Wood for a Sustainable Future: Strengthening the Connection Between Industry and Science

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Session Organizers' Responsibilities

The FPS & SWST Joint Convention will be held June 15-20, 2025 in Fort Collins, Colorado, USA. Session organizers are expected to attend. If you have any questions about session organization, contact Joseph Jakes at joseph.e.jakes@usda.gov.

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1. Submit a Session Proposal Form by October 1, 2024. The form includes the session title, organizers, session format, scope, list of potential invited speakers or panel members, and number of session blocks requested.

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2. Session organizers will be notified by the convention planning committee by October 15, 2024 about the acceptance of their proposal. If any changes to the session proposal are needed, the planning committee will discuss them with the session organizers.

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3. Immediately after final approval of the session proposal, the session organizers should begin inviting their invited oral presenters. By November 13, 2024, the session organizers must provide the planning committee with a list of speakers who have accepted the invitation to participate in the session and the titles of their presentations. Invited speakers will be expected to register and attend the conference.

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4. In November 2024, the general call of offered oral and poster presentations will be opened. The call will include the list of Technical Sessions with their organizers, scope, and invited oral presentations. Organizers are encouraged to promote their sessions through their networks. People may submit offered oral and poster presentations to any of the Presentation Sessions. There will also be a ‘General’ Presentation Session for any abstracts that do not fit into the listed sessions. The call for offered presentations is expected to close by the end of January 2025.

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5. After the general call closes session organizers will be given all abstracts submitted to their session. It will be the responsibility of the session organizers to determine whether to accept an abstract and to choose the oral presentations to fit into their session blocks.
If the subject of a submitted abstract does not fit into the session, the organizers should notify the planning committee to transfer the abstract to another session. Depending on the number of abstracts submitted to each session, the planning committee may need to
adjust the number of session blocks assigned to each session.

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6. In March 2025 presenters will be notified concerning the acceptance of their abstracts and be required to confirm their attendance. During this time, the session organizers will be notified if any of their presenters decline the presentation. If the presentation was an
oral, the symposium organizers should immediately find a replacement.

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7. In April 2025 session organizers must finalize oral presenters and indicate who will moderate each session block. The moderators should be a session organizer or a well-regarded researcher who can facilitate discussion and provide perspective during the session.

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