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IAFP 2008 Call for Symposia
August 3-6
Columbus, Ohio
The Program Committee invites International Association for Food Protection Members and other interested individuals to submit a symposium proposal for presentation during IAFP 2008, August 3–6, 2008
in Columbus, Ohio.
WHAT IS A SYMPOSIUM?
A symposium is an organized, 3 1/2 hour
session emphasizing a central theme relating to food
safety and usually consists of six presenters each
giving 30–minute presentations with a 30–minute
break between the third and fourth presentation.
A short symposium is three or four 30–minute
presentations. A roundtable discussion forum
is 90 minutes in length with 2–3 brief presentations
(10–15 minutes), a formal question and answer
session, followed by time for audience participation.
Symposia may include a discussion emphasizing
a scientific aspect of a common food safety and
quality topic, issues of general interest relating to
food safety and microbiological quality, a report of
recent developments, an update of state-of-the-art
methodologies, or a discussion of basic and applied
research in a given area. The material covered
should include current work and the newest
findings. Symposia will be evaluated by the Program
Committee for relevance to current science and to
Association members. Proposals may be prepared
by individuals, groups of individuals, committees,
or professional development groups (PDGs).
SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS
To submit a symposium proposal, read all the
information, paying close attention to the “Symposia
Selection Procedure” on the next page, then
complete the “Symposium Proposal.” Follow all
instructions when making a submission. Your
suggested presenters need not be confirmed
at this stage, only identified.
SYMPOSIUM PROPOSAL DEADLINE
Symposium proposals may be sent to the Association
office no later than June 29, 2007 or be
submitted to the IAFP registration desk at IAFP 2007
by Tuesday, July 10, 2007 at 10:00 a.m. If preferred,
ideas may be presented in person to the Program
Committee on Wednesday, July 11, 2007 at 7:00
a.m. (proposals must first be submitted in writing
by Tuesday, July 10, 2007 at 10:00 a.m.).
The Program Committee will review submitted
symposia at the conclusion of the IAFP 2007 Annual
Meeting to decide which symposia will be selected
for further development. Organizers will be notified
as to the status of their proposal by August 28, 2007.
Applications for symposia that have been selected
for further development should be completed and
sent to the IAFP office by Tuesday, January 29, 2008.
FINAL DECISIONS ABOUT ACCEPTANCE AND
CONTENT OF SYMPOSIA FOR PRESENTATION
AT IAFP 2008 WILL BE MADE BY THE PROGRAM
COMMITTEE DURING THEIR FEBRUARY 2008
MEETING. Symposia organizers and potential
moderators and speakers should understand that
not all symposia selected for further development
will be accepted as submitted. The IAFP Program
Committee reserves the right to reject poorly
organized symposia, and/or to review symposia,
including proposed subjects and speakers, and make
modifications based on providing the most comprehensive
and balanced forum. The organizer will be
notified of the final results by March 14, 2008.
PRESENTERS WHO ARE NOT MEMBERS
The International Association for Food Protection
does not reimburse invited presenters for travel,
hotel, or other expenses incurred during the Annual
Meeting. However, invited presenters who are not
Association members will receive a complimentary
Annual Meeting registration. Presenters who are
Association Members are expected to pay normal
registration fees.
IAFP TRAVEL SUPPORT
The International Association for Food Protection
Foundation has limited funds for travel support
of presenters. After final acceptance of the symposium
(March 2008), symposia organizers may
make requests in writing to the Executive Director.
Requests are reviewed on an individual and firstcome-
first-served basis. The maximum funding grant
will be $750 per presenter ($1,250 if outside North
America). Only one funding grant per symposium
will be approved up to May 15, 2008. After that
date, additional requests will be considered.
Organizers are welcome to seek funding from
other sources and the Association will provide
recognition for these groups in our program
materials. Organizers are asked to inform the
Association if they obtain outside funding.
SYMPOSIUM SELECTION PROCEDURE
The primary focus of the symposium selection
procedure is to provide a balanced educational
program for attendees of the IAFP Annual Meeting.
To achieve this goal, symposia may be combined or
modified by the Program Committee during their
July 2007 or February 2008 review, as appropriate,
to prevent overlap of topics among competing
symposia. The Program Committee also reserves
the right to suggest alternative speakers and/or
topics in an effort to round out symposia or
discussion forums. During the symposia selection
process, only the most relevant and promising
symposia proposed by groups and individuals
will be selected for further development.
Guidelines for tentative acceptance:
1. Proposed symposia must be pertinent to
IAFP members and PDGs. Priority will be
given to symposia that address one or more
of the following program areas:
· Safety and Microbial Quality of Foods
(dairy, meat and poultry, seafood,
produce, water)
· Viruses and Parasites, Retail Food Safety,
Epidemiology and Public Health
· Non-Microbiology Food Safety Issues
(food toxicology; allergens; chemical
contaminants)
· General–Applied Food Safety
Microbiology (for example, advances in
sanitation, lab methods, quality
assurance, food safety systems)
· General–Food Protection for the Future
(risk analysis; emerging pathogens;
biotechnology; predictive models, etc.)
· Developments in Food Safety Education
· Other pertinent food protection topics
may be considered if space is available
2. In addition to addressing pertinent program
areas, symposia accepted for further
development should:
· Be new, emerging and/or address areas
not covered in last 2 years
· If covered in last 2 years, provide new
information that warrants another
symposium
3. Symposium submissions must include:
· Titles that clearly convey the topics to be
covered
· Topics that are unique to prevent overlap
of basic information among speakers
· Names of suggested speakers from a
variety of backgrounds, such as industry,
regulatory, academic researchers, or
consumer perspective (as appropriate)
· Suggested speakers who are knowledgeable
and good communicators
4. Special consideration will be given to
symposium submissions that:
· Are directly applicable or provide viable
safety options for food manufacturers,
including small– to medium–size
manufacturers
· Bring an international (outside of North
America) focus or viewpoint to the
meeting
· Attract/involve students
· Attract/involve local affiliate members
who would not otherwise attend the
Annual Meeting (e.g., regional specialties
like shellfish issues for Gulf States)
· Would attract members of a new PDG
or program area that IAFP is trying to
develop or encourage
5. Other considerations for selecting symposia
for further development:
· Proposals must be submitted to the Program Committee or the IAFP
registration desk by 10:00 a.m. on
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
· The Program Committee reserves the
right to limit the number of sessions
devoted to a single program area to
provide a balanced program
· If relevant topics are proposed by more
than one submission, the Program Committee will make the final decision
to combine or modify symposia as
appropriate to avoid overlap of topics
among competing symposia. In this case, organizers may be asked to work with
one another to combine symposia
· Due to space and time limitations, only
the most relevant and promising proposals
(as determined by the Program Committee)
will be selected for further
development as full sessions (consisting
typically of six 30–minute presentations),
short sessions (consisting typically of
three or four 30–minute presentations),
round table discussions (90 minutes in
length with two or three brief presentations
and question and answer session).
Again, the Program Committee will make
final decisions regarding symposia
breadth and length
· Three sessions will be reserved for
symposia sponsored by our partner, the
International Life Science Institute North
America (ILSI, N.A.). The ILSI N.A.
symposia address topics that are of
general interest to IAFP meeting
attendees, focusing on emerging food
safety issues and technologies, and
provide a global perspective
Additional sessions may be added at the
discretion of the Program Committee to
accommodate emerging issues
6. Final decisions on symposia selection will
be made at the February 2008 Program
Committee Meeting.
Symposia recommended for further
development should be submitted, in
near finalized form, to the IAFP office
by January 29, 2008. This includes
symposium title, abstract, convenor and
speaker information (name, contact
information, and proposed title of
presentation). Organizers are encouraged
to contact and get preliminary confirmation
from speakers in advance of submitting
the final symposium application. However, full confirmation of
speakers, and acceptance of
symposia, will be provided after
the February 2008 Program Committee
meeting. The IAFP Program
Committee reserves the right to
review symposia, including proposed
subjects and speakers, and
make modifications in order to
provide the most comprehensive
and balanced program. Invited
symposium speakers need to be
made aware of this when they are
contacted.
WHO TO CONTACT:
Tamara Ford
International Association for Food Protection
6200 Aurora Ave., Suite 200W
Des Moines, IA 50322–2864, USA
Phone: 800.369.6337; 515.276.3344
Fax: 515.276.8655
E-mail: tford@foodprotection.org
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