WTA Spring Meeting 2012 – Call for Topics

AUDIENCE: The audience will consist of general managers, directors, presidents, managers and decision-makers from WTA’s 24 state membership.  Attendees are experienced and knowledgeable.  They require and expect education that provides the most current information and the highest quality of expertise.

FORMAT: There are a limited number of sessions.  Sessions are 45 minutes and may be combined to create a panel.  Regardless of the format, all prospective presenters are encouraged to craft a proposal that demonstrate a dynamic and innovative plan to disseminate information.  Education should be timely, interesting, exciting, effective, unique and memorable.

SPEAKER COMPENSATION & REIMBURSEMENT POLICY: Because session presenters typically come form the suppliers/vendors/members, speakers are required to register appropriately for the meeting.  Unfortunately, conference registration is not covered or reimbursed, nor does WTA pay speaker fees or provide reimbursement for travel expenses.  A limited number of hotel rooms are being held for speakers.  As soon as a speaker has been confirmed, they must contact Lea Cramer (lea@w-t-a.org) for reservations, if a room is needed.  Please be aware that speakers are not guaranteed a room in the hotel, hotel rooms are based upon availability.

WTA NON-COMMERCIAL POLICY: Attendees are seeking valuable education content and are always critical of presenters or sessions that are self-promotional.  We cannot emphasize enough that presentations should only advance the educational process.  Our policy therefore obliges presenters to refrain from using meeting session as a format for commercial sales pitches, self-promotion or unwarranted criticism of a competitor.  Speakers are not permitted to distribute company promotional literature, brochures or sales materials in any form to attendees during their session, unless promotional piece has prior approval from WTA and is necessary for the presentation.  WTA will not be responsible for printing or providing speaker materials for the presentation.  WTA will post all presentations on the WTA website at the conclusion of the Meeting, unless the presenter request in writing, that the presentation not be made available on the WTA website.

SUBMISSION PROCESS: The deadline for submitting session proposals is December 1, 2011.  All proposals must be submitted via email to lea@w-t-a.org.  Incomplete proposals will not be considered.  A separate proposal must be submitted for each proposed session.  Proposals need to include the following:  title of session, intended audience, subject area (ie:  technical/broadband/management/legislative/accounting, etc.), summary of session, 3-5 key objectives/outcomes that attendees will learn from session, presenter’s biography (paragraph under 100 words) and most recent speaking engagement(s).

SELECTION PROCESS: Anyone may submit a session proposal; however, all proposals must be submitted no later than December 1, 2011.  The following core criteria will be used to review proposals:   preference will be given to associate members sponsoring the 2012 WTA Spring Meeting (sponsorship will not guarantee a session); associate members must be in good standing; timeliness of subject matter; topic has practical applications; clear, focused and well-organized proposal; presenter’s qualifications; presentation strategies; presentation’s overall quality, and references from other speaking engagements.  WTA reserves the right to request modifications to a proposal before final selections are made.  WTA will respond to all presentation proposals no later than February 1, 2012.