How to Submit a Conference Session Proposal

Become a part of the most exciting regional industry event of the year!

Proposals Deadline : November 10, 2023

Our audience is comprised of mid to top-level professionals who are looking well beyond introductory education. Therefore, we are looking for speakers who:

•  Tackle important new topics that have an impact on the industry
•  Offer a new approach or another way of thinking about current topics
•  Present fresh and inspiring ideas on treasury and finance topics

All submissions must be educational in nature and not feature overt marketing or direct selling for a single company or product, although mentions of products and services are acceptable in order to illustrate learning points. In short, sales pitches are not allowed!

WHAT YOU GAIN AS A CONFERENCE SPEAKER

PRESENTATION FORMAT

Concurrent Sessions – 60 minutes in length. Concurrent sessions allow speakers to present information on a wide variety of topics. Proposals should offer tangible, meaningful take-away value to the audience, including customer perspectives, lessons learned, best practices and performance metrics. Sessions may have up to 3 presenters. It is required that financial institution and vendor/service provider submissions include a user/customer co-presenter.

LEVEL OF PRESENTATIONS

The level of presentation is identified by the submitter and is based on expected audience experience and knowledge. Session attendees evaluate the presentation by the appropriateness of the level and the ability of the speakers to meet the described objectives. It is very important to accurately identify the level of your session. The Conference Planning Committee reserves the right to modify the level and will instruct submitters accordingly so that they may meet audience expectations.

Fundamental sessions require little or no previous knowledge of the topic material by attendees and should emphasize the definition of terms and description of key concepts. These sessions take the “who, what, when, where, why and how” approach.

Intermediate sessions requite a basic knowledge and some experience in the topic area by the attendees. Brief emphasis on terms is recommended. The focus should be on “How does it work?” and the user benefits, and should include detailed examples. Some evaluation of alternative methods would be appropriate. Key words could include execute, perform, apply, accomplish and measure.

Advanced sessions require a working knowledge and considerable experience in the topic area by attendees and may further require basic or working knowledge in one or more related areas outside the specific topic area. The focus should be on “Can I apply this to my organization?”, “How do I implement it?”, “How to evaluate it?”. Key words could include: integrate, conceptualize, analyze, evaluate and implement. Examples and calculations may be fairly complex and only new technical terminology should be specifically defined. Also included in sessions of this level are in-depth evaluations of alternatives.

CONFERENCE TRACK DESIGNATIONS

Concurrent sessions are assigned to one of seven program track designations. The track designations for the 2024 New England AFP conference are as follows:

Submitters must designate the appropriate track designation when submitting session proposals.

REVIEW PROCEDURES

Proposals submitted for the 2024 New England AFP conference are reviewed by the respective Conference Track Committees. The members review and critique session proposals according to specific evaluative criteria, including:

SUBMISSIONS

Please have the following information available before you start.

• Your full contact details – name, telephone number, email.
• A short biography (max 500 characters allowed)
• Your photo (headshot preferred in jpg/gif/png format)
• If co-presenting – second speaker details including email address (MAY BE PROVIDED UPON SESSION ACCEPTANCE)
• Title of the proposed session (try to make this interesting, if not quite intriguing)
• Target audience
• Description of the proposed session/s including three learner outcomes or takeaway points

Include all in a Word document and send by email to: conferenceproposal@neafp.org.

REVIEW PERIOD: Proposals will be reviewed by the NEAFP Conference Planning Committee during November-December, 2023.

NOTIFICATION TO PRESENTERS

All who submit session proposals will be notified in January, 2024 as to the status of their proposal.

Speakers are expected to present from their own computer.

New England AFP does not typically compensate speakers. We view speaking opportunities at New England AFP 2024 as mutually beneficial – an opportunity to present yourself and your ideas to an influential and engaged audience together with a chance to leverage free PR opportunities including the potential for coverage in our website, blog, social media, press releases and features. We are always interested in developing interesting stories about educational content for press coverage.

Final presentations are due by April 15, 2024 and will be reviewed by the Conference committee. PDFs of slides/handouts will be loaded on a password-protected web site for attendees to view/print prior to the event.

QUESTIONS?

Please contact Maureen Rubel, Conference Coordinator (508) 291-2100