If the conference is not in a hotel, some nearby hotel should be clearly denoted as the lead hotel so that breakfast and evening meetings can easily be held. A number of rooms could be pre-reserved in this hotel but all alternatives should be nearby,
The choice of lead hotel should take into account that many people are travelling at their own expense. This is particularly important for Stockholm because Sweden is quite an expensive country,
Full travel directions be posted on the Conference web site in good time, not just links to the city council. Directions ideally should be written by someone who is not a native,
The General Assembly and Council meetings should be on the same day with the Council after the General Assembly,
We should set up a Wiki so that all members and organisers can share their experience of conference and event organisation, including how to administer it from the website and local events. Adding to this blog will eventually get scrolled down as new items are added.
The Athen conference suffered because the website was very new. There have been some teething problems but these have either already been sorted out or will be shortly.
ENBIS has clearly had a renaissance and that we can now move forwards. We be posting management details on this website for improved transparency and governance.
I entirely agree with John's comments about the hotels and directions (1,2 & 3).
I disagree with the comments about the ordering and timings of the Council and General Assembly meetings. The way that these were conducted this year (apart from some confusion caused by the hotel for the Sunday evening Council Meeting) was almost perfect. Believe me, John, you had to be there. The result was that the GA meeting benefitted from the preparation following the Council Meeting in that it was much slicker and better structured than in previous years. Others may disagree with me, but I would vote to keep the format that was adopted this year.
Yes. The web-based participation was not as good as it could have been, but most delegates came to believe that the foiundations have been laid so that we have the capability to become much more communicative in the future. Apart from the few minors that are being worked on, it is over to the membership now to make it work.
Finally, on the venues, it was demonstrated this year that we will suffer if the conference halls and rooms and the sound systems are not tested and found to be suitable before the confernce begins. Delegates were losing interest because they were finding it hard to capture all that was being said. That was a real shame for both the speakers and for the delegates.
I see the sense in having the GA before the Council and take your point. but:
Rainer recalled that there had been a vote at Dortmund to make it the other way round although since there are no minutes to check he may have been mistaken, and
For years when there is an election isn't it more ethical to have the new team introduced to the GA first before it starts making decisions.
But that's what this blog facility is all about. Comments, anyone?
Comments
Ideas for ENBIS 9 ... Author:Lance Mitchell (at 2008/09/25 09:38)
Little things can make a big difference:
Put the organisation and country of delgates on their name badges.
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Re: Ideas for ENBIS 9 ... Author:Lance Mitchell (at 2008/09/25 15:08)
Further comment - country flags would be great, but the name or abbreviation would be nice to have.
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Re: Ideas for ENBIS 9 ... Author:John Logsdon (at 2008/09/25 22:26)
I would like to see:
The Athen conference suffered because the website was very new. There have been some teething problems but these have either already been sorted out or will be shortly.
ENBIS has clearly had a renaissance and that we can now move forwards. We be posting management details on this website for improved transparency and governance.
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Re: Ideas for ENBIS 9 ... Author:Lance Mitchell (at 2008/09/26 11:20)
I entirely agree with John's comments about the hotels and directions (1,2 & 3).
I disagree with the comments about the ordering and timings of the Council and General Assembly meetings. The way that these were conducted this year (apart from some confusion caused by the hotel for the Sunday evening Council Meeting) was almost perfect. Believe me, John, you had to be there. The result was that the GA meeting benefitted from the preparation following the Council Meeting in that it was much slicker and better structured than in previous years. Others may disagree with me, but I would vote to keep the format that was adopted this year.
Yes. The web-based participation was not as good as it could have been, but most delegates came to believe that the foiundations have been laid so that we have the capability to become much more communicative in the future. Apart from the few minors that are being worked on, it is over to the membership now to make it work.
Finally, on the venues, it was demonstrated this year that we will suffer if the conference halls and rooms and the sound systems are not tested and found to be suitable before the confernce begins. Delegates were losing interest because they were finding it hard to capture all that was being said. That was a real shame for both the speakers and for the delegates.
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Re: Ideas for ENBIS 9 ... Author:John Logsdon (at 2008/09/27 10:18)
I see the sense in having the GA before the Council and take your point. but:
But that's what this blog facility is all about. Comments, anyone?
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