Late last month, a committee of NFPA technical experts met to evaluate the more than 320 presentation proposals that were submitted for our 2009 conference in Chicago. It was a difficult task, since only 130 papers could be selected to be part of our conference education program.
We were very impressed with the quality and breadth of submissions received this year, and we made our selections based on relevance, focus, practical application, timeliness, as well as on the presenters’ experience and credentials. If you submitted a proposal, you’ll be notified of the committee’s decision later this month.
Now we put together the pieces of the puzzle - programming the selected presentations into time slots and finalizing the schedule. We’ve got a robust educational program planned, with more than 15 pre-conference seminars, education topics in 11 tracks, case studies, code updates, “Spotlight Sessions” (special seminars that don’t conflict with other conference events) and “behind the scenes” tours. Watch this blog and our conference Web site for details.
- Linda Bailey