Hosting Criteria

OIA Conference Host CriteriaLocationLocation should be considered safe, easily accessible and comprised of appealing characteristics thatwill attract participants.General Responsibilities of HostOnce a host has been selected by the OIA Board of Directors, a Letter of Agreement between theBoard on behalf of the OIA and the host(s) further clarifying the responsibilities of all parties will beexecuted.• Planning – Planning should begin 18-24 months prior to the conference start date to avoiddifficulties in securing a venue and booking hotel rooms (hiring a professional conference organizerto assist is highly recommended).• Venue – A conference venue should be chosen that is large enough to accommodate all sessionsand workshops, and designed to allow attendees easy access to all rooms as well as time to movefrom one session to another.• Preparations – The host should have sufficient time and resources to prepare a successfulconference. It is highly recommended that the host hire a professional conference organizer todirect the preparations. Two to three people representing the host organization should be enlisted tocarry out specific duties and responsibilities on an ongoing basis, such as selecting the conferenceorganizer, sorting invitations, assessing abstracts, managing the conference website, and all othernecessary tasks. The time committed to these preparations will vary according to the tasks at hand –approximately 3 hours per week initially and steadily increasing as the date of the conferenceapproaches.• Conference Organising Committee – A Conference Organising Committee has been established bythe OIA Board of Directors to help develop a conference programme based on the conferenceframework schedule and make recommendations for speakers. This is a committee of the Board andwill make regular reports to that body accordingly. When feasible, the committee will solicitvolunteer local host members based on the location and host organizations involved. Thecommittee’s aim is to build on its success with ongoing improvement of the programme from yearto year.• Funding – The host should be prepared to pledge enough funding to pay for initial expenses, i.e.,deposits for the hotels, venue and conference organizer. It is expected that the funding will bereimbursed through registration fees. A budget for the conference must be presented to the Boardof Directors, with regular updates. All costs incurred must be agreed upon with the Board ofDirectors. In the event of more than one host member for a given conference, the reimbursement tothe hosts will be proportional to the initial costs incurred (i.e., if one group pays a larger sum, thatgroup will receive a proportionally larger payment). The OIA will not be responsible for anyfinancial over runs.Action GuideAn Action Guide to assist the new host in preparing for the upcoming conference will be presented

to that organization by the previous host immediately following the last conference. The Guide willoutline the actions the previous host took to prepare for their event, and will also includeevaluations of the conference solicited from the participants, sample invitations and letters, andother material produced that can be adjusted to the needs of the new host. Similarly, the new hostwill be expected to update the Action Guide immediately following their event and present to it theorganization selected to host the next conference, with a copy also being given to the Secretariat.