Static Operational Plan for Vice-Chair Elect

NOTE: This is intended only to be used if the database server is inoperable for some reason. This way you have at least an outline of the tasks at the last time a snapshot was taken.

Bylaws description

According to our section's Bylaws, The Vice-Chair Elect shall either host the section meeting(s) at his or her home institution and be responsible for all local arrangements, or find another location for the section meeting(s) and work closely with a local arrangements chair there. This position is considered an Officer and a member of the Executive Committee.

Time line for tasks

Today is Friday, 21 August 2015. This timeline assumes that the next meeting is scheduled to be on 2 October 2015 and the last meeting was on 24 October 2014. (Note that next meeting date may not be yet set and the default date of 1 Oct is being used.) If you are on the executive committee and you are reviewing the operational plan for your office, you may interested in editing/modifying what you see here.

1. Immediately following the Section meeting [Target date: 2 October 2015]
   1. Check your community and academic calendars to determine if there any major events scheduled in October with which we would not wish to compete for both housing and meeting space. See below for details on amount of space needed. It may also be a good idea to check with several major motels to see if they know of any conflict (by looking at room reservations). You can inform the hotels that you will be getting back to them later to reserve a block of rooms.
   2. Coordinate with the Vice-Chair to determine a suitable date for our Section meeting. While the Vice-Chair will work to find dates that do work for the speaker(s), you will determine any dates to exclude. Together, determine a weekend that works. In the past, it has usually been in early to middle April and sometimes late March.
   3. Coordinate with the Vice-Chair to reserve rooms. Check to see what type of rooms will be needed and when. Typically, the following are needed:
      1. A room or area for registration of participants - needed roughly Fri. 2pm until Sat. 5pm
      2. A (lockable) room for the books that are for display to be purchased online- hours roughly the same as registration and helpful to be in the same room or nearby.
      3. An auditorium-type room for the main speaker on Friday night and Saturday's Business Meeting (and if there is another speaker Saturday morning) - need projection capabilities. If possible, arrange for a wearable microphone.
      4. Reception area to follow Friday night's speaker and possibly for other times on Saturday (between sessions). Arrange for coffee on Saturday morning.
      5. 2-4 classrooms for contributed paper sessions that will be run in parallel - may be needed Friday afternoon but certainly all day Saturday - helps to have relatively close to auditorium room, if possible - ideal if these have computer projection capabilities (at least in one or two). Be sure that the rooms are large enough to hold at least 25 people comfortably.
      6. If there is a "natural" central area to have lunch together, reserve space accordingly. We have had it where everyone eats on their own, we sign up for a served lunch, or walk through a food service line and seat in a common area. The latter seems to have some advantages (cost over the second option and camaraderie over the first option). Check with food service area to find out options.
      7. Reserve a room for the Executive Committee meeting. This is typically held Saturday morning from 7 until 8. People tend to arrive around 6:45 or 6:50 to avail themselves to the food before sitting down to meet. There are typically between twelve and fifteen people at the Executive Committee meeting.
2. Four months before section meeting [Target date: 2 June 2015]
   1. Contact local hotels for "blocking" off rooms for the Friday night of the meetings. Consider your location to determine how many rooms to reserve. Call each hotel and ask them if they can "hold" or "block" 10 rooms for the upcoming event of the Section meeting. Often they will provide a discount, so ask. Tell them to reserve the rooms for the Iowa Section of the MAA so that members can give that name when they call to register. Ask the hotels to hold the rooms up to two weeks prior to the meeting (and you may need to push for this). It may be better to reserve more rooms than actually needed since it is difficult to know preferences. Send the details of each hotel (name, address, telephone, # rooms, rates, release date, and so on) to the Secretary to be added to the Call. For an example, see a previous Call for an illustration.
   2. Check with Vice-Chair about housing accommodations for the speaker(s). Arrange a hotel reservation, if needed.
   3. Consider inviting your seniors or math club to host an event on Friday evening of the section meeting.
   4. Start thinking of likely candidates to help moderate at the meeting. Also, start thinking of people to help run general errands (go fetch something, go print something, escort people, etc.). They will make your task at the conference much easier.
3. Two-three weeks before meeting [Target date: 11 September 2015]
   1. Finalize details about what to have for the reception following Friday night's speaker. You can either do it yourself (meaning your department help you) or hire it out to your food service group. Costs may dictate. Hosts choice on content but typically there have been things such as crackers and cheese, meats, fruit and vegetables (and dip), coffee, juice or other drink, and pastries. (This is meant not as a prescription but a super set from which a reasonable subset can be chosen.) You can make this as fancy or simple as you like. Don't forget cups, plates, utensils, napkins and so on.
   2. Finalize details about what to have for the Executive Committee breakfast on Saturday morning. You can make this as fancy or simple as you like. Don't forget cups, plates, utensils, napkins and so on. Get a count of projected attendees from the Executive Committee Meeting agenda sent out by the Chair. Typical committee members include: Governor, Past Chair, Chair, Vice Chair, Vice Chair Elect, Information Director, Liaison Coordinator, and Competition Coordinator. Typical guests include: outside speakers and candidates for positions up for election.
   3. Cross-check to confirm reservations of all rooms and availability of equipment.
   4. Communicate with local security office to inform them of visitors on campus to avoid any unnecessary ticketing that might occur. Also ensure that rooms and buildings will be unlocked prior to the events.
   5. Work with your local IT office to set up a local username and password for internet access for conference participants. Familiarize yourself with the various technologies presenters will need. (e.g. Know how to change between laptops and computers and switch between projecting from the computer and the document camera.)
   6. Based on the program schedule (see url afterwards), determine a moderator for each session. Local students appreciate the opportunity to assist; however, they will need explicit instructions. One of the speakers can be used if you do not have enough local people to help out. Communicate with Vice Chair the choices for each session at least two weeks in advance so that the schedules can be printed. URL: session/printSchedule
   7. It has been nice to have the Saturday lunch period be one where everyone can eat together. Possibly ensure your campus dining hall/cafeteria can accommodate our group and plan for a luncheon on campus?
      1. [When the talk schedule has been finalized, print out a schedule for each room that lists the room number (in a large font) as well as all of the talks that will take place in that room. ] - MARKED FOR DELETION
   8. When the talk schedule has been finalized, print off a sign for each room that lists the room number (in a large font) and the schedule of talks for that room.
4. At the end of the meeting/immediately after the meeting [Target date: 2 October 2015]
   1. Speak with the Treasurer to ensure any expenses incurred to organize the meeting are reimbursed.
   2. Hand off the Iowa Section banner to the new vice-chair elect, along with any book sale books that remain to be given away at future section meetings.