Professional Development
Session Proposal Policies and Guidelines

All session, workshop, and roundtable speakers are required to adhere to WAA’s terms and conditions. Please review the following policies before submitting your proposal.

TRAVEL AND CONFERENCE REGISTRATION

All speakers and session leaders are required to register for the WAA Annual Conference. The cost associated with attending the WAA Annual Conference, including registration, is the responsibility of the individual speakers. In-conference speakers and workshop trainers generally are not provided with honoraria or registration discounts. In instances where the speaker works in another field or does not normally attend WAA, the WAA Executive Director may authorize a one-day registration and travel support.

NONCOMMERCIAL POLICY

WAA education programs at the annual conference are learning experiences and are non-commercial. Under no circumstances should a pre-conference, in-conference, or roundtable session be used for direct promotion of a speaker's organization, artist, product, service, or other self-interest.

WAA ATTENDEE TERMS AND CONDITIONS

All proposal submitters should be aware of WAA’s Code of Ethics and apply and incorporate the policies and principles as appropriate when developing content for educational offerings presented at the WAA conference. If you plan to present or reference the work or research of others in handouts, you must attribute the sources in full and in writing on the materials.

PRESENTATION LIMITS

An individual may be listed in any number of proposals; however, it is WAA’s policy that an individual, regardless of role, may present in no more than two conference sessions.

LIMITS ON NUMBER OF PRESENTERS

The number of presenters listed in a proposal should reflect the needs of the format selected. For all session presentations, a maximum of four individuals (including the chair) is permitted.

Preconference workshops (4-5 hours): Workshops should have no more than three speaker/trainers.

In-conference sessions (90 minutes): Sessions may be led by a single presenter or as many as three presenters plus one moderator, for a maximum of four people.

Roundtables (60 minutes): A roundtable should have no more than two leaders/moderators.

SELECTION CRITERIA

1. How well does the proposed session align with the priority topics outlined in WAA’s Call for Proposal?
2. How well do the title, description or abstract, and learning objectives align with each other? 
3. How likely is it that the format and delivery methods selected will allow participants to achieve the stated learning objectives, including audience engagement appropriate to the objectives?
4. Are the presenter(s) knowledgeable in the topic area?
5. Given the limited number of slots available for sessions and the high volume of proposals received, how likely would you be to attend or recommend someone attend this session if placed on the program?