Annual Convention Tools

Region and Section leaders have 3 major concerns with regard to the Annual ISA Convention:

• Business Meetings, Receptions, Workshops (Non-Panel Events)
• Awards
• Section Program Quota Allocations (Panels)

Business Meetings, Receptions, Workshops (Non-Panel Events)
Region President or Section Chair is responsible for raising funds from sponsors (publishers, affiliated institutions) to cover the expenses of Region or Section events at the Annual Convention.  Fundraising should begin at LEAST 6 months prior to the annual meeting in order to determine a budget for the event. The Region President or the Section Program Chair along with the Section Chair shall work together and coordinate with Jeanne White (JeanneWhite@isanet.org), the ISA Director of Conventions and Meetings, to schedule dates, times, and locations for meetings and receptions that the Region/Section wishes to hold, sponsor, or co-sponsor at the Annual Convention. Jeanne White will assist the Region President/Section Program Chair in arranging for any hospitality or special event the Region/Section wishes to provide at its meetings and receptions.  The moneys for hospitality and/or other events shall be deducted from the Region's/Section’s account at ISA Headquarters.

Distinguished or Eminent Scholar Panel Requests
Region Presidents and Section Program Chairs (in conjunction with the Section Chair) are in charge of proposing and arranging Distinguished or Eminent Scholar Panels.  Each Region/Section may propose up to one panel, which comes out of the section's panel allocation.  Regions/Sections must submit panels by May 15th to Andrea Gerlak (agerlak@isanet.org), the Director of Academic Development.  It is common for Regions/Sections to host a reception to honor the scholar immediately after the panel in the same room.  This type of panel is referred to as "linked" to its reception and is typically scheduled in the "D" panel slot.   Please note that linked panels and receptions are scheduled on the Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday nights of the convention.  Due to the ISA Business Meeting and President's Reception, linked receptions on Thursday night will not be available until 7pm. Meeting space is limited at the headquarters hotel, especially for large receptions.  Due to these space constraints, and to limit having multiple high-profile panels occurring at the same time, ISA will limit the number of Distinguished Scholar/Eminent Scholar panels taking place during the last panel slot on Friday afternoon.  ISA will work with the Program Chair to assign the Distinguished Scholar/Eminent Scholar panels on a rotating basis during the three main days of the convention.  Groups who are assigned a Friday late afternoon panel one year may be rotated to a Wednesday or Thursday late afternoon slot the next year, with the linked reception to follow, to ensure equal opportunities for all.

Awards
Regions/Sections that are presenting awards at the Convention must begin to submit information on awardees to the ISA Communication Coordinator, Angelica Robison (isa@isanet.org), at ISA Headquarters.  ISA prepares framed award certificates free of charge.  Plaques must be ordered at least forty-five days prior to the convention.  Costs for the plaques are deducted from the sponsoring Region/Section Account.

Regions/Sections that would like their Awards to be presented by the ISA President at the ISA Business Meeting and Awards Ceremony must submit a short summary describing the Award and selection of recipient to the ISA Communication Coordinator.  (Contact Angelica Robison, isa@isanet.org, for this form.) The ISA Communication Coordinator delivers Awards text to the ISA President.  Recipients must attend the Convention for these Awards only.

Region/Section leaders may also find helpful information regarding Individual Sponsored Awards at Section Summaries and Region/Section Awards.

Section Program Quota Allocations (Panels)
Each Section appoints one of its officers to be the Section Program Chair for the ISA Annual Convention.  The Section Program Chair coordinates closely with the ISA Convention Program Chair(s) and ISA Headquarters in evaluating topic and discussant suggestions for panels that may be presented at the Annual Convention.  The Section Program Chair should have substantial knowledge of the diverse scholarship ongoing in the section.

The Section Program Chair, in preparation for the panel, paper, and participant selection process for the following year’s Convention, should announce the Section’s call for papers as early as possible after the preceding Convention. The call for papers and proposals should be published via as many vehicles as are accessible to the Section, including the Section Newsletter, the Section Website, and by requesting E-Newsletter publication on the ISA Website.

June through August is when much the “heavy lifting” for the program occurs.  This is when Section Program Chairs work to create and coordinate their portion of the program.  This is an intense period of time characterized by constant communications with the Program Chair and often other Section Program Chairs. Following the ISA program meeting at the American Political Science Association’s annual meeting in September, attention is turned to keeping the program database current as changes are made to the program.  Section Program Chairs are expected to assist in filling vacancies as withdrawals change the preliminary program throughout the remaining months to the convention.


Timeline
Because tasks in preparation for the ISA Annual Convention are so time-variant and dependent on the date of the Annual Convention, what follows below is a rough timeline of tasks arranged according to whether the Annual Convention takes place in February or March. For more exact dates and deadlines for a particular convention-year, please contact ISA HQ.

Task Keywords	Task Description	February Convention	March Convention
Call for Proposals	Send out call for papers, panel, and roundtable proposals for consideration of Section sponsorship for the following year’s annual convention	March	April
Convention Reservations	Regions/Sections need to request meeting rooms for non-panel events. See Forms to Request Meeting Rooms. These should be returned to Jeanne White, ISA Director of Conventions and Meetings, at ISA HQ (JeanneWhite@isanet.org) Early scheduling is encouraged as space is limited and slots are assigned in the order that they are received	July- October	August-November
Funds Allocation	Regions and Sections shall raise sponsor funds to help pay for receptions.  Sponsor contact information needs to be sent in to Jeanne White for invoicing  (ISA HQ will send sponsor invoices, deposits funds and promote sponsors via Convention Program, on-site, and on event signage) Reception hosts work with Jeanne White to establish meeting and reception budgets, to select menus and to order A/V or other products from the host hotel(s)	September/ October	October/ November
Awards	Regions/Sections that are presenting awards at the Convention must submit information on Awardees to the ISA Communications Coordinator, Angelica Robison (isa@isanet.org)	November	November
Program Printed	All reception sponsors must be identified and invoiced in order to be used as sponsors in the printed convention program	November 20th	December 1st
Catering	All catered functions must be finalized with Jeanne White at least forty-five days prior to the Annual Convention	December	January
Finalizing	All Business Meetings, Receptions, and other non-panel meetings organized by Regions or Sections are finalized (Events not scheduled prior to the Program publishing deadline are listed on the addendum)	Mid- December	Mid- January
Award Presentation	Regions/Sections that would like their Awards to be presented at the ISA Awards Ceremony must submit the requisite information to Angelica Robison	January	February