New for 2010

Session Types

Presenter Registration and Travel Guidelines

Presenter Registration Rates

Presenter Terms and Conditions

Presentation Submission Guidelines

Presentation Guidelines

Poster Session Guidelines

Speaker Resource Center

New for 2010

Personas!
In our continuing effort to ensure that quality, innovation, and an exciting program of professional development and networking are the trademarks of every SEPG attendee's experience, we are introducing a new way to get the most from your participation.

Personas are fictitious characters created to represent the different user types within a targeted demographic. You will be asked to select up to four personas that represent the target audience of your submission.

There are several uses for these personas. One is for prospective session presenters. When submitting an abstract, prospective session presenters identified the persona(s) for whom their proposed sessions are most appropriate.

The other use for personas is by the SEPG conference attendee (or prospective attendee) to identify sessions appropriate to attend. In particular, attendees and prospective attendees would be able to relate to a persona and to determine sessions that closely match their role or interest level, which can also be useful to rationalize/justify attending the conference.

Another use for the personas is in the design of the conference and the evaluation of proposed sessions. Abstract reviewers will be able to place themselves in the frame-of-mind of the personas chosen by abstract submitters. Reviewer feedback will be improved to relate to the material as intended for the material to relate to the audience. Furthermore, reviewers can suggest other ways to align the abstracts to the chosen or to different personas.

We recognize that personas are not perfect and that it is often difficult to separate roles and responsibilities into easily definable, discrete character traits. However, the approach has been used successfully in other conferences and the SEPG North America Program Committee anticipates the inclusion of these personas will enhance the fidelity of the conference and enrich the experience of the conference attendees.

Change in Complimentary Speaker Registrations
If you have historically attended only on your speaking day and wish to do so again this year, there will be a fee for that day. We strongly emphasize the many benefits of participating in the conference more than just the day in which you are speaking:

• You, the speaker, will get more out of the experience by having more opportunities to network with fellow speakers, attendees, and others who are interested in discussing your area of expertise with you at greater length. Often, especially with the 40-minute sessions, attendees will have additional questions or want the opportunity to discuss a topic more with speakers. The breaks, meals, and special events throughout the four days of the conference provide an ideal way for attendees to connect with each other outside of the sessions.
• You will receive more visibility for yourself and your organization by participating fully in the conference, and not just attending on your presentation day.
• By networking with more people during the conference, you will have more opportunities to grow your professional network and meet potential sponsors, clients, and users of your work.

If you have previously purchased a full conference registration as a speaker that included a free speaker day, you will still pay the same this year. The reason is that the amount you paid with a free speaker day included in a full conference registration will be the same as no free speaker day and more deeply discounted registration.

Student Poster Sessions
At SEPG North America 2009 we introduced Student Poster Sessions, and they were a big hit! So we're bringing them back for 2010. Poster sessions are open to student participants only. Both graduate and undergraduate students are encouraged to participate through this program. Help us welcome the next generation of software, system, and service professionals into our community by passing the word along to any students you know.

WingateWeb Returning in 2010
We are pleased that WingateWeb is again providing our Call for Abstracts system as well as other elements of the SEPG North America 2010 online experience. Our collaboration with them allows us to offer immediate email confirmation of your abstract's successful submission, the ability to edit your submitted information until the site closes, and the ability to provide you with individual feedback from the attendees for each session.

If your abstract is selected, you'll be able to log into the Speaker Resource Center  throughout the remainder of the pre-conference planning process to complete your other submissions. The Speaker Resource Center will provide a timeline of when materials are due, will allow you to submit your materials online, and will maintain a current status report of what materials you will need to submit.

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Session Types

• Mini-Tutorials – 90 minutes
  Mini-Tutorials must include at least two hands-on exercises for the attendees.
• Tutorials – Half-Day
  Half-Day Tutorials must include at least three hands-on exercises for the attendees.
• Tutorials – Full-Day
  Full-Day Tutorials must include at least four hands-on exercises for the attendees.

The next three formats are scheduled on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of the conference.

• Panel Presentations
  For these 90-minute sessions, we ask that there be a maximum of four people presenting, including one Panel Moderator.
• Presentations
  These are 40-minute presentations with a maximum of one primary presenter and one co-presenter.
• Student Poster Presentations
  There will be two time periods when poster presenters must be with their posters. These posters are reserved for graduate and undergraduate students only.

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Presenter Registration and Travel Guidelines

If you are accepted as a presenter at the SEPG North America 2010 Conference, you must adhere to the following guidelines and policies. For more information, contact sepg@sei.cmu.edu.

• Presenters are responsible for their own hotel and travel expenses.
• Discounted conference registration fees vary based on your presentation type (presentation, panel session, poster, etc.) and are designated for presenters only and are not transferable.

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Presenter Registration Rates*

Speaker discounts apply throughout the registration period. No additional super-saver or early-bird discounts apply.

*The following speaker rates apply according to type of session:

• Panel Speaker: Maximum of four speakers per panel receive the discounted speaker rate; limit of two panels for entire conference
• 40-Minute Presentation Speaker: Maximum of one speaker per presentation receives the discounted speaker rate; co-presenters pay standard conference fees
• 90-Minute/Mini-Tutorial Speaker: Maximum of one speaker per presentation receives the discounted speaker rate; co-presenters pay standard conference fees
• Tutorial Speaker: Maximum of two speakers per presentation get discount; additional co-presenters pay standard conference fees
• Top 10 Speaker: No special discounts; rules and fees are same as any other speaker
• Student Poster Speakers: One student per poster session is eligible

** Student poster speakers must attend all four days of the conference to have the conference fee waived. Student ID and proof of matriculation required at registration. Only one student per poster session eligible for the free discount.

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Presenter Terms and Conditions

• You should confirm that you will be able to obtain any and all necessary approvals or clearances prior to confirming your participation at the SEPG North America 2010 Conference. Speakers who do not meet the established due dates (see Important Dates) will be removed from the program and replaced with an alternate.
• By submitting a session abstract, submitters grant the SEI permission to reproduce and distribute materials in conference proceedings.
• By submitting a session abstract, submitters grant the SEI permission to edit their abstracts to adhere to the SEI Style Guide to ensure consistency in our printed program and promotional materials.
• All presentation files are due by December 18, 2009. Submit the files in the Speaker Resource Center.
  
• Any presenter who misses the December 18, 2009 submission deadline for submitting their presentation files will be removed from the program and replaced by an alternate presenter.
• If you need to send a substitute to SEPG North America to present in your place, contact the Technical Program Coordinator at sepg@sei.cmu.edu.
• If you are unable to attend the conference, please contact the Technical Program Coordinator immediately by sending mail to sepg@sei.cmu.edu or call +1-412-268-5800.
• Please note that cancellations are recorded and could affect the likelihood of you being accepted to present at a future SEPG conference.

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Presentation Submission Guidelines

• All presentation files are due by December 18, 2009. Submit the files in the Speaker Resource Center.

• Speakers who update their materials after Monday, February 19, 2010 must provide attendees with a website where the updated presentation materials can be obtained.

• All presentation materials will be included in the conference proceedings that will be available online during the conference and for a limited time afterwards (approximately 30 days).

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Presentation Guidelines

• The SEPG North America program is very full, and it is important—for speakers as well as attendees—that the schedule be maintained. Due to time limitations of the program, we recommend limiting the number of slides to 25 or fewer for 40-minute presentations and 100 or fewer for half-day tutorials.
• Presentations must be submitted both as Adobe PDF files (one slide per page) and PowerPoint files.
• If you chose to submit your presentation only in PowerPoint, it will be converted to PDF for inclusion in the online proceedings. The SEPG Conference Series Team and the SEI are not responsible for any formatting errors that may occur due to conversion to PDF, so we strongly encourage you to submit your presentations as requested—in both PDF and PowerPoint—to avoid any potential difficulties.
• Include your contact information and website on the final slide.
• Number all slides.
• Define each acronym the first time it is used in the presentation.
• Present materials that reflect the abstract that you submitted.
• Check your spelling and perform all final edits PRIOR to submitting your materials.
• Use standard Windows fonts when preparing your presentation (these are the fonts that are pre-installed on your computer.).
• If incorporating animations, do not cover text.
• Use the following convention to name your presentation: "sessionID#–lastname".ppt or "sessionID#–lastname".pdf

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Poster Session Guidelines

• Use graphics where possible.
• For case studies, be sure to describe the process improvements that led to these results.
• Use a large enough font to be visible by someone standing up to six feet away from the poster (minimum of 18 point).
• Be sure to leave enough white space to allow people to focus on what is most important for them to see.
• When using graphics, do not put too much information in one figure or chart.
• When using text, avoid long sentences; instead use bulleted statements.
• Avoid using any promotional material for your organization that is not directly related to the poster theme.
• If using acronyms, provide definitions.

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