct the Q&A component. On conference day At the conference, we recommend that you meet the speakers in the session room 15 minutes prior to the beginning of the session. This will enable you and the speakers to meet each other and discuss any issues before the session starts. Speaker profiles The names, presentation titles, biographies and photos of the speakers in your session will be available via the online program, and on the app. Please check with the speaker before introducing them that their profile is correct. Unfortunately, some speakers forget to advise us when their positions have changed, or if they have changed organisations. If a particular speaker profile is unavailable, please ask the speaker prior to the session what is the best introduction for him/her/them. Please also check their preferred pronoun (he/she/they).
	Introductions and acknowledgement There are a few things the chair will need to cover at the start of the session. Introducing speakers A key role of the chair is to introduce the session and the panellists or presenters. At the beginning of the session, please provide a brief introduction and welcome all conference delegates. To keep an efficient program schedule, please ensure you keep your introduction and closing to one or two mins. Session outline For Inspire sessions, it is recommended that you remind the speakers and audience of the use of the Inspire Lounge for follow up questions and discussions on the presentation. For panels and presentations, it is recommended that you read the session description carefully in advance so that you can introduce and close the session by making appropriate links between the topics/issues that are presented, especially in the case when there is more than one presentation or if the session will have a panel or discussion format. For café sessions, please provide a brief explanation of how the session will run. Ensure the presentation/ explanation at the start is brief and that enough time is allocated to the small group discussions. Also, ensure you allow enough time at the end of the session for the different groups to provide their feedback and report back to the group. For campfires, please ensure you introduce yourself and provide a brief explanation of how the session will run, and how participants can ask questions or participate in answering questions. Keep a few minutes at the end to provide feedback and wrap-up the session. Housekeeping notes If housekeeping notices are to be read out, these will be provided to you on the day. The crew member assigned to your session will let you know before the session starts for last minute announcements.
	Audiovisual and presentations All audiovisual equipment and services are provided by the audiovisual team onsite. All presentations will have been uploaded and networked via the Speakers' Room. As you reach closer to the end of your session, your AV tech will prompt you at 5-minutes to go so that you can start wrapping up.
	Q&A The chair plays a key role in facilitating question time after the presentations. For panel sessions and presentations, it is best to leave questions until all presentations have been completed. For café sessions, there will be limited time for questions; please ensure all delegates understand and understand how you will run the session and allow for questions and clarification about the process at the start session. The last part of the session (approx. 10 minutes) should be dedicated to the reporting and feedback from the delegates. For campfires, participants must submit their questions via the app. Because the entire session is based on question and answers, the facilitator must remind participants not to wait until the end to submit a question. It is also very important for the facilitators to prepare some questions in advance. Using a roving microphone For café sessions, there will be a roving microphone available for questions from the audience. Please remind delegates to use the room microphones to ask questions, as this allows everyone to hear. The conference crew staff assigned to your room can assist with passing the mic around. For panels and presentations, all questions will be asked through the app, so please ensure you are logged on to the app/platform before the start of the session. There will be no roving microphones for questions. TIP: It is helpful for the chair to repeat the question so the audience can hear it, especially when delegates forget to use the roving microphone. For campfires, questions can be asked through the app or during the session. The campfire facilitator will manage questions from the group on the day. Using the app 'Q&A' feature During the session, the audience can post questions via the app. In addition, these audiences can upvote the questions and therefore, those questions will move to the top of the list. As the chair, facilitator or moderator, you will review the questions and decide which questions to ask and in which order. You will need to be logged into the app to view the questions for the session. If you don't have a suitable smartphone or device to view the questions, please see the staff in the Speakers' Room.
	Timekeeping To keep an efficient program schedule, please ensure speakers do not exceed the allotted duration of their presentations and that the session runs on time.Chairs and facilitators must keep a close eye on timing.At the venue, we will provide time-keeping cards or digital timers that you may use at your discretion during the session. Before the start of the session, please discuss with the speakers how you want to use these time-keeping props, and when they will want time-remaining reminders. The conference crew can also assist you with this. Your session AV tech will be timekeeping and prompting you and the speakers to ensure the session starts and finishes on time. Please note that sessions cannot run over time and need to keep to strict timing.
	Program changes In some sessions, there may be last-minute cancellations if a speaker cannot present or be available for the Q&A as planned. As chair for the session, we ask that you are prepared for this eventuality.