Presentation Scheduling Instructions

Conveners Develop Session Schedules

The number of timeslots that each Session receives will vary according to the number of abstracts garnered. Session Conveners should receive their timeslot allocation from the respective Section Presidents (see also notes below) within 3 to 4 weeks after abstract submission closes. Conveners should aim to complete their session’s programs within 7 to 10 days. These are the main activities and their schedules (actual may vary, changes are usually informed via e-news and on the conference website)

Activity Scheduled
Abstract Submission Closes 21 Feb
Conveners’ Complete Abstract Reviews & Decide AOGS Comps (if applicable) 21 Feb – 14 Mar
Conveners Receive Session Time Slots 21 Feb – 21 Mar
Conveners Input Schedules & Session Chairs to the Online Scheduler on MARS 21 Mar – 28 Mar
Section’s Program Ready for Approval by Program Committee 28 Mar – 15 Apr
Schedule Notification to Authors/Presenters From 22 Apr
Secretariat Delete from Program – Abstracts Not Covered by Paid Registration 01 Jun

1.  Assigning the presentation mode for each accepted abstract and observing these society policies and rules

  1. For in-person meetings, it is normally a 60%-40% Split between Oral and Poster.
  2. Any author requesting poster presentation SHOULD NOT be assigned to oral! And many requesting oral should be considered for posters as well.
  3. Invited papers should not exceed one third of oral presentations in a given session, the only exception is for sessions of great timeliness (such as a recent natural disaster or the first reports from new international scientific programs or space missions). Typically, each Invited Talk will be 20 minutes in duration but sometimes needs to be 15 minutes in order to fit oral presentations in the time available.
  4. Convener and Co-conveners cannot present or be a co-author to an invited paper in their own session. Any paper with an overlap between the co-authors and the co-conveners cannot be designated as “Invited”.

2.  The rest of this document covers

Accessing your Session(s) and Abstract List(s)
Assigning Presentation Mode
Indicating "Invited Speaker" Mode
Viewing Your Session Timeslot(s)
Ordering the Talks (Oral Presentations)
Assigning Session Chairs

3.  Accessing your Session(s) and Abstract List(s)

3.1 Log-in on MARS: https://meetmatt-svr.net/
3.2 Click “My Sessions” (under Convener Options) on the left menu to see the “My Sessions” page. This lists the session(s) that you are convening.
3.3 The “Abstract Submission Summary” provides a quick preview about the abstracts in your session.
3.4 Click the abstract count next to “Total Submitted”, and you will see the “Abstract List” page. This lists all the abstracts in your Session.
3.5 Click on the “ID” to view the abstract’s details including Title, Author List, Review Decision, etc.

4.  Assigning Presentation Mode

4.1 Decide for every abstract, its presentation mode – whether “Oral” or “Poster”. For as long as the session’s program is still work-in-progress, changes can be made as often as you wish.
4.2 The number of “Oral” and “Poster” presentations for each session is according to the number of timeslots allocated to your Session which, is calculated based on the total number of accepted abstracts in your Session relative to the total number for the conference.
4.3 The assignment is expected to be based on the abstract content and quality, consideration for preferences of the authors, and the necessity that the session fits within the time allocated. Session scheduling is based on a ratio of oral to poster presentations of 60:40 Note: Authors who requested for posters should not be assigned to oral presentations.
4.4 Care needs to be taken that the oral presentations, especially within a single Session, are seen to be fairly distributed. Typically, a person should not make more than one presentation in a session
4.5 To assign the Presentation Mode:
  1. For each Abstract
    1. Go to “Abstract Details” page (see 3 above for detailed instructions)
    2. Under “Abstract Status” section, go to “Assign Presentation Mode” and click the link “Mark as Oral” or “Mark as Poster”, as desired and where appropriate.
  2. Batch Assignment
    1. Go to “Abstract List” page (see 3 above for detailed instructions)
    2. Tick the checkboxes of the abstracts to be assigned “Oral” and click the button “Oral” on top of the list. And all the selected abstracts will be assigned as “Oral”.
    3. The procedure to assign “Poster” presentations is similar to for “Oral”.

5.  Indicating "Invited Speaker" Mode

5.1 You may assign an abstract to “Invited” status for your own Session. By default, every abstract is “Contributed” at the time it is submitted. You may indicate abstracts are invited in the system if they are invited by the conveners.

Reminder Please! Rules - For invited abstracts:

  1. Invited papers should not exceed one third of oral presentations in a given session, the only exception is for sessions of great timeliness (such as a recent natural disaster or the first reports from new international scientific programs or space missions).
  2. Convener and Co-Conveners cannot present or be a co-author to an invited paper in their own session. Any paper with an overlap between the co-authors and the co-conveners cannot be designated as invited.
  3. Duration of the presentation – typically this is 20 minutes (but sometimes may have to be 15 minutes) for an Invited Talk. For contributed talks, the standard presentation time is 15 minutes. In the program book, the word “Invited” will appear next to those invited abstracts.
  4. Besides the above, invited abstracts are treated the same way as contributed abstracts. That is, registration fees and abstract fees are applicable to authors of invited abstracts.
5.2 There are two way to assign presentation category “Invited” or “Contributed”
  1. Individual Assignment
    1. Go to the "Abstract Details" page (see 3 above for detailed instructions)
    2. Under “Abstract Status” section, row "Invited / Contributed" click the link "Mark as Invited” or "Mark as Contributed” where appropriate.
  2. Batch Assignment
    1. Go to the “Abstract List” page (see 3 above for detailed instructions)
    2. Tick the checkboxes of the abstracts to be assigned as “Invited”, and click the button “Invited” at the top of the list. This will assign all the selected abstracts as “Invited”. Follow the same procedure for assigning abstracts to “Contributed” presentations.

6.  Viewing Your Session Timeslot(s)

6.1 Go to the “My Sessions” page.
6.2 In the Abstract Summary Table is a section titled “Session Schedule”. This lists the timeslots (for oral presentations) assigned to your Session.
It shows the:
  1. Timeslot code
  2. Day, time and duration (90min or 120min)
  3. Presentation room number and room capacity (in theatre seats)
  4. Number of abstracts you have assigned to the timeslot and the amount of time utilized
6.3 Click the “View Program” link to view your timeslots in the overall timetable.
6.4 Please contact the Section President concerned for assistance relating to timeslot allocation (quantity, schedule), including your re-arrangement requests.

7.  Ordering the Presentations

7.1 Go to the “My Sessions” page.
7.2 Click on “Presentation Schedule” in the "Session Schedule" section.
7.3 Click on “Order Presentations”.
7.4 On this page, you can choose for each presentation (accepted abstract)
  1. The timeslot
  2. The sequence of the presentation in the timeslot
  3. Talk duration (pre-set to 15 min for contributed talks, 20 min for invited talks)
7.5 Note that only accepted abstracts assigned to “Oral” can be available for ordering. Poster presentations will be ordered and assigned to specific poster sessions by the Program Committee.
7.6 The duration is 15 minutes for contributed talks, including questions and changeover between speakers. Only invited talks may be given a longer presentation time; typically 20 minutes each but sometimes need to be 15 minutes in order to fit oral presentations into the time available.
7.7 These schedules are tentative and may be subjected to changes by the Program Committee. Once approved, an official notification will be made by AOGS.

8.  Assigning Session Chairs

8.1 You should assign Two Session Chairs to every Oral Session. These are the people who will be chairing the session in the presentation room at the conference.
8.2 It is the responsibility of the Session Chairs to:
  1. Ensure that presentations stick to the time available
  2. Facilitate the Q & A at the end of each presentation
8.3 Usually the Session Chairs will be the Conveners of the Session. The Conveners need to have the agreement of the proposed Chair before assigning them to a particular timeslot.
8.4 Usually the Session Chair will not present a paper in the portion of the session that they are chairing. It is strongly advised that you assign Two Session Chairs (not more than three) to each timetable slot.
8.5 Follow these steps to assign Session Chairs
  1. Go to the "My Sessions" page
  2. Click the link “Assign Session Chairs” under the “Session Schedule” section
  3. On this page, input the Chair’s email address and a system generated email invitation will be sent to the assignee
  4. Upon adding a session chair, the session chair be notified with an email like the one below, which allows them to accept/decline the assignment.