Bids to Host Future Symposia
The International Coral Reef Symposium (ICRS), held every four years at venues around the world, is designed to advance international understanding of and appreciation for the most diverse marine ecosystems on earth, and to strengthen local, regional and international cooperation for their wise use, treatment, protection, and conservation. Groups interested in hosting a symposium should include members of the Society willing to form the nucleus of a Local Organizing Committee (LOC).
Correspondence should be directed to the ICRS President, Dr. Christian R Voolstra, and Corresponding Secretary, Dr. Mark Eakin.
Bids should be a written document (max. 10 pages) that addresses the following issues:
- Venue: The venue should have the capacity to accommodate approximately 3000 participants, both within a single large plenary hall and in up to 20 or so smaller lecture rooms during multiple, simultaneous sessions.
ICRS encourages bids that minimize the environmental footprint of the symposium, including through venue choice, travel planning, catering, waste reduction, hybrid participation options, and transparent carbon accounting or mitigation measures.
- Security: The security and safety of the participants will be a key consideration and should be explicitly described in the bid.
- Accommodation: A range of reasonably priced hotels, guest houses, and other forms of accommodation should be available within a reasonable distance from the venue. Typically, blocks of rooms are reserved at a negotiated rate that is lower than the list price given the large number of projected bookings.
- International Access: It is essential that all nationalities are permitted to enter the host country, and can obtain any required visas and travel documents in a timely fashion.
- Logistics: Describe likely travel arrangements to and from the host city, within the host city between transportation hubs, hotels and the conference venue, and for any social events. It may be useful to provide a list of example airfares from major international cities.
- Food Outlets: A range of restaurants, cafeteria, and other food outlets should be present at or within easy access of the venue, suitable for use by a range of participants including students and attendees with limited financial resources. Maps are useful here to identify locations of food outlets within reach of the conference venue. Please follow the lunch planning used for past ICRS events: catered or box lunches provided within the venue itself and the cost included in the registration fee. This has the advantage of providing lunch at a reasonable price (due to the scale) and making lunch quickly and easily accessible to participants.
- Online Access: We encourage you to develop options for remote access for those unable to attend or wishing to reduce their own carbon footprint while participating in the conference.
- Budget: Here you should outline a reasonably accurate budget, including details of proposed registration fees, items to be covered by the registration fees (e.g., lunches, refreshments), and anticipated costs for production and distribution of the abstracts and proceedings. Think about different registration fees for Society members, non-members, students, industry and/or policy-oriented individuals.
- Sponsorship: Describe the extent of anticipated sponsorships by different funding agencies and foundations, specifying any contacts that have already been made.
- Financial Support for Attendees: Indicate the extent of anticipated financial support available for attendees, particularly students and citizens of low- to middle-income countries.
- Payment: Please provide multiple methods by which international participants can pay registration fees etc.
- Scientific Program: Here you should outline the variety of anticipated sessions, including plenary sessions and speakers, and a range of smaller sessions spanning the interests of a diverse array of researchers, managers, educators and policy-oriented individuals. The latter is to encourage attendance from these groups and to increase the impact of our conferences. Identifying links with policy-oriented individuals and government officials would be seen favorably. You should also describe how the scientific program committee will be established and structured.
- Accessibility and Inclusion: describe how the meeting will support participation across career stages, regions, disciplines, and financial circumstances. This should include accessibility for participants with disabilities, childcare or family-friendly provisions where feasible, visa support, hybrid/remote access options, and mechanisms to support participation from low- and middle-income countries.
- Publication Plan: Specify the timelines and electronic publishing platform for the abstracts, conference schedule, and related events. The Society’s journal Coral Reefs should serve as the first choice of platforms.
- Pre- and Post-Symposium Field Trips: Outline the potential for relevant field or other excursions, including both one-day and longer trips.
- Accompanying Persons Program: Outline any program that could be provided for accompanying persons.
- Outreach: Outline arrangements for access to and by the media and local community.
- National and Local Government Support: Indicate the nature and extent of anticipated support from, and cooperation with, local, regional, and national agencies. Care should be taken to identify local, national and regional funding sources unique to the Symposium venue.
- International and National Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO): Summarize the nature and extent of anticipated support from, and collaboration with, NGOs. A list of funders from the previous few symposia should be consulted and the Local Organizing Committee should reach out to those funders early to arrange for support.
- Local Organizing Committee: Outline the likely structure, composition, and responsibilities of the organizing committee and any sub-committees. We recommend that professional meeting organizers be used for venue and meeting logistics, travel professionals for field trips, and a local university or other research institution for the scientific program.
Responsibilities of the Local Organizing Committee will include:
- Holding a call for conferences sessions at least 18 months ahead of the conference and selecting the successful sessions based on a fair and unbiased metric.
- Holding a call for abstract submissions at least 12 months ahead of the conference and selecting the successful abstracts based on a fair and unbiased metric. Note the Society will help with its officers and council members where appropriate.
- Developing and maintaining a website for announcements, registration, and logistical details.
- Fund-raising, in cooperation with the Society, to support the core costs of the Symposium and related activities, and to encourage broad participation and representation among attendees (see above).
- Editing, production, and distribution of the Program and Abstracts.
- Identifying professional conference organizers able to work effectively with the Local Organizing Committee at reasonable expense.
- Identifying members of the Local Organizing Committee willing to assume key roles, including the Conference Chairperson, Program Chair, Publications Editor, Treasurer, Field Trip Coordinator, and Media Coordinator.
- Developing a timetable of Actions and Activities required to be completed leading up to, during, and following the Symposium.
Please refer to the bid for hosting ICRS2020 in Bremen, Germany and ICRS2026 in Auckland, NZ as examples of successful applications. While some elements of the bid process have changed, these example can help guide prospective bidders.
The above information may be downloaded as a PDF document.
