Annual Meeting

Meeting Rooms and Food Functions

Headquarters will contact each SIS chair about SIS requirements for meetings and/or food functions. Meeting scheduling forms are mailed out in the fall and due back by November 1.

Sections may choose to provide food and/or beverages at any of their meetings; forms are sent in February and are due back by May 15. The cost of the service will be charged against the Section's account.

Sections wishing to hold meal functions, for which members are to register and pay with their registration for the AALL Annual Meeting and Conference, must contact the Meeting Coordinator at AALL Headquarters in early November.

The Annual Meeting Program Committee is responsible for scheduling its Annual Meeting (Charge to the AMPC). There are certain no-conflict times that must be observed. There is no charge for the use of meeting rooms.

SIS officers are sent copies of hotel menus for planning food events. Each SIS is expected to pay all charges for food/beverage service prior to the end of the Annual Meeting. Payment is usually made by a charge against the Section's account or by turning in funds collected from members for any large food function.


Audio-Visual Equipment for Non-Program Events

Prior to the annual meeting, each SIS chair is sent necessary forms for ordering audio-visual equipment to be used during their business/continuing education meetings.

The SIS pays for any equipment used. (This does not include AALL Annual Meeting Program Selection Committee approved programs held during the annual conference.)

The hotel usually provides one free microphone per business meeting room.

Payment is usually made by a charge against a section's account. (AALL Minutes 633)


Educational Programs

The SISs began taking an active part in the AALL annual meeting programs in 1980 with the approval of the AALL Executive Board. (AALL Minutes 652).
In the spring, program forms for the subsequent year may be requested on AALLNET .

SIS sponsorship of programs at the AALL Annual Meeting is important to the SISs and to the overall educational programming of the Association. Sections are encouraged to submit program proposals to the Annual Meeting Program Selection Committee by its deadline, which is typically early to mid-August
SIS Education Committees should follow the Program Planning Handbook, distributed in spring each year, for complete information on planning programs for the following year's annual meeting. It includes blank forms as well as sample completed forms.

If a program or workshop is selected for presentation, the Annual Meeting Program Committee liaison notifies the SIS member who has been designated program or workshop coordinator and together they work out details concerning speakers and costs.

The AALL Program Coordinator for Meetings & Special Events maintains a database of speakers who have received good reviews for past performance at AALL conventions. Program planners are encouraged to contact the office for assistance in identifying excellent speakers.

These programs are funded by AALL as part of the annual meeting's expenses.
The coordinator must operate within the budget agreed upon with the Annual Meeting Program Committee.

The Program Committee reviews program proposals based on the strength and content of the proposals. Multi-sponsorship by SISs of program proposals does not ensure acceptance of the proposals, but it does indicate that the proposal has appeal to different types of audiences.


SIS-Sponsored Educational Programs in Conjunction with Business Meetings

Some SISs present educational programs in conjunction with their business meetings.

The sections, using either money from their treasuries or fees charged to attending members, must fund these programs.

Registration to these programs must be made available to all AALL members.


SIS Exhibits

The exhibit area at the AALL annual meeting includes a "Special Activities Area" for displaying materials illustrative of the work of the Association's SISs, Chapters, and Committees.

AALL Headquarters mails a form to each SIS Chair regarding their participation. If not returned, no table will be reserved for the SIS.

All SISs are encouraged to submit items such as brochures, section publications, reports of projects, and posters, etc. for the exhibit.

Materials can usually be mailed to the exhibit hall in advance of the conference, or materials can be brought to the hall the day before the exhibit hall opens. Mailing instructions are sent to SIS Chairs. All materials that are not removed at the close of the exhibit hall (5:00pm on Tuesday) will be discarded.

The SISs are responsible for staffing their display during the convention.


Merchandise Sales at the Annual Meeting

At the request of several SISs, the AALL Executive Board approved a policy that will allow SISs to sell merchandise at the AALL annual meetings. At its March 29, 1996 Executive Board Meeting, the following FLRP Financial Policy Addition to FLRP III, Section E6 passed unanimously:

Scheduling of SIS Business Meetings and Educational Programs

Each SIS conducts at least one business meeting at the AALL annual convention, and several SISs present educational sessions outside the official annual meeting program. The following AALL Executive Board recommendations address the scheduling of SIS business meetings:

The minutes (p. 1376) record that "it was noted that these recommendations will serve as a guideline but not as a restriction on the scheduling decisions for future Annual Meeting planners." At the November 3, 1990 meeting (AALL Minutes 1590) the Board approved revisions in the original recommendations to allow for greater flexibility and convenience. Summarized here are the recommendations pertaining specifically to SISs.

Note however that in recent years, more time has been made available for SIS meetings, including times on Monday and Wednesday.

At the November 2, 2002 meeting the Board approved “directing all future AMPC - beginning with the 2004 Annual Meeting - to provide membership entities with more flexibility for holding small meetings during educational programs, and to accommodate the needs of membership entities as much as possible, while respecting the AALL no-conflict hours, and to develop and communicate new scheduling guidelines for all entities well in advance of the 2004 Boston Annual Meeting."


SIS-Sponsored Workshops

When the AALL Annual Meeting Program Committee and Professional Development Committee approve an SIS-sponsored workshop for presentation at an AALL annual conference, the designated co-directors must prepare a budget and set a registration fee, which will cover all expenses for speakers, materials, lunch, refreshments, etc.

At its March 29, 1996 meeting the Executive Board unanimously adopted the following motion: AALL assumes all financial risk for potential losses form Institutes and Workshops. It retains net revenues generated from Institutes and Workshops (AALL Minutes 2217).

A FEW IMPORTANT DEADLINES FOR SPONSORED AND TICKETED EVENTS

October is an important month for the SIS Chairs to plan their meetings, meals, receptions, and other social events to be held at the Annual Meeting. Preliminary Scheduling Forms are mailed to SIS Chairs by October 15th.
On November 1st all Preliminary Scheduling Forms are due to the Meeting Manager at headquarters.

On December 1st, the text and registration forms for the Annual Meeting Preliminary Program are completed. All SIS meals and social events that are sponsored, wholly or in part by a donor, should be confirmed before December 1st in order to establish meal ticket prices and to give donors recognition in the Preliminary Program.

On May 1st, the text for the Annual Meeting Final Program and the Awards and Acknowledgements Brochure (distributed to all registrants) is completed and it includes an acknowledgement of all sponsorships, even those received between December 1 and May 1, the deadline for the Final Program.