SPEAKER GUIDELINES for Breakout Sessions 

DISCUSSION GUIDELINES  

  

Discussion sessions involve informative sharing of information on recent findings or innovative topics related to the accepted abstract with substantial opportunity for discussion among attendees. Most sessions only focus on one abstract, but occasionally two abstracts may be invited to a session. All sessions will take place at the meeting facilities in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Sessions will have adequate audio equipment for the meeting room, but will not have any additional audio-visual equipment, telephone/video conferencing equipment, telephones, or internet lines available.  

 

Important Dates  

4/10 Invitation Response Due  

5/22 Advanced Upload of Handouts (Optional) 

  

Responding to the Speaker Invitation  

Formal letters of invitation are sent by e-mail from the CSTE national office by Thursday, March 6, 2025. Presenting authors for discussion sessions should respond to the invitation online no later than 11:59PM EDT on Thursday, April 10, 2025.    

 

Submission of a discussion abstract implies that presenting authors are committed to making the presentation at the conference. Should circumstances change and a presenting author is unable to attend, then the author is responsible for finding a substitute presenting author. Presenting authors that fail to respond by the deadline will be considered accepted and expected to present. Acceptance or withdrawal of an accepted abstract must be made no later than 11:59PM EDT on Thursday, April 10, 2025 through the Speaker Center. A direct link to your personal Speaker Center can be found in your invitation e-mail. Withdrawals made after this date or failure to present an accepted abstract could result in disqualification from presenting an abstract at future conferences.   

 

All presenting authors and moderators are expected to register for the conference and pay related fees. CSTE does not provide a travel allowance, honorarium, or reimbursement for presenting authors or moderators attending the conference. Presenting authors and moderators are encouraged to become CSTE members, but it is not a requirement to present at the conference.   

  

Revising Your Accepted Abstract 

Presenting authors of accepted abstracts are able to submit needed edits to their abstract before Thursday, April 10, 2025 by either emailing [email protected] or calling 770-458-3811. 

 

Presentation Time and Q&A  

Sessions are 45 minutes and are held during morning, lunch, and afternoon periods. Food and beverages are not provided during sessions. Most sessions focus on one abstract, but occasionally two abstracts may be invited to a session. Presentation times can be accessed through your online invitation information in Speaker Center. A direct link to your personal Speaker Center can be found in your invitation email. 

 

Meeting Room Setup 

New for 2025, Discussion Session rooms will be setup to help foster discussion and collaboration between attendees. Chairs will be setup for better visibility within the room, but setup will not include round tables. The exact setup is subject to change based on meeting room size. 

 

 

Handouts 

Handouts are not a requirement for discussion sessions; however, if you want to distribute handouts during the session, we recommend you bring plenty of copies with you. Handouts may also be uploaded through Speaker Center. A direct link to your personal Speaker’s Center can be found in your invitation email. Discussion presenters may upload handouts through their Speaker Center no later than 11:59PM EDT on Thursday, May 22, 2025. 

 

CSTE Staff Support in Sessions 

CSTE Staff will be present in every Discussion session at the Annual Conference to support presenting authors and moderators, troubleshoot audio equipment issues, and ensure the smooth operation of the session. This support will include: 

  • Arrive to the designated meeting room 15 minutes prior to the scheduled session to meet presenting authors and moderator. 
  • Notify AV and/or IT teams of any technical problems and serve as main point of contact for AV/IT teams until problem is resolved.  
  • Note any no-show presenting authors and record head count of the number of attendees in the session.  
  • Help attendees fill into seats towards the front of the room to maximize the number of available seats. 
  • Serve as primary lead for any accessibility needs within the session, such as running the microphone to attendees, helping attendees find seating, etc. 
  • CSTE Staff will not be taking notes for sessions but will encourage attendees, speakers, and moderators to take notes as appropriate to their needs. 

 

SPEAKER DISCLOSURE – Presenting authors must disclose to participants prior to speaking any significant financial interest or other relationships with the manufacturer(s) of any commercial product(s) or provider(s) of any commercial services discussed in a session presentation and with any commercial supports of the activity. This pertains to relationships with pharmaceutical companies, biomedical device manufacturers, or other corporations whose products or services are related to the subject matter of the presentation topic. Having an interest or affiliation with a corporate organization does not prevent a speaker from making a presentation, but the relationship must be made known in advance to the audience. Questions regarding CSTE presenter disclosure should be directed to the CSTE National Office.  

  

PHOTOGRAPHY DISCLOSURE – By participating in the annual conference, whether in-person or virtually, uploading photographs to social media with the hashtag #CSTE2025, or uploading photographs to the CSTE conference app and/or platform, you grant CSTE the right to take and distribute photographs, video, audio and/or electronic reproductions of events and activities for use in CSTE print and digital materials. By agreeing to present, you agree to allow CSTE to make video recordings of your presentation and archive this public available media on the CSTE website.  

  

CSTE may select presentations or sessions for promotion to media outlets during the CSTE Annual Conference. Therefore, media personnel may attend conference sessions and can be identified by their conference name badges. 

 

Questions – Contact the CSTE national office at (770) 458-3811 or [email protected] if you have any questions that are not addressed in the guidelines or on the CSTE website.  

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