Information for chairs

Please read the following information if you have been selected to chair a session.

Chairs are vital to the success of each session. As a chair you will lead the session to ensure that it runs to time and stays on topic. You will be the link between audience and faculty, ensuring that relevant questions are shared and that both the onsite and virtual audiences feel part of the session.

Information for onsite chairs

Before the Congress:

Confirm the details of the session: Save the date and time of the session in your calendar. Review the session running order and the names of the speakers and presentations. You can find the details program on the ISUOG website.
Connect with faculty: Our team will put you in touch with the session speakers in advance. Make sure to introduce yourself ahead of the event. If you are co-chairing a session then you should discuss in advance how you plan to manage the session together. We won’t be able to share presentations in advance of the Congress so this will be your chance to find out more about the topics and talks from the speakers themselves.
Complete your declaration form: You must complete the faculty declaration ahead of the session. If you have not already then the session hall manager will ask you to complete the form onsite.

Practicalities on the day:

Questions or queries about your session: If you have any questions about the session or your role as chair then please visit the speaker prep room where a member of our team will be able to support you. Please do this as soon as possible when you are onsite. Please be aware that this room is not suitable for meetings with other faculty however there will be plenty of alternative spaces available around the hotel and venue.
You must arrive at your session hall at least 30 minutes ahead of the session and check-in with the ISUOG session hall manager in your session hall: It is important that you arrive on time. If you are running late or unable to attend for any reason, please contact Jonathan Bennett ([email protected]) as soon as possible. ISUOG staff will manage every session hall. When you arrive in the room please make sure to introduce yourself to them. They will be available to answer any questions that you have and will ensure that everything is set up for the session. They will also pass you any information that you need to share with the audience at the start of the session.
Missing faculty: If a speaker is absent or has to leave, you should can use the time for extra discussion with the other faculty. The ISUOG session hall managers will inform you before the session of any changes to the program or running orders.
Technical support: All technical issues will be dealt with by our AV team. ISUOG staff will also be on hand to deal with any issues within the room. If you have any concerns during the session please direct these to the session hall managers.

Stage setup:

All faculty (including chairs) will be seated on the stage.
There are no lecterns. Instead, all faculty will wear a headset microphone. Speakers will have a remote clicker to move through presentation slides. This means speakers will have the freedom to move around the stage and engage with the audience.
During the introductions, discussion/Q&A and closing summary you can speak directly to the audience with your headset microphone.
When you introduce a speaker they should leave their seat and head to the main part of the stage. Their slides will be loaded in advance by our team and they can move through them using the clicker provided.

Questions from the audience:

All delegates can submit questions through the Congress platform. You’ll be provided with an iPad that lists all of the questions received from both onsite and virtual delegates.
You can take questions directly from the onsite audience. There will be mics in the session hall for this purpose.
Whilst you will be joined by delegates in the room, you should also remember to engage with the virtual audience. Make sure to directly welcome them to the session, encourage them to submit questions and encourage the other faculty to do the same.

Ultrasound demonstrations:

In relevant sessions, demonstrations will be taking place in an adjacent room. You should introduce the scan as normal, a live feed with then be displayed on the screens in the hall.
At the end of the scan the faculty member will join you on stage for the Q&A.

If you have virtual faculty in the session:

If there are virtual faculty in the session, you will see them on the main screen and comfort monitors in front of the stage.
You won’t be able to speak to them in advance of the session however once they are visible on the screen you will be able to talk to them directly with the headset and they will be able to see you and the other faculty/presentations.
Their talks will be pre-recorded in advance, once you have introduced them our team will press play.
The Q&A will work in the same was as for the onsite faculty however you will be speaking to them through the screen.

Your role as chair:
Open the session, welcome the audience and introduce the faculty. As a guide you should mention the following:

Welcome the audience (onsite and virtual) to the session
Request that all phones are set to silent to avoid interrupting the session and presentations
Ask delegates to address any issues to ISUOG staff in the room
Tell delegates that they should not record lectures on their own personal devices
Run through the session timetable and quickly introduce the speakers
Give very brief introduction to the topic
Encourage delegates to submit their questions through the Congress platform
Invite the first speaker to the stage…

Throughout the session:

It is vital that sessions run to time and all sessions will finish on time. Any talks that overrun will reduce the time for speakers later in the program. Please remind speakers to be respectful of other faculty and to keep to time. If necessary, you should intervene to remind them of the time and ask them to close their talk.
Lead the discussion and Q&A segments
Engage the audience and review audience questions and include these in the discussion
Set a friendly and open tone for the session - encourage debate but challenge any overly personal, inappropriate or offensive comments
Where relevant thank sponsors for their support of the ultrasound demonstration
Close the session by thanking faculty and delegates for their attendance and participation

Virtual session chairs