A Few Suggestions on How to Organize an ES-SSA Meeting

Abstract

Congratulations! You have agreed to organize an upcoming Eastern Section-Seismological Society of America (ES-SSA) meeting (or similar-size SSA-related meeting). Below are some suggestions to make this endeavor easier. Our suggestions are based on our experience organizing the 2006 ES-SSA meeting in Ottawa (with some additional experience from the 1986 and 1997 meetings). Make this project a team effort. Tasks that require a person in charge are: The ES-SSA meetings usually are held in mid-October plus or minus a couple of weeks. Potential conflicts with special holidays are the Canadian Thanksgiving (second Monday in October; 8 October in 2007 and 13 October in 2008), Columbus Day (8 October in 2007 and 13 October in 2008), and Yom Kippur (22 September in 2007 and 9 October in 2008). Traditionally, meetings last two days, plus one day (Sunday) for the field trip. The Ottawa 2006 meeting was four days long, the fourth day being a self-funded meeting of POLARIS Ontario, the Canadian geophysical research consortium focused on investigation and structure of the Earth's lithosphere and prediction of earthquake ground motion. This association was beneficial to both parties. ES-SSA meetings are self-funded. With this comes the responsibility of not ending with a deficit. Historically, only one meeting has not been able to have a slight surplus. Good planning and a good handle on “soft costs” should provide enough flexibility to have a slight surplus at the end. One major constraint is that registration fees are generally in the $150 range. One main difficulty is that you will probably not have money coming in before registration starts in late August. Before then, suppliers will need advance money to reserve rooms or services. You may consider asking for an advance of a few thousand dollars …