Conference Guidelines

EBSN Annual conferences

Introduction

The Annual Conferences are events that aim to give life to the core values of the EBSN’s mission statement: “to promote high quality scholarly work in an informal, creative and open context, bringing together people interested in the Beats beyond the traditional Anglo-American academic world.”

While each conference will reflect local conditions and particular interests, these core values should inform all conferences and be apparent in the funding, fees, organisation, content and promotion of the events.

Since the conference represents the EBSN as a whole, promotion (e.g. via posters, social media) should be produced in liaison with the EBSN, and should also aim to reach members whose first language is not English. The conference programme should combine critical and creative contributions.

Conferences are to be organised by a committee of at least two people. The organising committee is at liberty to make its own decisions about what tasks are to be delegated (e.g. to an administrator) and what tasks are to be shared or carried out by individuals. But the organising committee should bear in mind that the conference represents the EBSN as a whole, and so should liaise with the EBSN and seek advice about any problematic issues. That said, the EBSN expects to maintain a light touch oversight of the conference.

Conference proposals

Proposals to stage conferences are to be submitted to the EBSN Conference Administrator, who will forward them to the EBSN Conference Committee for review and consideration. Proposals should be submitted at least two years in advance, although the EBSN Conference Committee is also happy to consider less formal proposals submitted at an earlier stage. Proposals should outline locations, partners, particular themes, plans for funding, etc.

The EBSN Conference Administrator will interface with the organising committee if the EBSN Conference Committee has any questions or requires additional information. Once a proposal has been approved by the EBSN Conference Committee, it will be submitted to the EBSN Executive Board for formal approval and announcement on the EBSN website.

A representative of the organising committee will be expected to present the approved conference proposal to next AGM of the EBSN for consideration and suggestions, ideally accompanied by written materials. He or she should also propose specific conference dates and solicit the AGM for its input.

Call for papers

In approximately December of the year preceding the conference, the organising committee is expected to produce a CFP and send it to the EBSN Conference Administrator, who will circulate it via the EBSN website, all-member email and social media. The CFP should give clear guidance about preferred proposals, while inviting contributions of a wide variety of topics and forms (i.e. not just the standard academic 20-minute paper). To assist with this, the EBSN Conference Committee has created a model CFP for guidance purposes (available on the EBSN website), but the organising committee is free to use its own form.

The CFP should normally remain open until February 15 of the conference year, provided that this allows reasonable time for abstracts to be submitted.

The organising committee should attempt to respond to proposals within one month of the close of the CFP, i.e. by March 15. It should make every effort to deal sensitively with those applying to participate, bearing in mind the often varying needs and expectations of EBSN members (especially performers). The organising committee should also respond with extra care to applicants whose proposals are not accepted.

Conference programme

After the CFP closes, the organising committee should begin to draw up a draft programme for the conference. It should consult with the EBSN Conference Administrator for this purpose if it requires feedback from the EBSN Conference Committee, conference participants, etc.

Approximately three months prior to the start of the conference, the organising committee is expected to send the finalised programme to the EBSN Conference Administrator, who will post it on the website and social media and notify EBSN members by email that the programme is available for viewing. The organising committee should also provide the EBSN Conference Administrator with information about venue locations, ancillary conference events (like local excursions, concerts/performances, a group dinner, etc.), local airport and ground transportation information, and lodging options, which he or she will likewise make available to EBSN members on the website.

Conference budget

Once the organising committee has completed the draft programme, it is expected to prepare a budget for the conference. To assist with this, the EBSN Conference Committee has created a budget template for guidance purposes (available on the EBSN website), but the organising committee is free to use its own form.

In preparing the budget, the organising committee should bear in mind that the conference is expected to be self-funding (see also “Registration fees”, below). While the organising committee has wide autonomy in creating the budget, it should include basic line items for costs, such as

● Venue(s)

● Catering

● Honoraria and travel/lodging expenses for keynote speakers

● Booking fees for performance artists, including travel/lodging expenses if appropriate

● Fees for audio-visual installations or the displaying other works of art at the conference venue

● Pre-conference expenses incurred by organising committee members for travel to and from the conference venue, for research purposes, etc.

● Conference programmes, posters, badges, etc.

● Potential group dinner

The organising committee should also specify how those costs are intended to be covered (e.g. academic/artistic institutions, private sponsors, government bodies, etc.). Most obviously, the sources of funding should be appropriate to the nature of the EBSN.

Please be aware that the EBSN is not in a position to cover any shortfall in the funding required to cover the budgeted costs. For this reason, the organising committee should liaise with the EBSN Treasurer from time to time as the budget evolves in order to keep him or her apprised of developments. The organising committee is expected to submit the final budget to the EBSN Treasurer by the time conference registration opens.

Registration fees

It should be understood that conference registration fees are the EBSN’s primary source of income, and they are needed to support its administrative costs. For this reason, the EBSN does not have money to put into conferences up front.

In light of experiences with past conferences, the EBSN Executive Board has determined that it is appropriate for it to specify the conference registration fees to be charged for each annual conference. This is intended to take the burden of fee-setting off the organising committee and to give EBSN members some degree of certainty of what to expect in the way of registration fees from year to year. For a three-day conference, the registration fees are currently:

Full fee: EUR 100

Discounted fee: EUR 70 (students, post-graduate researchers, etc.)

The organising committee is to liaise with the EBSN Treasurer regarding adjustment of the registration fees in the event of longer or shorter conferences, special circumstances, etc.

The registration fee covers attendance for the entire conference and is not to be pro-rated by day. The organising committee should do its best to ensure that all conference attendees pay the registration fee. Keynote speakers and the EBSN Executive Board members are exempt from paying the registration fee.

All those attending EBSN conferences are expected to become, if they are not already, members of the EBSN. Membership is free.

Conference registration form

At least 60 days prior to the start of the conference, the organising committee should liaise with the EBSN Treasurer for the purpose of setting up a conference registration page on the EBSN website. He or she will create the page based on input from the organising committee and provide a method for payment of registration fees by credit card, the proceeds of which are then paid into the EBSN bank account, or by SEPA bank transfer for payments within Europe. The EBSN Treasurer will periodically provide the organising committee with a current list of registrations during the registration period.

The organising committee may also request that the registration page provide for payment of ancillary conference events, like a group dinner or concerts. The organising committee should liaise with the EBSN Treasurer in good time about how those monies are to be disbursed after collection.

Use of registration fees

From the collected registration fees, the EBSN will pay the organising committee EUR 50 per registered attendee, which is intended to cover the costs of conference catering (water, tea, coffee, juice and pastries at the start of each day; water, tea, coffee and juice for the morning and afternoon breaks; and lunch). If catering charges are higher, the organising committee is responsible for locating funding for the difference. If catering costs are lower, it is free to use the difference for other purposes. The organising committee may arrange to have the caterer bill the EBSN Treasurer directly or request that the funds be disbursed in a different manner.

In addition, the EBSN will cover the travel expenses of the EBSN Executive Board members involved in running the conference, including the EBSN Conference Administrator. It will also cover ancillary expenses associated with registration, like credit card processing fees and subscription to the website that generates the registration page.

Post-conference accounting and reporting

Within 60 days of the end of the conference, the organising committee is required to submit a detailed financial accounting to the EBSN Treasurer, who will review it and then forward it to the EBSN Executive Board for its consideration. The EBSN Treasurer will also liaise with the committee regarding the transfer to the EBSN bank account of any surplus funds from the conference that are not required to be refunded to sponsors or other financial supporters.

The organising committee is also to prepare a brief report describing the conference proceedings and submit it to the Conference Administrator for posting on the EBSN website. The organising committee is also strongly encouraged to submit photos and videos of the conference. However, for reasons of limited website storage space, the EBSN prefers links to media sites (e.g. YouTube, Instagram, etc.) rather than the submission of media files.

Oliver Harris

President