13. Working Conferences
13.1 Medical Informatics and Medical Education - Heidelberg, Sept. 11 -12, 92 - D .Protti13.2 Pharmacodynamic Modelling -- Lyon, Sept. 21-23,1992 -- RJelliffe13.3 Organizational Issues of Medical Informatics — Cincinnati, March 28- April 1,1993
—NJLorenzi13.4 Health Informatics in Africa ~ De-He, Nigeria, April 19-23,1993-N.Korpela13.5 Health Care Professional Workstations ~ Bethesda, May 16-20? 1993 - JSilva13.6 Data Protection &Security in Health Information Networks, August? 93 —BJBarber13.7 Advances in Biosignal Interpretation — Aalborg,DK, August 26-28,1993,
Joint IMIA & EFMBE Working Conference— J.H.van Bemmel13.8 Dental Informatics - DENTINFO 93 - San Francisco, Nov. 6-11, 1993 - J.Salley13.913.10 Case-Mix and Resource Management — Brussels, Spring 1994 ~ F.H. Roger13.11 Advances in Hospital Information Systems -- Atlanta, March 27-31,1994 - M. Ball13.12 History on Medical Informatics - Place? Date?13.13 Knowledge Acquisition and Knowledge Representation — Place? Date?
2 G •£ "? j ' " •* . ' ••.'' " a v ~ '-
T t t i ^ r t r r f T f t l T P , 4 Af t » * l i 7 C _ f t 9 _ A i I 7 ft J I ft T firt^S ' 3 I Y(1 I 3 V « I H 1 M3O
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDEDA T S A L T I M O R E
June 24, 1992
.
Prof. Jos. L. WillemsPresident, IMIAAfdeling Modische InformaticaUniv. HospitalSt. Rafael-Gasthuisberg49, Herestraat3000 Leuven, Belgium
Dear Jos:•
I have spoken with AMIA regarding co-sponsorship of the three working conferencesplanned to be held in the U.S.: the Professional Workstation, OrganizationalDevelopment and Hospital Information Systems. AMIA is keen to know specificallywhat co-sponsorship entails and in what way we would like to use their connectionsand/or name. My question is whether there is any precedence on how professionalorganizations within the country co*sponsored working conferences in the past so that Ican put a proposal together for the next AMIA Board meeting which will be September19. I would appreciate your advice. By copy of this letter, I will also ask Hans Peterson,who has been in charge of our working groups, for input as well.
May I suggest that the following items be recommended:
• use of AMIA logo in promotional material
• asking for cooperation from the appropriate PSG or AMIA Working Group aswell as co-hostmg a social function through the AMIA International AffairsCommittee.
• asking the AMIA Executive Office to provide labels or mailing addresses to theOrganizing Committee of the Working Group for members of AMIA who wouldbe interested in a particular topic and
• putting announcements hi the AMEA newsletter describing the purpose of theWorking Conference and inviting participation,
Jos, if you would provide me with a written, letter suggesting these recommendations,then I would have a document to take to the AMIA Board for their approval.
100 North Gntnt Street Corporate Information and Communication SystemsSiiftftoH, Miryhffid 21201-1502 Hoith infornuito419 JJS 2004 / 410 328 S459 r« H*iiih Sciwcas libraryamor MJB $UMAS / VOICE MAE 410 333 5896
v_/ tJ . ^j j=_ - = _ « - • j-
Dr. Jos WillemsJune 23,1992Page Two
Secondly, I have written to all of the subcommittee chairs of our strategic planninginitiative and will have a consolidated report for you and the Board on the occasion ofour meeting in Geneva.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Most sincerely,
Marion J. Ball, Ed.D.Vice PresidentInformation Services
MJB/jhs
P.S. I take It you got the latest communication from Dr, Nugawela of Australia,
cc: Dr. Hans Peterson
. ^ . • » . • . , , « < [ • « « . i i r . f c i i T e > « » T * i i 7 ' ^ f i s T r i f t ^ a i f l i v f t i a v . i n i M a c 1
INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL INFORMATICSASSOClATiON';
To Marion J. BALL, Ed.D.Vice PresidentInformation ServicesUniv. of Maryland at Baltimore100 N. Greene StreetBaltimore, MD 21201 - U.S.A.
EC/JW/vd/92-281 Leuven, June 26th 1992.Fax : 1-410-328-8459
Dear Marion,
I have well received your Fax dated June 24th, 1992 concerning the co-sponsoring of the 3 IMLAWorking Conferences by AMIA.
You should consult the guidelines on IMIA Scientific Meetings which Hans Peterson has workedout. A copy of the latest version (dated 90-03-28) will be sent to you by separate mail.
In these guidelines the international character of IMIA Conferences is clearly stated with regardsto the scientific content and programme committee. The members of the organizing committeecan all belong to the host country. If you can obtain AMIA's support for the organization that isperfect.
Although I do not recollect a recent precedence, I see no basic objection of adding the logo ofAMIA in the promotional material, provided the IMIA logo remains clearly prominent. Neitherdo I have objections with regards to the other points, if you clearly state that it is an EMIA Confe-rence which is supported by AMIA.
As far as the Proceedings is concerned they should be published if ever possible through the nor-mal IMIA channels, i.e. by North Holland. The royalties of these proceedings, if any, go to IMIAand not to AMIA.
These are the most important points in my opinion, but Hans may have some more.
JoiJbrwiLLEMS, M.D., Ph.D.TMTA President
Rest r*<rarrl<:
cc.: Dr. Hans Peterson
P.S.: I have seen the note of Dr. Nugawela. I have not replied to this and there is no need totake any further action from IMIA's point of view.
JL. Wlllems President B 1989 1992 B. Q. Solhelm Secretary N 1991-1994S Kalhara Past President J 1989 1992 A. R. Bakker Treasurer NL 1989-1992M. J. Ball Presidentelect USA 1989 1992 J. R. Scherrer Trustee CH 1988-1994R. O'Moore Vice-President (EFMI) IRL 1991 1992 K. C. Lun Trustee SOP 1991 - 1994V. Yacubsohn Vice-President (IMIA-LAC) A 1989 1992
IMIA Secretariat: 16 Place Longemalle, CH-1204 Geneve, Switzerland
Reports on IMIA Working Conferences
Every IMIA "working conference has to provide a summary report to the IMIA Board andthe Annual General Meeting. The report will be edited and published in the IMIANewsletter.
The report has to be delivered 8 weeks after the working conference latest. One copy shallbe sent to the IMIA president, one copy to the Newsletter Editor. The copy of the finalprograms of the working conference has to be added.
The report should contain:
General Information: How many speakers, participants, nationalities... Structure ofseminars, key speakers... Relationship to other workingconferences, proceeding volumes...
'About 20 lines of text A4.
/Content Information: Main scientific outcome of the conference. Which progress has
been made in relation to the results of previous workingconferences. Open questions to be addressed by future workingconferences.
.About 50 lines of text A4.
1
Draft 90-03-28 GUTDET.TNES FOR SCIENTIFIC MELTINGSH. Peterson
1. mKODUCTION
IMIA has acquired a substantial experience in scientific meetings.It is new possible to set out guidelines, taking into account thatexperience, for the organisation of future meetings.
2. CLASSES OF NESTINGS'
Experience that has been gained relates to four types of meetings,generally on an international basis.
2.1. Working Conferences : concerned with specific subjects withinvited participants, 30-60 attendees.
2.2. Open Conferences : concerned with specific subjects in alimited field with invited speakers and up to 200 attendees.
2.3. Regional Conferences : normally a General Conference with atheme, keynote speakers and a range of topics, with about 600attendees (e.g. M.I.E. series).
2.4. General Congresses : a full International Conference as theMEDINFO series, with about 1000 or more attendees.
3. WORKING CONFERENCES
3.1. The successes of the Working Conferences have been so great,that it should be claimed that they must represent a mainactivity of IMA. They are frequently employed as a means ofadvancing the programme of Special Intenst Group or a WorkingGroup of MIA and occasionally they may initiate theestablishment of such a group.
3.2. The general principles to be applied are that WorkingConferences are meetings by invitation of a small number ofappropriately qualified people. 'Normally, the topic is rathernarrow being "Minitad to a specified subject area. Thediscussions should be the major part of the meeting and shouldbe published as such and a report made for the MIA Newsletter.
3.3. Organisation of the Conference should be placed in the handsof an Organising Committee, the members of which should belongto the host country. There should be cross representationwith the Programme Committee to ensure close coordination andcooperation. The Organising Committee is in charge of :-
C(a) Financing of the event. (See 3.4. below)
(b) Proposing and agreeing with with MIA secretariat thetime and place of the Conference.f
(c) Finding the Conference acconmodation.
2
(d) Making available equipment, recorders, visual aids,etc.
(e) Arranging hotel reservations.
(f) Any other appropriate arrangements.
It is helpful - but not essential - if the local IMIArepresentative is a member of this Committee in order toassist in reporting ot the progress of the event to IMIA.
3.4. A Working Conference is purely a scientific event, and inconsequence is expected to be a venture that achieves abalanced budget, except for the royalties due to IMIA from thepublication of the proceedings. The following rules shouldapply:-
(a) No fee is required from the invited participants.
(b) Normally, travel and/or subsistence expenses for theparticipants are not covered by the Conference budget.However, some contribution towards such expenditure maybe made if the attendance of particular individuals isregarded as absolutely essential.
(c) Ihe expenses of committee members attending committeemeetings prior to the Conference should be included inthe Conference budget but not for the Conferenceitself.
(d) Other expenses provided for include costs of secretarialand typing facilities, audio-visual equipment,photocopy ing and duplication, telephone, mailing etc.
(e) Should it be thought to be of assistance of the purposes. on the Conference to arrange social events for theparticipants, then the costs should not be borne by theConference budget but by the participants or othersources.
3.5. When the proposal to hold a Working Conference is accepted byIMIA then an appropriate individual, who has been carefullyselected and approved, will be asked to set up a ProgrammeCommittee. This Committee should commence work at least twobefore the proposed Conference. Ihe duties of the ProgrammeCommittee are:-
(a) To liaise with the Organising Committee.
(b) To frame and elaborate the aims of the Conference, thesubject area and the relative importance of the varioustopics to be included.
(c) To propose a list of invited speakers, to make contactwith them and to agree the final programme for themeeting.
3
(d) To choose the editors of the proceedings.
(e) To restrict the number of participants at the meeting topreserve the quality of the discussion.
(f) IMIA members should be given full information regardingthe Conference and their suggestions as to participantsgiven due consideration by the Programme Committee.
(g) English, being the accepted language of IMIA, should beused as the language of the Conference. However, theProgramme Committee should endeavour to assist all theparticipants by ensuring that English speaking peopleappreciate the need to speak plainly and slowly withoutthe use of colloquial jams. Should officialrepresentatives of the host country require to speak inthe local language then this should be accepted andappropriate arrangements made for translation. Onlyrarely the Programme Committee permit exception to theformal use of English by the participants.
(h) To select session chairmen of such ability as tomaintain the tempo of the discussion, especially havingdue regard for participants whose mother tongue is notEnglish.
(i) To make arrangements for the publication of theproceedings (see para 3.6.).
3.6. It is of paramount importance to ensure that the proceedingsare published as soon as possible after the event; withinthree months is a reasonable target date. A number of factors-influencing this matter should be considered by the ProgrammeCommittee and the editors.
(a) The written papers should be sent to the PrograuimeCommittee three months before the Conference. Copiescan be sent to all participants to assist in thepreparation for the Conference. In particular for eachpaper two or three participants should be asked to sendwritten comments to the Programme Committee for theinformation of the author and the chairman of thesession in order to initiate discussion at the meeting.
(b) When the papers are received by the Programme Committeethe editors can commence work to ensure that all thepapers are prepared to the same format (title, authors,summary, figures, bibliography etc). If necessary, theauthors must be asked to correct their presentations.
-(c) The final version of the finished papers must be in the
hands of the editors at the start of the Conference.
(d) During the Conference, the editing of the dicussionsrequires a sufficient amount of qualified help to beavailable to the editor. This help comprises twocategories:-
4
1. Scientific Secretaries.
Each session should be attended by 1 or 2 scientificsecretaries who are in charge of recording thecontributions to discussion, to collect from theparticipants a written version of what they havesaid, to listen to the tape record of the wholesession and finally to propose to the editors aversion of the discussions for suitable publication.These scientific secretaries could be youngscientists competent in the field, for who this'taskcould.be a good opportunity to attend theConference.
2. An appropriate number of typists well trained intyping English.
(e) It may be that there is an element of redundancy in thediscussion. It is the responsibility of the editors toshorten and make more concise the reports so that thepublished version of the presentations reflectscorrectly what has really been expressed during themeeting.
(f) If the preceding procedure is followed, there should beno difficulty in completing the manuscript a couple ofdays following the end of the Conference. It couldreach the publishing company a few days after.
(g) As a Working Conference is a closed event, as defined byBCA, the proceedings should be issued very quickly.Experience has proved it is possible to do this within 3or 4 months. It is the main aim that editors shouldkeep in mind.
4. OPEN CONFERENCES
4.1. An Open Conference requires a similar organisation to that ofthe Working Conference, with some variations to take accountof an inclination towards presentation to an audience ratherthan full participation by all attendees.
4.2. The Organising Committee would need to provide a similarenvironment for the conference but when concidering thefinancing of the event may choose to ask a fee forregistration and attendance. Invited speakers would not beexpected to pay such a fee.
4.3. The Programme Committee would need to carry out similar dutiesas required by a Working Conference. Considering thedifferent nature of an open conference, editing and publishingof discussions is not necessary and the Programme Committeeshould consider the possibility of having the procedingsavailable at the beginning of the conference.
5
5. REGIONAL CONFERENCES
5.1. Regional Conferences as exemplified by the M.I.E. series areof such a scale as to require the same level of planningeffort as that required for full General Conferences.Accordingly, the work of the Organising and ProgrammeCommittees may need to be supplemented by further support, andprofessional conference organisers may need to be used.
6. GENERAL CONGRESSES
6.1. General Congresses as exemplified by the MEDINPO series arethe most important scientific events supported by IMA. Theyare held every three years with the aim of achieving a worldwide state of the art of information sciences as applied toall aspects of the health care services. It is obviouslyessential that great care must be taken in the planning andorganisation of such undertakings. Emphasis must be made ofthe key lead time that is necessary for the preparationsrequired; at least 4 years before the event (i.e. one yearbefore the previous MEDINPO).
6.2. Because of the importance of these events to IMA a SteeringCommittee should be appointed by IMA, the chairman beeing thePresident of IMA. (Chairman of the Programme and OrganisingCommittees would be members of the Steering Committee exofficio). The Steering Committee should ensure that the rulesof IMA are observed and be prepared to advise and coordinateas required. Should emergencies arise the Steering Committeeshould be enpowered by IMA, to make such decisions as aredeemed necessary, It should also be noted, that the Chairmanof the Organising Committee should be approved, the ProgrammeCommittee Chairman together with the Editor (s) of theproceedings should be appointed by IMA AGM.
6.3. The Organising Committee is responsible for the environment ofthe General Conference and would be drawn from the hostcountry. In order to facilitate the work, professionalassistance is almost certainly required and it is advisable todelegate the problems of budgeting and expenditure to afinancial sub-committee. Particular elements requiring theattention of the full Organising Committee is the setting ofthe fee and insurance. The fee must be set at such a level asto provide a balanced budget for the minimum expectation ofattendance and yet not so high as to discourage potentialparticipants. Insurance in required to cover failures anddisasters especially for the critical period immediately priorto the conference when expenditure and commitments have beenincurred. It should be noted that the budget and accounts ofthe event should be kept in both local money and Swiss francs.Budgets must be contained within the IMA standard policiesand where other expenses are envisaged the host country willbe expected to make appropriate arrangements.
6.4. The rules for the payment of expenses for committee membersare as set out in paragraph 3.4. above. Only rarely, and inexceptional circumstances should such expenses be paid forspeakers, chairmen and vice chairmen of the sessions, althoughregistration fees may be waived.
6
6.5. One further element for consideration by the OrganisingCommittee is the role of the National Societies. In the broadinternational context the National Societies (and therepresentatives of IMIA) must be encouraged to publicise theevent in their own countries. Wherever possible assistanceshould be requested in making arrangements for identifying andsupporting participants (invited speakers, chairmen, etc).Such cooperation is essential to the success of the venture.
6.6 It is essential that an appropriately experienced individualof international status be appointed the Chairman of the 'Programme Committee. The members of the Programme Committeeshould be drawn from the leading exponents of the applicatonof information science to health care in various countries.Normally, it is valuable to retain the expertise of theprevious MEDINFO Programme Committee Chairman as a member ofthe next Programme .Committee.
-6.7. The Editors may have the assistance of a proceedings sub-
committee to assist in the work of editing the papers; thelanguage mast be carefully checked and the required formatadhered to. Some changes to, and re-typing of papers may bearranged by the editors before the publication at theconference. Normally the author's permission will be soughtbefore this is done but, where this is not possible, then theauthor must be informed after the event. Proceedings must beavailable at the conference in their final form. Noalteration to papers can be accepted, nor papers added, afterthe conference. It is generally accepted that in such a largeforum, it is not possible to add detail of discussions to thepublication.
6.8. The formal language for IMIA meetings is English and as hasbeen stated previously, it is essential that the OrganisingCommittee ensure that consideration is given by English-speaking presenters and participants to assist theunderstanding of others. There is no doubt the extensive andsystematic use of audio-visual aids - pictures,transparencies, slides, etc - can be of considerableassistance to all. Simultaneous translation is expensive andshould be avoided; if this is not possible then the hostcountry should make the necessary arrangements without drawingon the conference budget.
7. APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS
7.1. Applications to IMA to hold a scientific meeting must be madein good time and a check list of the information usuallyrequired to support the application is given in the appendix.Care must be taken to take into consideration the timing ofother conferences, particularly on similar topics. IMIA haslinks with other international bodies and it should bepossible to appropriately time-table events and/or cooperatewith other groups for joint meetings. The dates of theRegional and General conferences are arranged well in advanceand it is already the practice not to hold Regional meetingsin the year of the General Conference of MEDINPO.
7
APPENDIX 1.
INFORMATICS REQUIRED FOR APPLICATION FDR IMIA CONFERENCES AND CONGRESSES
1. Proposed Title
2. Dates
3. Place
4. Country
5. Sponsoring Organisation(s)Address, Telephone No. and Telex
6. Name of responsible individual
7. Name of responsible IMIA member
8. Schedule for conference planning
9. Brief description of conference scientific content
10. Social factors
11. Associated sponsoring organisations (with common interests)
12. Other sponsors
13. Names of Organising Committee
14. Names of Programme Committee
15. Names of Editors
16. Name of invited IMIA representative
17. Editorial contract description (brief)
18. Budget - Income (incl. all other sources)- Expenses (according to IMIA Guidelines)
19. Any request for loan from IMIA
20. Guarantee that IMIA won't be liable for loss
21. Proposed Formula for profit sharing, (royalties belong to IMIA)
22. Statement undertaking provision of progress reports to IMIA.
1
Appendix 2.GUIDELINES FOR APPLICATION OF GRANTS
.
1. General
Grants can be otained for organising conferences. Grants will only applywhen
a) The event is an international conference (i.e. limitedparticipation by invitation, reviewed papers, airple time fordiscussion and/or group work)
.b) The event will result in publication of proceedings including
discussion of papers
c) There is no conference fee other than to cover copying ofpreprints, Eefreshmetns and meeting facilities, etc.
Grants will be limited to SFR 2 000. Financial support beyond this mustbe solved by applying loans instead of grants. Loans can be given up toSFR 2 500.
The procedure to obtain grants or loans is outlined in the "workingconference guide".
2. What a grant can be applied for
The purpose of a grant is twofold
a) To provide seed money to establish an event
b) To finalize editing of proceedings
The following cost items may as an example be covered
- Printing and distribution of call for papers and conferenceinvitation
- Telecommunication and copying costs for paper review andconference invitation
- Clerical assistance- Renting of meeting facilities- Printing of copying of conference preprints- Assistance in editing discussion of papers- Clerical and office expenses in preparation of proceedings
3. What a grant should not be applied for
TMIA being an ideal organization, expect all conference participants tocover their own costs of attendance and cannot pay any form of honorariesto the same. In general, grants shall not be vised to cover the costs onthe event itself (only before and after).
Examples of cost not be covered by the grant are:
- Travel and acconmodation- Honoraries to speakers or participants- Conference meals
2
4. Justification of expenditures
After the conference a brief conference report should be submitted. Theworking conference guide gives further details on what to be included inthe report.1
In addition the organizer must provide a justification of how the granthas been spent. The justification shall list a reasonable number ofitems and the amount of money spent on that item.
The justification shall be sent to IMA secretariat with a 'copy to theIMIA treasurer within two months after the conference.
Examples of cost items to be stated are
- Postage and distribution- Telecommunications- Printing of preprints- Copying and other printing- Clerical assitance- Meeting facilities- Recording and editing discussion- Others (specify)
1
Appendix 3.
BRIEF WORKING CONFERENCE GUIDE
1. Definition and purpose
The pupose of this guide is to advice SIG/W3 chairmen and others onformal steps involved to obtain approval of a working conference. It willcontain some practical guidelines for conference organization togetherwith some established rules.
In this context a working conference is characterized by the following:
. Limited number of participants (usually 30-60)
. Usually participation by invitation only
. 2-3 days conference
. 9-12 presentations
. Ample time for discussion and eventually group work
. All participants activated
. Published proceedings with results of discussions and group workincluded
According to MIA practice working conferences should be internationalwhich means papers and participants from several countries.
2. Conference organization
The official IMIA conference language is English. This means that allpresentations and written documentation should be in English. However,simultaneous translation can be arranged for non English-speaking part ofthe audience.
Only papers that are documented in the preprints should be allowed forpresentation on the conference.
Paper selection is done by an international program committes (IPC). Itis required that this committee is truly international. Members of theworking group, enforced with other experts if necessary, will often formthe IPC. It is recommended, although not necessary, that the IPCchairman is recruited from the country where the conference is held.
All papers should be reviewed by the IPC. At least two persons shouldgive their opinion on each paper. This is usually done by mail andorganized by the IPC chairman. The review should contain recommendationsas to whether the paper is inside the scope of the conference or not, theoriginality of the paper, clarity and applicability to the conference.Remarks to the author should also be given. The final paper selectionshould be done in a meeting or by mail based on the proposal from the IPCchairman. The W3 chairman should be kept informed continously.
A local organizing committes should be established to take care of allthe practical details. The IPC chairman should be member of theorganizing committes. Bearing in mind that working conferences usuallyare small, it is usual that the IPC chairman himself actually also is theorganizing committee.
2
For the proceedings an editor should be appointed. His task is to editthe papers and the discussions, and handle the contacts with thepublisher. All papers should be typed on special forms. These will bemailed directly to the author by acceptance of paper together with typingand mailing instructions. North Holland should therefore be informed atearliest possible event about the decided program. It is recommendedthat the typed forms are returned to the editor before the conference.Thus the same sheets can be used for reproducing the preprints. In theproceedings should only occur papers that were actually presented at theconference.
If the editor's mother tongue is not English, a co-editor whose mothertongue is English, shall be appointed.
3. Conference advertising and invitation
Usually a call for paper (CFP) is issued, encouraging people tocontribute a paper to the conference. An answer to a CFP could be anabstract of at least one type written page. Based on the abstract, apreliminary acceptance of a paper can be given. When the full writtenpaper is received, the final acceptance can be given. It is recommendedto request a statement from the author together with the full paper thathe is willing and able to come to the conference and present the paper.On the preliminary approval the author should be made aware that he isexpected to come to the conference, and that he will have to cover alltravelling expenses himself.
Instead of an abstract, the full paper may be requested as an answer toCPF. No preliminary acceptance is necessary in this case.
Besed on the (preliminary) acceptance, a preliminary program is set up.This is usually also the invitation to the conference containing aregistration form. Since participation is limited to a certain number, itis recommended that participants apply for participation. The IPCchairman should (in cooperation with the WG chairman) select theparticipants from the applicants.
SIG/WG members and members of the organizing group should receive aninvitation and will autonaticly be approved for participation withoutapplication.
A final program should be set up based on the final acception of papers.The final program will be distributed at the conference.
Call for papers and preliminary program should always additionally bemailed to:
. Newsletters editor
. IMA secretariat for information
. All SIG/WG members
For all correspondence concerning the conference, IMA stationery shouldbe used. Stationery can be obtained from IMA secretariat.
3
4. Financial conciderations
In IKEA it is a practice that everybody pays his own expenses forparticipation. This should therefore also apply to the workingconferences. If there is any requirement for financing travelling forcertain speakers, this can be solved by organizing tutorials.
Working conferences should not have any conference fee. However, a feecan be collected to cover preprints, refreshments, etc., if required.
It is possible to obtain either a grant or a loan from IKLA for a workingconference. A grant should cover extra costs for preparing proceedings(summarizing discussions etc.). For further details see Appendix 2.
For each conference a budget should be set up and made known to theSIG/WG chairman.
- 5. To obtain approval of a conference
Conferences should be planned well in advance. IMIA issues every year anupdated three year plan. It is recommended that conferences arescheduled for this time horizon.
When a SIG/WG has decided to organize a conference, the chairman shouldwrite an application letter to the IMIA AGM. The application shouldcontain as much as possible of the following information:
. Purpose and scope of the conference (in order to justify anddefine it)
. Title of the conference
. Place and dates
. Sponsoring organizations
. IPC chairman and IPC committee
. Organizing committee chairman
. Editor(s)
. Financial requirements
. Address for correspondence
At least purpose and scope, title and place and approximate time must begiven. Other details should be filled in as soon as they are known.
The money will be available for call after the AGM in the year whenbudgeted. The money is released by writing a formal letter to the IMIAtreasurer requesting the grant/loan under reference to the approvedbudget. A brief specification what the money should be used for must begiven, (i.e. copying, mailing expenses, telephone expenses, etc.). It isrecommended to give a bank account where the money should be transferredto.
6. Final conference report
After the conference is finished, an one page final report should beissued to IMIA president and the IMIA Newsletter editor. The reportshould contain the following information:
. A short narrative review of the conference
. The number of papers presented
4
• Saci dSL ^ Wlth a e Fhical distribution. Fiace and date, IPC chairman and editor(s). Any special remarks. Results form evaluation questionaries (if applied)
A copy of the final program should be enclosed with the report.
