The Society for Mathematical Biology
Annual Meeting and Conference, July 25-28, 2012
Instructions for Moderators for SMB Conference Sessions
The moderator is expected to be in the room at least 10 minutes before the start of the session and be able to assist speakers with the A/V equipment. Make an announcement when you get in the room for all speakers to come up and introduce themselves to you and make sure they know how to use the equipment.
The moderator is responsible for:
1. Making sure before the session starts that all speakers have either loaded their talks on the laptops provided in the room (these are running Windows 7 and will have the standard Microsoft Office 2010 Suite and Adobe Acrobat Reader installed) or else have their own laptop ready to plug into the VGA cable provided. Note that unless the speaker has special simulations or movies to show, it will be faster to have their talks loaded on the machine in the room, but we do not insist on this if they prefer to use their own laptop.
2. Introducing yourself at the very beginning of the session and remind people to set their cell phones to quiet. Introducing each speaker very briefly (just say their name, where they are from and the title of the presentation).
3. Making sure that speakers talk into the microphones so that they can be heard (this is particularly important for speakers with weak voices). Making sure that the speaker doesn't walk off with the laserpointer in the room.
4. Making sure that speakers stay on time. We will have a timing device in the room that the speaker can see to tell them how much time is remaining. All talks are 20 minutes long with an additional 3 minutes for questions followed by 2 minutes for movement between sessions and to allow the next speaker to get set up. During this two minute period, music will be playing in all rooms in order to coordinate across sessions and make sure that talks remain in order.
5. Stand up at the 20 minute mark so the speaker is aware that only 3 minutes are left for questions.
6. Stand up when the speaker is finished and choose audience members who have questions if there is time for this. Please do not let an audience member speak too long - they should be asking a question or making a brief comment only. You should be prepared, if there is time and there are no questions from the audience, to ask the speaker an intelligent question yourself.
7. Thank all the speakers at the end of the session.
For online advice on chairing sessions see: Ten Simple Rules for Chairing a Scientific Session by Alex Bateman and Philip E. Bourne
