System Parameters: Conference

Note: The first five parameters listed below should be set as soon as your SPMS instance is set up.

Conference Title

Enter the "official" short name of the title of the conference, for example "IPAC'10" or "PAC'09", etc. This is displayed at the top of all SPMS pages.

Conference Location

These data are used in XML output. Enter the location and country

Time Zone Offset

As described under the system parameters, enter the difference, in hours, between the conference location and the database location.

Formula: (UTC offset at conference site) - (UTC offset at database site). Example: Conference time zone UTC-0800, DB time zone UTC-0600. (-8) - (-6) = -2. Example: Conference UTC+0530, DB UTC+0900. (5.5) - (9) = -3.5.

Conference Start Date

This parameter controls the day-of-week popup list used to create sessions on the Session Maintenance screen. Enter the conference start date.

Conference Length in Days

This parameter controls the day-of-week popup list used to create sessions on the Session Maintenance screen.

The following parameters just require the relevant dates to be entered.

Invitation Only Conference

As discussed previously, set to "Yes" or "No" depending on whether access should be limited to "invitees".

Auto Gen Program Code

This parameter defines whether session IDs are generated automatically or manually.

If this functionality is required, the sessions and their locations (where they will take place) need to be entered.

Scientific Program Administration / Sessions

and

Scientific Program Administration / Location Codes

More about sessions and locations.

Enable Automatic Poster ID Assignment

This parameter controls whether or not the conference will use the functionality to automatically generate programme codes for poster presentations. This is done via the screen

Scientific Program Administration / Assign/Move Paper IDs

Important:

Once poster programme codes have been automatically generated, it is possible to improve manually, also via the above screen.

If this is done, it is important to set the parameter back to "no" once the codes have been finally assigned, otherwise any manual changes brought after the automatic generation will be lost.

Programme codes (for larger conferences) are compiled using several other screens:

• System Parameters / User / Enable Automatic Poster ID Assignment: needs to be set to "Yes".
• All presentations must have a session code, entered via the Session Maintenance Screen.
• Scientific Program Administration / Sessions must have been set up.

Poster Police

This parameter controls whether to enable the screen used by poster session managers to enter the status of poster presentations. For larger conferences, presentation of posters is strict. They must be:

• Posted
• Manned
• Good quality

When the system parameter is set to "yes", and once poster sessions and programme codes will have been assigned, the screen

Editor/Proceedings Administration / Poster Police

will enable the administrator, or poster session manager (with the privileges) to enter the status according to the preceding criteria based on whether or not the poster was posted, manned, and of good quality.

More information is available under the screen

Editor/Proceedings Administration / Poster Police

Note, however, that only posters with the 3 flags are seen by the scripts that pull the final publication package together. Thus, if a poster session manager enters the status as posted, unmanned, of good quality (where one of the criteria) is not present, the paper will not go through for publication.