15.0 POST CONFERENCE RESPONSIBILITIES
The post-conference activities of the
General Chair and the Conference Committee
include the completion of the financial and
administrative commitments of the conference,
production of the Final Report, and
notification to the sponsoring entity of the final
results within a reasonable time following the
conference, i.e. six months.
The
purpose of several of the post-conference tasks is
to produce a history of the conference, in a
format that allows comparison with other
conferences, and produce statistics that are useful
to future conference committees.
15.1 POST-CONFERENCE DUTIES
Post-conference duties may include the
following:
- Wrap-Up Session
- Preparation of Final Report
- Financial Accounting, including return
of loans, surplus and audit
- Letters of Appreciation
- Conference Article
- Conference Statistics
Each
activity will be discussed in the sections ahead.
15.2 WRAP-UP SESSION
The first official "post-conference"
activity which occurs is the wrap-up session.
It is traditionally held during the afternoon of the
last day of the conference. It is generally an
informal activity with food and beverage
provided. Each committee chair should have already
met during the conference with his/her peers
from succeeding conferences and discussed
problems and successes that occurred during the
conference. At the wrap-up, an abbreviated
version of the conference activities should be
presented so that attending future conference chairs
can get an overall picture of conference
activities with the attendant caveats.
Presentations should be limited in length to prevent
those scheduled at the end of the session from
being cut off or, in extreme cases, having no
audience to speak to.
15.3 PREPARATION OF THE FINAL REPORT
As mentioned in the lists of
responsibilities in prior chapters, each
committee chair must contribute a section on his/her
activities preceding, during and following the
conference. These sections should be
descriptive and helpful to the committees of
succeeding conferences, as well as serve as a
permanent record of the conference itself.
Each
section may contain:
- A narrative portion containing
innovations, caveats, etc.
- A time line showing the major
activities of the committee
- A chronological narrative which
parallels the time line, and covers
major activities, problems, and solutions
- Exhibits showing any relevant forms,
artwork, printouts, etc.
- A list of committee members who can be
contacted for more detailed information
- A list of participants in electronic
form to assist future conferences
In
general, the report tends to be, and should be, an
expansion of the information given verbally at
the wrap-up session. It should not contain all
the detailed information used by the committee
during the course of the conference, but
neither should it be so brief that it will be
useless to members of succeeding conferences.
The more detailed information should be
retained for some time after the conference, in
order to answer questions of the succeeding
conference chairs.
15.3.1 Archival Information
The report should include information of
an archival nature that should be retained by
the sponsoring organizational unit to continue to
improve the planning process. A sample
of the minimum information needed to be retained
The
report and the archival information should be sent
to the sponsoring organizational unit(s) and
to IEEE Conference Services.
15.4 FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES
The following activities take place
after the conference:
- Repay Conference Loans
- Close Bank Account
- Financial Final Report
- Financial Distribution of Surplus/Deficit
- Audit
The above
items are discussed only briefly in this chapter;
they are covered in greater detail in the
Sections 9 and 10.
15.4.1 Return of Conference Loans
The IRS regulations require that loans
which conferences received from IEEE
Organizational Unit(s) be returned within thirty
days of the close of the conference.
**Please
identify checks by indicating the name and dates of
the conference.**
15.4.2 Financial Audit
Audits are discussed at length in the
Section 10. Upon completion of the audit, the
audit certification, a final check and final
financial report should be sent to the
sponsoring Organizational Unit(s).
15.5 LETTERS OF APPRECIATION
As soon as possible following the close
of the conference, the General Chair and
Conference Committee Chairs should send letters of
appreciation to all who have contributed to
the success of the conference. Letters should
be written to workers, volunteer groups, supervisors
of individuals who have made significant
contributions, speakers, exhibitors, patrons,
session organizers, etc. It is important to thank
all those who have contributed time, effort and
money to the success of the conference. Though
the letters should be personal to the extent
possible, many can be prepared in advance of the
conference, and sent immediately following.
15.6 CONFERENCE ARTICLE
As soon as possible after the
conference, the Publicity committee should
have available for publication in IEEE Magazines an
article and related photos. Much of the
article may be written in advance of the conference,
and statistics added after the conference closes.
Reference should be made to the dates and
location of the next conference.
