Section C of the Guidelines for the organization of an International Congress on Acoustics

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C. ACTION ITEMS

C1. OFFICIAL LANGUAGE

The official language of the International Congress on Acoustics is English.

C2. ORGANISING COMMITTEE

The appointment of the General Chairman, the Technical Programme Chairman and the composition of the Organising Committee of the International Congress on Acoustics shall be approved in writing by the Commission President before public announcement of the Congress. The General Chairman of the International Congress or a designated alternate shall be present at the congress preceding the International Congress. The General Chairman will be invited to participate in the annual meetings of the Commission Board.

C3. INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE

It is established practice to have the International Advisory Committee (I.A.C.) to assist the Organising Committee. The International Advisory Committee shall be balanced on a world-wide basis with each committee member selected to represent one of the countries with a Member Society. The composition of the I.A.C. shall be approved by the Commission President before the prospective members are requested by the General Chairman of the Congress to serve, and should consist of 10-20 members. The I.A.C. assists the Organising Committee by providing information on the forthcoming International Congress within each country represented on the I.A.C. The members of the I.A.C. may provide proposals for distinguished lecturers, survey papers and invited papers, and may be appointed to serve as chairmen of the individual sessions of the International Congress.

C4. SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM

Only papers which treat subjects in acoustics as listed in the PACS Classification of Subjects are acceptable for presentation at the International Congress on Acoustics. Although contributions in all areas of acoustics may be accepted, the International Congress may feature special topics which are of particular interest at the time of the Congress.

C5. TYPES OF PAPERS AND THEIR PRESENTATION

The following types of papers are appropriate for the International Congress:

1. Distinguished lectures. These are presentations which are 40-50 minutes in duration and are presented in Plenary Sessions by outstanding individuals. There may be distinguished lectures covering a broad range of topics within acoustics.
2. Key note papers. These are invited papers. They may be presented in maximum two parallel sessions.
3. Invited papers.
4. Contributed papers for oral or poster presentation. Presenters of poster papers are expected to remain at their posters for the entire announced duration of the poster session.

If the number of abstracts of contributed papers exceeds the number which the Organising Committee considers reasonable for oral presentation, it is the responsibility of the organising committee to move a sufficient number of papers to poster sessions.

C6. Acceptance of Papers

The Organising Committees of previous International Congresses on Acoustics have usually refrained from a strict censorship of the abstracts for contributed papers. The abstracts are usually skimmed in order to reject contributions that are clearly irrelevant, inferior, not understandable, or not in the field of acoustics. Organisers of future International Congresses shall enforce the generally recognised request that contributed papers describe new work which has not previously been presented at a scientific conference or published in an archival, refereed journal.

A contributed paper can only be accepted if one registration fee has been paid before or at the time of the deadline for the receipt of the manuscript. It is strongly recommended that no exceptions be made to this rule.

A paper shall be excluded from the program and the manuscript shall be omitted from the proceedings if the manuscript and accompanying payment of the registration fee is not received before the deadline.

For a paper of any type, it is not acceptable to print in the Proceedings only the author's name, the title of the paper and a summary. For inclusion in the program, as well as for an oral presentation, the author's manuscripts must be included in the Proceedings.

C7. Sessions

The following sessions are held during the International Congress on Acoustics:

1. Opening (First Day) Plenary Session. The Opening Plenary Session on the morning of the first day, to which all participants and accompanying persons are invited, is a major event of the International Congress on Acoustics. It is up to the organising committee to prepare an appropriate programme. The programme shall include an address by the Commission Chairman.
2. Plenary Sessions (on Second and following Days). Invited general Lectures are given during these sessions, normally as the initial events in the morning. Two general lectures on very different subjects may be held in parallel.
3. Technical Sessions. Survey papers, invited papers, organised structured sessions and contributed papers are presented at technical sessions. There may be 6 to 8 parallel sessions, with a practical upper limit of 10. Survey papers are usually presented at the beginning of the relevant technical sessions.
4. Presentation of Posters. Authors of papers presented in Poster Sessions may - if the Organising Committee finds it desirable - be allotted 2 - 5 minutes each for presentation of the key findings of their papers. The Organising Committee should take steps to ensure that poster sessions run on time. Adequate time (2 - 3 hours) should be reserved for discussions at the display posters.
5. Closing Plenary Session. The Closing Plenary Session, to which all participants and accompanying persons are invited, is another major event of the International Congress on Acoustics. Sufficient time should be allocated for the following three presentations:
   1. Thank-yous by the General Chairman to the Organising Committee, the Conference Secretariat, the members of the staff, and others as appropriate.
   2. Thank you by the Commission Chairman to the host society.
   3. Invitation to participate at the next International Congress by the General Chairman of that Congress.

An alternative is to combine the closing session with a banquet the last evening.

C8. Subject Classification System

The PACS classification system shall be used for all papers.

C9. Paper-Presentation Timing System

A timing system shall be used to keep the parallel sessions synchronised in order for participants to change from session to session so that they may listen to the papers of greatest interest to them.

C10. Abstracts

An abstract and Paper Submittal Form are required for each invited and contributed paper. The abstract shall be limited to 200 words, including equations and references. The senior author of an abstract shall give a complete mailing address, telephone number, e-mail number, fax number and one or two subject classification numbers under which the paper may be classified. The abstract shall be typed double-spaced on one sheet of paper (A-4 or 8.5 x 11 size) and submitted by fax, mail, e-mail or express courier service to the Congress Secretariat in the required number of copies as stated on the Paper Submittal Form.

C11. Instructions to Authors

At the same time that the authors are informed of the acceptance of their papers, they shall also be informed in writing about the following:

1. The number of pages in the Proceedings book allotted to the manuscript of the author's paper.
2. The registration fee for the conference must be submitted with the returned manuscript (See additional information in section C7). The author shall be informed that failure to submit the registration fee for the Congress with the manuscript means that the paper will not be included in the Proceedings and that a presentation will not be scheduled for the Congress.
3. If an author is prevented from participating in the International Congress to personally present his paper, the author must inform the Organising Committee as soon as possible, by fax, telephone, e-mail or letter concerning the situation, and not later than 15 days before the opening day of the Congress. If an author wishes to ask a colleague to read his paper, the Organising Committee shall be informed of the name, address, and telephone and/or fax number or e-mail of the colleague. Such substitution is acceptable only if the colleague is acquainted with the contents of the paper to such a degree that questions on the paper after its presentation can be answered. In any case, it is completely unacceptable and highly unprofessional for an author to fail to appear at the time scheduled for the paper to be presented without notifying the Organising Committee well in advance.
4. All authors shall prepare overhead transparencies or 35 mm slides in such a form that all persons in the meeting room will be able to read the text and see the drawings clearly.
5. If an abstract is accepted for poster presentation, the author shall be provided with detailed information about the display panels, the timing and duration of the poster sessions and the need to prepare an oral synopsis (if any).

C12. Meeting Rooms

One meeting room shall have a capacity corresponding to at least 80% of the estimated number of registered participants (N) plus accompanying persons. The capacity and number of other rooms depend on the number of parallel sessions and the estimated number of registered participants. Do not estimate the minimum size of the rooms needed for parallel sessions by dividing the number of parallel sessions into the estimated number of registered participants. There will usually be an uneven distribution of the participants in the individual parallel sessions. Some will have many participants, others will have few. Contact the Organising Committees of previous International Congresses on Acoustics and request the room seating figures that were assigned for each parallel session and any information concerning "standing room only" sessions.

C13. Committee Rooms

A number of committees usually hold meetings in conjunction with the International Congress on Acoustics. The Organising Committee shall ascertain the number and size of the meeting rooms that will be needed for the committees, and make suitable arrangements for these rooms to be available. The chairperson of each committee requesting a room shall be notified in writing of the location of the room and the hours that it is available.

C14. Projection of Overhead Transparencies and Slides

The dimensions of the screen used for projection of the overhead transparencies and slides shall be sufficiently large to insure that the text on the slides can be read from the back of the room. The width of the screen shall preferably be at least 1/6 of the distance from the screen to the most distant spectator.

C15. Instructions to Chair of Sessions

It is established practice for each technical session to have two chairpersons, one a foreign participant and the other a participant from the host country. It is important that the session chairpersons get proper instructions concerning their responsibilities. This may be accomplished the evening before the opening of the Congress. The chairpersons - and their accompanying spouses - may be invited to a dinner at which the Organising Committee gives the necessary instructions. The foreign chairpersons shall be chosen in such a way that a wide representation of countries is obtained. If a foreign chairperson is presenting a paper at the Congress, he/she should be asked to chair the session in which his/her paper is to be given. He/she will likely be knowledgeable of the subjects treated in the other papers presented in the session.

C16. Proceedings

The Proceedings of the Congress must be available for distribution at the registration desk prior to the Opening Session of the congress. It is the responsibility of the Organising Committee to send a complimentary copy of the Proceedings to the secretariat of each Member Society. A sufficient number of books and/or CD-ROMs should be printed to cover this complimentary distribution. The print run of the proceedings book should be between 1.5N and 2N, where N is the estimated number of registered participants.

The International Standard Serial Number assigned to the International Congress on Acoustics Proceedings is ISSN XXXXXX. This number shall preferably be printed in the top right hand corner of the front cover of each volume or in another conspicuous place. Other numbers, such as an ISBN or National Library catalogue number, may be added at the discretion of the Organising Committee.

C17. Registration Desk

The registration desk shall be open during the day preceding the opening session for the registrants to receive the Proceedings in order to study the papers prior to the opening of the Congress. It is recommended that the registration desk be open on the day preceding the Congress at least from 12.00 to 20.00 hours.

C18. Technical Exhibition

It is highly desirable that a technical trade exhibition of equipment, materials, and instruments be organised in connection with the International Congress on Acoustics. The location of the exhibition hall with respect to the meeting rooms for the parallel technical sessions should be carefully planned to maximise the flow of participants through the exhibition area. Refreshments served in the exhibition area will tend to increase the flow of participants past the exhibits.

C19. Technical Visits

The Organising Committee may arrange technical visits of scientific and technical interest on an optional basis. Technical visits should preferably be arranged before the opening of the Congress or after the closing of the Congress. Technical visits on a Congress meeting day will reduce the number of attendees at technical sessions and are not recommended if they are in any way in competition with simultaneous technical sessions.

C20. Satellite Symposia

Any satellite symposia shall be approved in advance by the Commission Board or in exceptional cases by the Commission Chairman before announcement. Such symposia shall be planned at the same time as the International Congress since a proper coordination of programme, time and place of the symposia is of critical importance. Satellite symposia shall have their own organising committees, budgets and secretariats. The registration fees for satellite symposia shall be approved by the Commission Board or the Commission Chairman in advance.

C21. Services

1. Registration desk. The number of assistants at the registration desk shall be sufficient so that participants can secure prompt service. An assistant's unfamiliarity with a participant's native language may result in a slow-down in service. If the native language of the host country is English, a special registration desk may be provided for host-country participants. A special registration desk shall be provided for participants who have not registered in advance by mail, so that those who have pre-registered are not delayed by those who have not pre-registered.
2. Bank service. The registration fee must be paid in the currency in which the registration fee is stated. It is of great help to the participants if the services of a commercial bank are provided close to the registration desk.
3. Information, tourist and travel service. A desk for information, tourist and travel service should be provided.
4. Incoming mail. Arrangement for distribution of mail addressed to the participants shall be established.
5. Outgoing mail. Many participants may wish to mail the Proceedings after the close of the Congress. A mailing service (paper, string, postal scales, stamps or stamp machine) may be provided. The address and hours of opening of the nearest post office and its location relative to the Congress should be displayed in any case.
6. It is highly recommended to offer congress participants the option to read and send their e-mails.
7. Emergency service. A telephone number and a fax number should be given in the advance programme, thus making it possible for families of participants to send messages in emergencies.
8. Coffee/tea service. The Organising Committee should plan the sessions with a break of 20 to 25 minutes duration, both during the morning and afternoon sessions. It is appreciated very much by the participants if coffee and tea are served in the morning and cold drinks during the afternoon; however the cost of the coffee-tea service is not necessarily included in the registration fee. It is highly appreciated by the exhibitors if the coffee-tea service is located in the exhibit area.
9. Eating facilities. The Organising Committee should provide information about restaurants and other eating places in the neighbourhood for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

C22. Registration Fees

It is strongly recommended that the Organising Committee communicate with the organisers of previous International Congresses before a draft budget is prepared and request information concerning the budgets and actual income and expenses of these previous Congresses. The budget should not include financial support (including funds for travel or living expenses) for distinguished or invited lecturers, or for participants from countries with currency exchange restrictions or economic problems. If the Organising Committee wishes to give financial support to such participants at the International Congress on Acoustics, the necessary resources should not be charged to the account of the Congress, but should be obtained from other sources (e g IUPAP) to provide for the travel and living expenses for such individuals.

The registration fee, which will include a copy of the Congress Proceedings, shall be approved by the Commission Chairman before it is announced. The policy of the International Commission for Acoustics requires that a separate registration fee be paid for each manuscript received for inclusion in the Proceedings. This policy tends to reduce the number of papers produced by the same author.

A reduced pre-registration fee may be offered as an inducement for early registration. The deadline for receipt of the lower fee should coincide with the date on which the manuscripts are to be received from the authors for the Proceedings.

C23. Finances and Budget

The Organising Committee shall prepare a break-even budget based on an attendance of 0.75N, where N is the estimated number of registered participants. The budget should contain sufficient detail so that each significant item of income and expense is a separate line item. In order to reach a break-even budget, it is recommended that the Organising Committee keep the number of complimentary registrations to a minimum. While the registration fees for Distinguished Lecturers may be waived, the registration fees should not be waived for participants who have submitted abstracts for invited or survey papers.

After the registration fees have been set, but before they are announced, the fee for each registrant shall be increased by 5% for the services of the International Commission for Acoustics. The Organising Committee shall remit 5% of the registration fees to the Treasurer of the International Commission for Acoustics for each participant who pays the full Congress registration fee or the pre-registration fee.

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