Abstracts
The papers written by speakers noting their proposed lecture for the
congress. After the congress these
papers are often printed and bound in one volume or made available by
Electronic Mail.
ACC
Accessible/Disabled Room.
Accompanying Persons (A/P’s)
Most congresses allow delegates to take their partners with them at a reduced
cost. A full sightseeing program is
usually organised during the time that the delegates are attending the working
sessions.
ADJ
Adjoining room request.
APT
Apartment.
BCEC
Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre.
BES
Business Events Sydney (BES). Bureau that works on bringing congresses to Sydney. arinex are a member of BES which means we are passed leads when some congresses decide on Sydney as their host city.
BF
Breakfast.
Bid
The bid document is prepared by a country if they wish to host their
Association's congress. The bid contains letters of invitation, details of the
proposed host country/city, an outline of the plans for the congress and a
draft budget. The bid must be presented as per the rules of the Association and
a vote is usually taken on where the event will be held based on the bids
received.
Block
Accommodation rooms taken from within a hotels inventory/availability.
Booth
Exhibition booth – usually 3m x 3m built out of a shell scheme. The walls, lighting, flooring are supplied and exhibitors fit out with their own displays and product.
Budget
A projection of revenue and expenditure for the congress, including delegate
fees and sponsorship moneys forming the revenue, and the extensive list of
costs involved in staging an event.
Call for Papers
A mailing will be sent out requesting interested parties to submit any
documents or reports that they would like to speak on at the congress. This is usually done by submission of an
Abstract (see above) which is a précis of the proposed talk.
Catering
Morning and afternoon refreshments, lunch and dinner for delegates.
Occasionally the accompanying persons will join the delegates for lunch if
their timetable permits.
C/IN
Check in
C/OUT
Check out
CNR
Corner room.
CONT BF
Continental Breakfast.
Concurrent Sessions
See Parallel Sessions. In Australia ‘concurrent’ is the more usual term.
COMM
Commission/commissionable.
Committee
A team of association members appointed by the local organising committee to
handle the business or scientific content of the congress including the subject
of the plenary sessions and workshops and the appointment of appropriate
speakers.
CORP
Corporate rate.
COT
Cot Bed.
CTM
Charge to Master.
DBL
Can either be 2 people in one King/Queen room or 2 beds in the room
Delegate
An
attendee at a congress. arinex’
definition is “an attendee, speaker, author or any other person who is required
to complete a form for participation in the Conference, whether they pay or not
or attend the whole or part of the Conference or not, but does not include an
Accompanying Person.”
Delegate pack (satchel)
Given to the delegate when he/she registers on-site for the congress. Often
containing information on the host city, a program for the congress and any
sponsored literature.
DEP
Deposit Paid.
EA
Early Arrival.
Eblast
arinex’ e-marketing in the form of an email sent to a large database for marketing or information purposes.
Eco Board
Material used to produce directional signage. Usually 5 mm thick and quite a hard inflexible board.
Envelope Pack
A printed envelope is produced for each delegate which outlines their name etc. and what they are entitled to. Name badge, accompanying person badge, purchased tickets, speaker information letters, etc. are placed in this envelope and given to the Delegate when they register (along with a satchel – see below). These are personalised and are thus packed separately to the satchel which is a generically packed bag.
ETA
Estimated time of arrival.
ETD
Estimated time of departure.
Exhibition
A trade display comprising booths or custom built stands – usually by sponsors or companies that want to display products and promote their product and/or image to delegates.
F & B
Food and Beverage. All catering for an event.
FB
Fold bed.
Final Program
A program for the entire congress, listing times of the various lectures and
seminars as well as local information and social activities.
First & Second Announcements
The First Announcement is an invitation which is sent to potential delegates
giving them the opportunity to respond and express their interest in the
congress. The Second Announcement is a follow-up inviting them to register for
the congress itself.
FIT
Free Independent Traveler
FOC
Free of charge (i.e. complementary)
FULL BF
Full Breakfast
Full Paper
An expansion of the abstract (see above). This is a full version of the speech, research, study etc.
Gala Banquet
A formal dinner usually held on one evening of the congress in a special
location or venue.
GOVT
Government rate
Group
More than 15 people traveling together to the same hotel
HFL
High floor request
Host country
The country in which the congress will take place.
I/C
Interconnecting room request
Intent to Attend (aka Expression of Interest)
A notice (usually just demographic information) collected from people expressing early interest in attending a congress. This is combined in a database for marketing the congress and updating those potentially interested.
Interactive Registration
Delegates register though an online form on the internet. The information is sent back to the delegate as confirmation, hence interactive.
International Organising Committee (IOC)
See Organising Committee. These committees are representatives of the international association, their involvement in the Conference will vary between associations. Usually they are involved in the program and have certain requirements which the LOC (see below) has to factor into the planning of the Conference.
ITO
Inbound Tour Operator.
KGB
LA
Late Arrival.
Lectern Sign
Sign
place on the front of a lectern (speakers podium).
LFL
Low floor request.
Local Organising Committee (LOC)
See Organising Committee. A group of association members (or other volunteers) from the country in which the event will be held who are responsible for the organisation of the congress.
MA
Master Account.
MEA
Meetings & Events Australia – our main industry association.
MCEC
Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.
MCVB
Melbourne Convention & Visitors Bureau (see SCVB)
Name Badge
Each delegate should wear a name badge which they collect as part of their
delegate pack when they arrive at the venue. These are produced electronically
from the registration database.
Near Lift
Room near the lift.
NON
Non smoking level.
Opening Ceremony
The official opening of the congress which usually includes an opportunity for
the host country (see above) to present itself and for the association's
dignitaries to make welcome speeches.
Oral Presentation
An abstract and / or full paper which is presented during the conference proceedings by the author as part of the session, ie orally.
Organising Committee (OC)
A group of association members (or other volunteers) typically from the country
in which the event will be held who are responsible for the organisation of the
congress. Typically the members are
volunteers on the committee and have full time jobs.
Parallel Session
Also called concurrent session, breakout sessions. Workshops, smaller meetings and seminars which take place during the congress. Often several run at the same time, enabling delegates to choose the subjects in which they are most interested.
Pax
Abbreviation
for people.
PCO
Stands for Professional Conference Organiser: a company which specialises in
organising congresses and events and can help the local organisers with either
all of or parts of the arrangements. A PEO - professional exhibition organiser
- may also be required for larger congresses.
Plenary Sessions
Usually held in the main congress hall, often at the beginning and end of the
congress or at the start of each day. The Plenary Sessions are generally for
the whole delegation.
POA
Pay Own Account.
POE
Pay Own Extras.
Posters
These are visual representations of an Abstract usually containing text, diagrams, graphs etc. to convey an area of research, hypothesis or whatever. Posters are usually about 1 metre wide by 2 metres deep and are attached to poster panels for display / review by delegates. (Poster panels are like free standing fabric covered dividers).
Pre- and Post- Congress Tours
Arranged in conjunction with local travel companies giving delegates the
opportunity to see more of the host country as a tourist. The tours will often
be for two, three or four days and will include places of interest and
occasionally activity holidays.
Program
Usually called Scientific Program or Business Program – the oral and poster sessions delivered at the congress. Scientific is usual with research / medical etc. Business programs happen with corporate etc.
Program at a Glance
A mini document giving the overview of the program timetabling etc. for the congress – designed to be a quick reference that can be slipped in a pocket.
Registration
Handling applications from people wishing to attend the conference including
computerised contact details, hotel requirements and specific requests.
Registration Brochure
A publication giving full notice of the congress and including information on all aspects and a form / reference on how to register to attend the congress.
REQ
Request.
REVPAR
Maximizing Revenue available per room.
RFP
Request
for proposal.
RL / RLW
Rollaway bed.
RM
Room.
Room Block
A number of accommodation rooms which have been bulk booked at a hotel for a congress and offered to delegates at a reduced rate. TH’s accommodation department manages this room block and releases rooms which we don’t need at certain key dates (ie 90 days, 60 days and 30 days before a meeting).
Rooming List
Names of delegates including room category reserved, arrival date, departure date, accommodation rate and special requests.
Same Floor
Requesting rooms to be allocated on the same floor.
Satchel
Congress bag given out containing congress material. (See also Delegate Pack). arinex usual terminology is ‘satchel’.
SCEC
Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre (often pronounced around the office as scec (one word)).
Scientific Program
When a program requires development through abstracts and / or full paper submissions. The committee invites general members of the field of study to submit their research for presenting at the meeting through abstracts and / or full papers. This is then reviewed by peers and papers are then accepted / rejected or accepted with review. They are then presented either as an oral presentation or poster presentation.
Session Slides
Powerpoint slides put up at the beginning of each session with the session name and names of authors presenting.
Simultaneous Interpretation
Used when the congress requires the proceedings to be translated into more than
one language. Specialised technical
equipment and interpreters are required so that delegates can listen to the
dialogue in a familiar language.
SMK
Smoking level.
Social Program
Dinners, cocktail functions and other activities play a major role in
networking. Spouse programs may also be organised for accompanying persons
which may include sightseeing tours and visits to places of interest.
Speaker Preparation Room
Room in operation during the congress where speakers need to visit approx 2 hours before their presentation. They need to hand in their presentation and also check in with the audio visual (AV) technicians manning the room to let them know that they are here. The AV technicians can also run through the computers and different technology which is set up in the Congress rooms.
Sponsorship
Often an integral part of the budget for a congress. Sponsorship may come from
a variety of sources (e.g. pharmaceutical companies for a medical congress),
may take the form of money or the provision of certain necessary items for the
event.
TA
Travel Agent.
Tent Cards
A4 name cards placed on the head table where speakers are sitting.
Theming
The decoration of a venue to either aesthetically enhance or to reflect the ‘theme’ of the congress.
Transportation
Not only from the airport to the congress venue: adequate provision must also
be made to get delegates from their hotels to the venue and also to evening
functions, social events and sightseeing tours.
TWN
Two Beds in the room
UPG
Room category upgrade.
Venue
Often a conference centre, hotel or university.
The venue must be booked well in advance to guarantee the space
required.
View
Room with a view.
Vinyl
Soft, flexible material used for sponsors banners.
Website
It is becoming increasingly popular for congresses to be promoted on the
Internet, often with the facility for delegates to register on-line.
Welcome Desk
An information desk should be set up at the appropriate inbound airport or
railway station directing delegates to transport to their hotels and the
congress venue.
Welcome Reception
Cocktail function usually held the evening before the start of the congress or after the first day of sessions. Typically this is a 1.5 hour function of beverages and canapés.