Vital Signs 2: Information for Speakers
This page aims to give you a good idea of how the sessions at Vital Signs 2 will run so that you know what to expect and can prepare accordingly. This makes for quite a lot of information, and if applicable there are some points you may need to get in touch with us about. We have collected these into a checklist - please do make sure that you have replied to these questions if necessary!
Circulation
As well as appearing on this page, this information will have been sent to all lead speakers (ie the first named speaker if there is more than one per paper). It is the responsibility of the lead speaker to make sure it gets to everybody who needs it.
Registration
All speakers attending the conference need to register. If you have not yet done so, please contact Victoria Higham urgently (via email or phone: 0161 275 0261) or complete the online registration
List of speakers
We will include your name, organisation and email on a list of speakers in the conference packs, unless you ask us not to.
Changes to abstracts
Abstracts for all sessions are on the conference web pages. They are linked from the conference programme. If you would like to make changes to your abstract please email us the new version before 1st September 2010.
Audio-visual/Other equipment
Each room will have a computer connected to a data projector and a screen. PowerPoint is available in all the rooms. These computers will be connected to the internet, though, as always, it is a good idea not to rely on the internet connection in case the University of Manchester internet server has a problem.
If you need any other equipment please let us know, as we might not be able to find it at short notice!
Laptops
If you would like to use your own laptop, please let us know in advance. Please also bring a copy of your presentation on a memory stick or CD.
Wi-Fi
We have been able to secure temporary conference accounts for delegates. Information about how delegates will receive the log-in details will be published on the website shortly.
Presentations
Sending presentations in advance
You are welcome to email your slides to Victoria.Higham@manchester.ac.uk in advance (up to noon on Monday 6th September) and we will load it onto the computer for you.
Loading presentations at the conference
If you haven't sent your presentation in advance, then we will help you set up your presentation in the break before your session starts. All speakers should report to the room their session is in at least 10 minutes before the session starts and a member of the conference team will transfer your files to the computer and make sure everything runs smoothly. This will help us move quickly from one presentation to another. If you do not load your presentation in advance, session chairs will take setting up time out of the time allocated for your presentation.
Adding presentations to the conference WebPages
We would like to add pdf copies of the presentations to the conference web pages because a lot of delegates like to look at presentations after the event. If you would like your presentation to be included you do not have to do anything. If you do not want your presentation to be included please let us know. If you would like to edit your presentation before it is uploaded please also let us know about this and we will liaise with you to get the edited version after the conference.
About the parallel sessions
There are three parallel sessions running throughout the conference. The parallel sessions are not organised in themed streams; instead we have clustered presentations dealing with similar issues or approaches, and have given each session a distinctive title - like a symposium - to fit the nature of the presentations it contains.
This should make for focused sessions, and we will run them all in the same way: depending on the length of the session, there will be two or three 20 minute (maximum) presentations, one after the other without pausing for individual discussion of each (except minor points of clarification). Then we will have up to 30 minutes panel-style discussion of all three presentations together at the end. We want to encourage debate, and speakers are encouraged not only to answer questions, but also to ask questions of each other and the audience.
This means that it is really important that you keep your presentations to around 15 minutes long, with 20 minutes as an absolute maximum. We will have to chair sessions very tightly so please make sure you keep to time so that your chairperson doesn't have to cut you off in full flow! Please do arrange your presentation so that you get quickly to the points you want to make, without lots of introduction or context-building.
Anything else?
We hope this covers most of the questions you have at this stage, but please do get in touch if there is anything else we can help with.
Checklist for speakers
You should be able to answer 'yes' to all these statements, if you can't, please contact us!
- I have passed this information on to my co-presenters, if applicable
- I have registered for the conference
- I have checked my abstract on the conference web pages and do not need to make any changes
- I do not need any extra audio-visual/other equipment
- I would like my presentation slides included on the conference web pages after the event
Contact Details
All enquiries should be made to:
Victoria.Higham@manchester.ac.uk
0161 275 0261