Web page: All regional meetings are promoted on the ACISweb.org website. Each regional meeting has its own page within the site. This page provides a link to registration, the CFP, basic conference information (featured speakers, events, hotel information, etc.), and links to proposal submissions. We can also include images as needed. If you desire a more robust site that includes more information than can be contained on that page, you are welcome to utilize your host resources to set up a separate site and we will also link to that external page.
CFPs: We will post the full CFP on the conference page. Additionally, CFPs and deadlines will be communicated to membership through our quarterly announcements.
Proposal Submissions: We run a digital portal through each regional conference page. Conference attendees may submit electronic proposals through that portal. All submissions will be sent directly to the email that you designate. Each submission file is also renamed as the last name of the person submitting and the conference/year (Ex: McClure – New England 2021) At the end of your proposal window, you will also receive a spreadsheet with the name of each submitted proposal, any data that we have collected in that form, and a link to the proposal. This is handy to verify that all proposals were received on your end.
Proposal submission form: We can collect any data you would like within that form. Most forms use a standard collection: Name, email, institutional affiliation, paper title, etc. This can be customized to include AV needs, panel or individual submissions, date restrictions on when someone can present, etc. When you have decided this, please email the webmaster all data fields you would like to include along with your CFP (acis@acisweb.org)
Proposal submission dates: It is not at all uncommon to have to extend the deadline for proposals. The Webmaster will typically check in with you about a week before the deadline. The proposal date is easily extended in the portal and updates will be made on the conference web page. The Webmaster does not handle the ACIS Facebook page, however, so any promotion there is your responsibility.
Updates and changes to the web page: If you have any updates or changes to the site, please email them to acis@acisweb.org. Please allow 3-5 days for the updates to show on the site.
Funds and Registration
Financial support: Each regional conference receives $2000 in assistance from the ACIS. To obtain this money, you must contact the treasurer at Treasurer@acisweb.org and request that check. Please allow approximately a week for this process. Given that most registration money will not come in until much closer to the conference, it is recommended that you request this starter money early in your planning, prior to the conference.
Financial responsibility: The host university is the primary responsible party for all financial arrangements. ACIS is an independent non-profit organization staffed only by volunteers who are also academic faculty members; thus ACIS does not sign hotel or catering contracts, nor any other financial agreement.
Documentation: All regional conferences are required to maintain a line item budget of income and spending, as well as keeping receipts of all expenditures. Receipts and any surplus funds from a conference should be returned to the regional and national ACIS treasurers. Final budgets should be submitted to both the regional treasurer and the ACIS Treasurer along with the final report on the conference.
Banking: It is strongly recommended that NO FUNDS are handled by individual bank accounts. Regional conferences should maintain an organizational bank account that can be accessed by planning committees. The national treasurer will send all funds to the regional bank account for regional treasurers to manage.
Registration: All conference registration payments for Regional meetings are handled through the ACISweb.org site. This allows for credit card payments only. We no longer allow for cash/check payments. An initial check will be mailed to you 30 days prior to the conference in the amount of all registration payments up until that time. This timeline can be adjusted as needed in agreement with the treasurer. All remaining registrations will be mailed immediately after either the close of online registration or the day of the conference. It is recommended that you determine when your invoices will be due and set your registration dates in accordance with that timeline.
Registration form: The registration form and process allows verification of membership in ACIS (non-members cannot register until dues are paid) and also as a means for you to collect any information you may need for conference planning. This includes days of attendance, guest registrations, meal preferences, etc. You will receive all of this data via a Google Drive link that updates once per day. It is possible to have various levels of registration (full-time, part-time, student, etc.) as well as ask for separate charges for additional events/items such as day trips or meals.
ACIS membership: All persons who present papers and participate in roundtables or readings must be dues-paying members of ACIS at the time of the conference. Similarly, all attendees are expected to be dues-paying members, although conference hosts may make occasional exceptions for family members of presenters. All attendees are expected to pay conference registration fees.
Content Planning
The ACIS does not dictate the style or substance of any of our regional conferences. Planning committees are open to creating a conference experience that is effective for their region and location. Typically, regional conferences are 1-2 days long, and include catered meals for two lunches, one dinner, one breakfast, and coffee breaks. Regional conference registration fees are typically in the range of $100 per participant, with a discounted rate for graduate students and part-time or adjunct faculty members. These rates are subject to the local conference host needs.
Final reports of general planning information and budget information are required to be submitted at the conclusion of the conference.Tthese will be made available in the future for reference to see what others have done in the past.
Until the reports are made available on the website, ACIS can provide titles of prior conferences to you to ensure variety from prior years or ideas. It is also advisable in your scheduling to stagger history/literature/visual arts panels to encourage multi-day attendance.
Finalization
Upon completion of the conference, submit your budget and a final report to your Regional representative on the ACIS Executive. The report should include a summary of events, an attendee count, names of plenary speakers, and any highlights from the meeting, as well as a conference program. Photos from the event are also welcome. The conference program will be entered into the database on ACISweb.org so that papers and presentations are searchable by title, subject, and name. Photos and the short summary of the meeting will be made available on the meeting’s webpage (that used to serve as the CFP, etc.)
Final payments from remaining registration will be mailed within 1-2 weeks of the close of the conference.