WWW8 Call for Panels

The Eighth International World Wide Web Conference
Toronto, Canada, May 11-14, 1999

Panels represent an opportunity for exploration of current issues and emerging opportunities. Panels provide an interactive forum that will engage both panelists and the audience in lively discussion of important and often controversial issues.

How to submit a panel to WWW8

Document:

Proposals (approx. 1500 words or 5 pages) should be submitted in ASCII or HTML formats by email. The proposal should explicitly address the issues outlined below.

Include:

• the panel title
• an abstract
• the name(s), affiliation(s), and complete mailing address(es) (including phone, fax, e-mail) of the
  proposer(s).
• the name, biographical information and a position statement or "role" for each panelist
• the name and biographical information of the moderator (if different from the proposer)
• a detailed description of the panel topic and execution, covering the points discussed below

A 1-2 page panel description will be included in the proceedings, but this will be quite different from the panel proposal submission. The panel proposal must convince us that you have a good panel design (discussed below). We will give you instructions for writing the proceedings page(s) if your panel is accepted.
 

Submission E-Mail Addresses:

Michael Bieber
CIS Department
New Jersey Institute of Technology
bieber@njit.edu
tel: +1 973 596-2681

and to

Carolyn Watters
Faculty of Computer Science
Dalhousie University
watters@cs.dal.ca
tel: 902-494-1430
fax: 902-494-1570
 

Please format your proposal in ASCII or HTML.

Important dates :

Optional Intent to Submit (enabling feedback) by November 1, 1998
Proposals should be received by November 23, 1998
We will respond to submissions by January 15, 1998

Pre-Submission Feedback

We encourage you to contact the panel chairs by email (or telephone) with ideas for panels before submitting them, so we have an opportunity to give you preliminary feedback and suggestions.

How to design a panel proposal for WWW8

General guidelines:

Proposals must provide the Program Committee with information for determining which panels will best engage the WWW8 audience. Acceptance relies on several factors.

A panel is a team effort. Thus, while its topic is important, good coordination, execution and management are vital for success. A simple abstract or set of abstracts is not sufficient.

Some important points to focus on :

• the intended audience
• the detailed topic
• the take-home message of the panel
• the team comprising the panel, focusing on the experience and the function/role of the moderator and each panelist
• intended coordination of the panelists in preparation for the panel in advance of the conference
• your approach to ensuring debate, controversy and, in general, a lively session that will engage the audience

How to design a good panel for WWW8

• Panels should raise important issues that will interest the WWW8 participants.
• Panels should attract people to the conference, and they should "pull in" people at the conference to attend the panel session. It must be enticing:
  - in terms of content
  - in terms of the team playing the panel,
  - in terms of the team leader
• A panel is a discussion between several characters. Panels should be lively and fun. The issues, panelists and their positions should be controversial to raise interest. It also must transmit a clear message.
• The moderator plays a very important role, and is responsible, as a conductor, for the overall structure. The moderator should challenge the participants with questions after the (short) opening statements from each. The moderator should not participate as a panelist.
• The audience should be encouraged to participate for between 1/3 and 2/3 of the session.
• A panel is not a set of independent talks about a given topic.
• To be a success, panels rely on strong preparation and coordination between the moderator and the participants. This coordination must take place before the conference.
• When appropriate, we encourage panel organizers to provide a list of references, resources, leads, etc., as a handout.

Updated:  November 30, 1998