APRICOT 2006 CALL FOR TECHNICAL CONFERENCE TRACK CHAIRS
Asia Pacific Regional Internet Conference on Operational Technologies
Perth, Australia Feb 22 - Mar 3, 2006
The APRICOT 2006 Program Committee is seeking interested and
qualified Track Chairs to actively assist the Committee in
recruiting speakers and organizing technical tracks for the 2006
Asia Pacific Regional Internet Conference on Operational
Technologies.
The main responsibility of the Track Chair is to identify,
recruit high quality speakers to share their expertise on
operationally relevent topics. As in past years, the APRICOT
Program Committee will issue a general call for presentations,
which typically elicits a large number of submissions. These
proposals will be provided to the Track Chairs for consideration,
but it is expected that the Track Chairs will primarily use their
own personal networks to recruit speakers who may not have
participated in past APRICOT events.
Specific Track Chair responsibilities include:
* Identifying and describing a track topic and relevant
potential track components (panel discussions, pro/con
debates, etc.) within the track that will be interesting and
valuable to the APRICOT audience. Preliminary Track
descriptions are due at the time of nomination, or by June 15,
2005.
* Helping to publicize and recruit speakers, session moderators,
and participants for their track and the conference in
general.
* Vetting and recommending speakers and their subjects for their
Track to the Program Committee. Detailed Track content
recommendations are due on August 29, 2005.
* Requiring and confirming that speakers submit their proposed
materials in a timely manner. Track chairs should submit
speaker recommendations and abstracts to the Program Committee
by September 26, 2005. Selected speakers will be announced by
the Program Committee on or before October 10, 2005.
* Evaluating submitted materials for content and quality
suitable for an international technical/operations
conference. Track chairs should submit full/detailed
presentation outlines to the Program Committee by November 7,
2005.
* Serving as a liaison between the Program Committee and the
selected participants in your Track. Track chairs should
submit all complete presentation materials to the Program
Committee by January 9, 2006.
* This year we will require that speakers must supply their
program material in advance so that we can confirm operational
content and that there is not inappropriate sales material.
* Track Chairs are members of the Apricot Program Committee and
will share the responsibility of determining overall program
issues and planning. Track Chairs are encouraged to help find
speakers for other tracks and tutorials as well.
Workshop Chair and Tutorial Chair
These positions are similar to the Track Chairs described above,
but will be responsible for recruiting and facilitating
instructors for five-day and half-day/full day instructional
tutorials, respectively.
A total of 5-6 Track Chairs will be selected by the Program
Committee, along with a Tutorial Chair and Workshop Chair, with
the expectation that 4-6 Tracks will ultimately be scheduled for
presentation.
Please feel free to nominate yourself or someone other than
yourself who might be appropriate for either of these
positions. The deadline for receiving Conference Track and
Tutorial Track Chair nominations is May 2, 2005. Results of the
selection process will be announced by May 18, 2005.
ABOUT THE APRICOT AUDIENCE
The APRICOT audience is mainly comprised of technical network
operators and professional engineers with experience levels
ranging from (almost) newbie to seasoned, senior technical
management. APRICOT audiences always include native speakers of
a dozen or more languages, so written materials and
presentations should be tuned appropriately. Each year, the
majority of APRICOT attendees travel internationally and commit
considerable sums relative to their local economies to
participate in APRICOT; they expect the highest possible quality
in presentation content and delivery.
APRICOT CONFERENCE TRACKS, SESSIONS, & TUTORIALS
Historically, tutorials have focused on core operational skills
and basic protocol knowledge, with conference sessions
highlighting day-to-day operations and recent/emerging issues
within a 12-18 month time horizon.
APRICOT Conference Tracks are full-day events. Each Track
typically encompasses three 90-minute Sessions composed of 3-4
presenters (speakers) per session; accordingly each presentation
should be designed to be approximately 20-30 minutes in
duration. On the recommendation of the Track Chair, individual
Sessions may be moderated by persons with expertise appropriate
to the subject matter of the session. Session Moderators may
assist in managing speaker time and soliciting questions from
the audience.
APRICOT Tutorials are half or full day workshops which focus on
a particular subject in-depth. They may be presented by a single
Instructor, or a team of instructors working together. Tutorial
attendance is typically charged separately from APRICOT
conference attendance, so it is essential that tutorials are of
the highest quality and deliver concrete operational value to
participants.
The above descriptions are suggestions only, based on past
successful program offerings. Prospective Track and Tutorial
Chairs are encouraged to suggest alternative schedules or
structures for organizing Conference Tracks and Tutorials to the
APRICOT Program Committee.
*IMPORTANT NOTE*
APRICOT is a TECHNICAL and OPERATIONAL conference. Marketing and
commercial content is limited to the appropriate fora (e.g.,
designated demo areas, "Beer 'n Gear" events) and otherwise
restricted from the official program. The Program Committee and
Track Chairs are charged with maintaining the technical
standards of APRICOT, and will therefore not accept
inappropriate materials. To the greatest extent possible, all
official conference materials will be designed and presented in
a vendor neutral format. APRICOT attendees are technical
professionals, and proposed conference materials should be
appropriate to the audience. All sessions will provide time for
Q&A, and presenters should be prepared to receive detailed
technical questions, and to provide appropriately detailed
technical responses.
The APRICOT Program Committee reserves the right withdraw
speaking invitations or to disallow presentations that are
inconsistent with the goals and standards set forth in this call
for proposals.
APRICOT FUNDING AND SUPPORT
APRICOT is a not-for-profit event. Every effort is made to keep
attendances fee low in order to reach diverse target groups from
both the developed and developing countries of the Asia Pacific
region. Registration fees are waived for all Track Chairs,
Tutorial instructors, and Speakers, however it is generally
impossible for APRICOT to underwrite travel expenses for
speakers. Only in exceptional hardship circumstances will
APRICOT be able to consider assisting Track Chairs or Tutorial
instructors with travel expenses. A small number of conference
fellowships will be made available (on the basis of personal and
local need) to prospective conference attendees from Asia
Pacific region; additional information about these fellowships
is available at http://www.2006.apricot.net/fellowship.html
(TBA).
APRICOT 2006 IMPORTANT MILESTONES:
02 May 2005: Receive all Track, Workshop, and
Tutorial Chair nominations
18 May 2005: Track Chair selections announced
15 June 2005: Basic Track outlines submitted by Track
Chairs to Program Committee General
Presentation RFP distributed by
Program Committee
29 August 2005: Initial presentation proposals submitted by
Track Chairs to Program Committee
26 September 2005: Final presentation proposals submitted by
Track Chairs to Program Committee
10 October 2005: Approved presentation tracks announced by
Program Committee Selected APRICOT 2006
Presenters notified;
07 November 2005: Detailed presentations outlines
submitted by Track Chairs to Program
Committee Conference Track schedules finalized
09 January 2006: Full presentation materials submitted by
Track Chairs to Program Committee
22 February 2006: APRICOT 2006 Workshops begin (through 26 February)
27 February 2006: APRICOT 2006 Conference Begins
NOMINATING YOURSELF OR OTHERS AS A TRACK CHAIR
If you would like to be considered as a TRACK CHAIR, please copy the
following form, fill it in and email it to
mailto:chair.submission@apricot.net
If you know of someone else that you believe would make a good
Track Chair, please forward this email to them and encourage
them to submit the form, or fill in as much of the form as you
can and include your contact info in the section for the
"Nominator" and email it to mailto:program@apricot.net with the word
"Nomination" in the subject line.