Local Committee Duties
General Information for Program
Through its Chair, the Local Committee provides the General Information data to the Secretary/Treasurer in the format used on the back page of the printed programs. The program format below indicates the items for which details are needed and the attached sample program shows final printed form.
- Logistics
Important details which must be done with care for a successful meeting include arrangements for:
- Lecture hall facilities for the Technical Sessions: lights, slide projectors, viewgraphs, communication with projectionists, etc.
- Printing all tickets
- Name badges
- Placards and signs
- Local publicity -- special notices to area professional societies, etc.
- Registration desk arrangements
- Friday Banquet Hall, banquet planning (menu, cost, etc.)
- Friday Social Hour arrangements (location, bar, snacks, etc.)
- Luncheon details
- Coffee break details (Friday, 2; Saturday, 1)
- Financial accounting
- Arrangements with the Headquarters Motel or Hotel
- Confirming Speakers' Motel reservations on request
- Information on accommodations
- Parking details
- Campus and area maps (JPEG or GIF images needed for NYSS home page)
- Special rooms as needed
- Arrangements for Executive Committee Meeting on Thursday: meeting will begin with dinner at 6:00 and be followed by a business meeting. An appropriate place to eat should be reserved with room for the meeting provided for.
- Person to provide Welcome address
- Friday Evening Program arrangements (program, location)
The Local Committee should provide secretarial services for accounting of advance mail registration and funds and ticket sales. These services should prepare name tags and prepaid tickets for advance mail registrants and have them ready to pick up on pre-registrant arrival. They should also prepare name tags and complimentary banquet tickets for all invited speakers and spouses. It has been expedient to assemble such materials in individual envelopes.
A Registration Desk must be staffed on Thursday evening, preceding the symposium for early arrivals. It is generally best to do this at the Headquarters motel. The registration desk must be staffed on Friday and Saturday at the symposium. On Friday morning at least two desks are needed, one with badges and prepaid tickets ready for those who have preregistered, and the other for new registrants. It is up to the Local Committee to set up its own system of accounting at the Registration Desks, but certain guidelines should be observed:
- Use only oversize type for name tags; a number of software packages will produce labels and Avery Labels make name tags.
- Be prepared to issue receipts for attendees requiring them for travel accounts.
- Accept the registrants' word regarding State Section membership; however, if they are unsure request that they pay the non-member fee. If it turns out that they are in fact a member, the over-charge will be refunded by the Secretary/Treasurer. Note: speakers, spouses, official APS guests, and students pay no registration fee.
- In accepting new membership applications, check legibility and completeness of address. Record whether or not applicant is a member of an AIP organization.
Proceedings
No meeting Proceedings are published. The State Section has accumulated much experience in recording the talks on tape, film and by reporters for subsequent use, and may continue to experiment along these lines. It can, in general, be said that the more successful experiments required elaborate preparations and editing, and were very costly in time and effort and often in equipment. The counsel and experience of the State Section officers are at the disposal of Local Committees who contemplate such an undertaking. Sometimes students are asked to report some of the lectures as seminar assignments, but these arrangements are made on a local basis. Photos, newspaper clippings and the like can be given to the Secretary/Treasurer for transmittal to the Sections Archives, and they are welcome.
Local Financial Support
The meetings are frequently not self-supporting and financial sponsorship may be solicited from local industry and organizations which feel that a special benefit is derived from the presence of a meeting in their area. Often the host institution provides the coffee breaks. Sometimes a meeting cash deficit is divided among several patrons each contributing an equal amount up to some pre-meeting agree-upon limit. Appointments to the Local Committee are sometimes influenced by these factors. Any such financial arrangements are handled jointly by the local Chair and the State Section Chair. It must be emphasized that the State Section is not dependent on local financial support, however welcome, and lack of it will not be a deterrent to holding a meeting. Any request for sponsorship must be coordinated with the Section Chair or the Secretary/Treasurer.
Attendance Statistics
An average meeting will have 50-150 preregistrations; 100-200 registrants, and 70-125 at the banquet. Generally plan for 70 at the banquet unless there are special considerations that suggest a larger number (example: Isaac Asimov is the speaker).
Timetable
The Secretary/Treasurer is responsible for printing the programs and advance registration forms and mailing them. Also, it is desirable to print the program and general information in the APS News. That requires that all program and general information be complete and given to the Secretary/Treasurer by May 31 for the fall symposium and by November 30 for the spring symposium. Program and general information, as well as a registration form and maps are placed on the World Wide Web home page as soon as they are available from the Local Committee.
Accounting by the Local Committee
The Local Committee is responsible for receiving and accounting for all funds. However all receipts will be deposited by the Secretary/Treasurer and all bills, upon proper documentation, will be paid by the Secretary/Treasurer. This is necessary to satisfy auditing requirements of the American Physical Society. A check for advance operating funds may be issued to the Local Committee by the Secretary/Treasurer.