Behind the Scenes with IPC Technical Conference Coordinator Toya Richardson
December 9, 2015 | Patty Goldman, I-Connect007Estimated reading time: 9 minutes
Richardson: So far, so good! We had a relaxed submittal process at the start, but that's abstract submissions. They come in slowly and then as we get closer to the deadline it seems like all of a sudden people realize, "Oh I've got to meet this deadline." Then they all seem to come in at once with their abstract submissions. Sometimes we get so many that we fill up the sessions and then we no longer have room for late submittals.
We have all the sessions figured out [for the 2016 conference] and most of the moderators set up. We received more than enough good papers so now we just need to weed through and see where they fit in and where they don't fit in. We also have to look at our poster submissions.
Goldman: How many posters do you like to have?
Richardson: I like a room full. They typically have been located right where the keynote sessions take place. There is a waiting area with tables and chairs set up. It’s a comfortable area for people to take time and browse through the posters.
Goldman: It’s a great set-up. A lot of people look at the posters while waiting for lunch or sessions to start.
Richardson: I think it's another opportunity for speakers to come and present their work but in a different way. Maybe it's not speaking with a sit-down audience, but they get a chance to do a face-to-face and one-on-one with people and explain what it is that their company is doing, and that's good. I know some speakers only want to be in the technical conference, but I think it's just another opportunity for the speaker to get more exposure for their work.
Goldman: People can do both?
Richardson: Yes they can do both – they can present a poster and speak in the technical conference. We can get up to as many as 35 posters, depending on the size of the room. We always have to be mindful of the occupancy standard of course so that we don't cover up walkways, entrances, or exits.
I'm always happy to have as many as we can get. Those tend to come to us the same way—they trickle in faster as we get closer to the event.
Goldman: After the conference is over, there must be a lull for you. What happens once a conference ends?
Richardson: It’s funny you say that, because it feels like it's never over (laughs). But after the conference actually ends, I take all of the information from the technical conference attendees and compile it and get the feedback from our surveys that we put out for each session and for each moderator, speaker, etc.
Then, I send the results to the speakers and moderators so that they can see what the attendees had to say about their paper or the session—what they liked, maybe some things that they didn't like. Sometimes people include their information so that we can contact them. That's what happens right after the conference—and then it pretty much starts all over again with the submissions for the following year.
Goldman: You mentioned once about surveying your speakers. Do you do that now? Do you survey your speakers and get information back from them also?
Richardson: I wouldn't really call it a formal survey process. I just talk to them about how their presentation went and how they felt. I know sometimes with a survey you don't get a chance to really express all of your thoughts. Sometimes when it's a survey you don't bother to put it all on paper.
I think it’s very important for a speaker to have that experience. Maybe it's their first time speaking. Did we meet their expectations, or what did they think the process was going to be like? How did they feel after they presented? Maybe they've spoken somewhere else and it was a different experience. I just want to get the pros and the cons of their experience of speaking at an IPC conference.
Page 2 of 4
Suggested Items
North American EMS Industry Down 4% in March
04/29/2024 | IPCIPC announced the March 2024 findings from its North American Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) Statistical Program. The book-to-bill ratio stands at 1.31.
Real Time with… IPC APEX EXPO 2024: A Global Presence in PCB Manufacturing
04/29/2024 | Real Time with...IPC APEX EXPORob DiGiovanni, VP of sales for the Americas at STARTEAM Global, discusses the company's global presence in PCB manufacturing. As he explains, the firm operates facilities across Europe, Asia, and North America, specializing in serving contract manufacturers in the automotive and medical industries. They emphasize quality and meeting OEM standards, focusing on offshore supply and non-Chinese factories in the North American market. The company has grown through acquisitions and rebranding to offer multiple products.
EIPC Issues Letter of Urgency
04/29/2024 | Alun Morgan, EIPCAlun Morgan, president of EIPC, issued a letter last week in an effort to raise awareness of the state of PCB manufacturing in Europe. He writes, "The European PCB manufacturing industry and its supply base has been steadily shrinking since the dot com crash at the start of the millennium. European demand for PCBs and assemblies has, however, continued to grow, thus creating an ever-widening gap between European domestic capacity and consumption. The risks posed by this imbalanced supply and demand pattern came into sharp focus during the Covid-19 pandemic which caused chaos in extended supply chains across the world and resulted in widespread shortages."
Arlon Electronic Materials Awarded Requalification to IPC-4101 QPL for All Polyimide Specification Sheets
04/29/2024 | IPCIPC's Validation Services Program has awarded Arlon Electronic Materials Division, an electronics material manufacturing company headquartered in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., an IPC-4101 Qualified Products Listing (QPL) requalification for the third time.
I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week
04/26/2024 | Andy Shaughnessy, Design007 MagazineIn this week’s roundup, we have a variety of articles covering everything from design through assembly, and even box build. I’ve always wondered whether box build was all it was cracked up to be. Do customers really pick one EMS provider over another because one company offers box build? And if you’ve ever wanted to volunteer, IPC’s Thought Leaders Program is looking for a few good technologists to help them on their mission. Check out Stanton Rak’s article, which was published in the spring issue of IPC Community.