The Organising Committee of the 37^th EDTNA/ERCA International Conference will do its utmost to help authors for their presentations and to facilitate their arrival and stay at the meeting.

Please take a few minutes of your time to read the following which will present you the on-site organization of the conference for the smooth running of the sessions.

A Scientific Secretariat will be installed in the Prague Congress Centre. Its role on site will be to manage the following:

• General schedule of the sessions
• Reservation and planning of last minutes small meetings (board meetings, working parties, editorial committees, etc…)
• Reception of last minute texts or new text versions for the oral presentation prepared for simultaneous interpretation if any
• Loan extra material needed for setting up the posters
• Request for special audio-visual material in the meeting rooms
• Make appointments with those responsible for the scientific organisation

However, before preparing your oral or poster presentation and before coming to the conference, we recommend you take a few minutes to read the following guidelines.

1.  ORAL PRESENTATIONS for INVITED or FREE PAPERS

In order to match with the most recent technology, EACH ROOM will be equipped with A SINGLE Video-projector (LCD for computer assisted presentations, ie. Powerpoint).
For the general organisation, after having picked-up their badge at the Welcome desk, each speaker should go to the PREVIEW ROOM, (follow signs on site).
Each speaker should also verify in the final program that the name of the room and the time of the session have not changed.

Speakers should be in the conference room 15 minutes before the beginning of his session and meet with the Chairman.

Please, follow strictly the instructions of the Chairman, especially with regard to the time allotted to the speech: do not go over the time limit. Microphones will be switched off when the time is over. Remember to speak directly into the microphone at a suitable speed for everybody and especially for the interpreters in translated sessions. You will find a laser pointer on the lectern to help you pointing out your slides if necessary. Please do not leave with it!
Qualified personnel will act as liaison between speakers and projectionists: speakers will not have access to the projection rooms; therefore speakers must go to the PREVIEW ROOM to hand in their computer assisted presentations that will be handed over to the projection room on time.
The speaker is entirely responsible for the order, the loading and the pre-projection of his computer assisted presentation, using the equipment made available by the organizers.

NOTE: The sessions will not be recorded.

For your Computer Assisted Presentation (Power-Point style):

To avoid delays caused by switching computers at the platform, booting-up computers and potential compatibility problems, the Organizing Committee has made available to speakers the standard A/V system used in the convention sector. There will be a master computer in each meeting room and to ensure smooth transition between speakers and appropriate audiovisual technical support, the Organisers request that speakers do not plan on connecting their laptop to the conference centre projector (Barco type), nor even bring their own projectors. Every speaker has to go to the Preview room beforehand to provide their PowerPoint presentation.

Format - Presentation:

Only Presentations for PC’s (Windows 98/2000/XP/Vista configurations) and PC’s compatible (to avoid problems of compatibility between PC’s and MAC, please use commune fonts to both PC’s and MAC) will be accepted, (no UNIX).
Do not forget to add .ppt extension to your file when saving it.

Please prepare your presentation using Power Point Version XP, 2003 or 2008 (saved as 2003 ppt - or older - presentation).

• If you have pictures, they must be under the following format: .jpg, or .gif, format .pict is prohibited).
• If you have video files attached to your power point presentation, they must be in the following format : .mpg, .mpeg, .avi or .wmv. The format .mov (quicktime) is NOT accepted. If you have such files, please export them in .avi format. Please do not forget to attach the video file to presentation source folder.

Do not forget, when saving your final presentation to CD or USB stick, to make sure to include your video files if any and all links to these multimedia files.

Depositing of file:

• Your computer file must be handed over to the personnel of the PREVIEW ROOM, either with a CD or a memory stick, as far in advance as possible and TWO hours BEFORE the beginning of each session AT THE LATEST. (The presentation for an early morning session should be handed over the evening before).
  • In the PREVIEW ROOM, you will be assisted by a technician, who will help you to download your presentation to the internal network. You will also be able to review your presentation and to verify that it has been transferred correctly to the network.
  In the Meeting room:
  • Your presentation will be sent directly to the meeting room through the internal computer network. A hostess in the meeting room will then point out your presentation on the screen of the computer positioned on the lectern, a few seconds before your turn. The PC on the lectern is programmed with 1024x768 pixels and is linked to a video-projector (LCD for flat rooms or Barco type for Amphitheatres).
  • Once the presentation is launched you will advance your own slides using the control on the lectern or remote controller.
  • Please, do NOT come at the last minute with your own computer into the meeting room: you will NOT be able to connect it. All presentations must be downloaded in the PREVIEW ROOM beforehand.

Confidentiality / Authorisation for the use of Powerpoint Presentation:

We would like to inform authors that their consent will be requested to allow EDTNA/ERCA to upload the PowerPoint presentations on the members-only section of the Association website www.edtnaerca.org after the Conference.
Of course if for any reason you do not wish to give such authorisation, your file will be automatically deleted from our system AT THE END OF THE CONFERENCE.

Official Language:

The official language of the Conference is English, which means that all presentations and questions must be delivered in ENGLISH.

However, please kindly note that:

• PLENARY SESSIONS in Congress Hall will be translated from English into Czech, French, German, Greek, Italian and Spanish
• CKD SEMINAR in Meeting Hall 1 will be translated from English into Spanish and Greek and in Congress Hall into Czech, French, German, Greek, Italian and Spanish.

Headphones and receivers for the speakers (as for the delegates) will be handed over and collected at the welcome area.

This task of interpretation has been entrusted to experienced professional conference interpreters. A good interpretation requires intensive preparation of the manuscript by the interpreter and proper speed of delivery by the speaker.
Thus, if you wish to be understood by conference participants who do not know your language, you are kindly, but pressingly invited, when speaking, to speak into the microphone at a normal speed and clear voice.

REMINDER:

If you are presenting your work in a translated hall then we require a copy of your oral presentation. This should be sent EDTNA/ERCA Conference Department and should not arrive later than

21^st AUGUST 2008

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Content:

Each paper should contain the following:

1. A short descriptive title (no abbreviations in the title)
2. Full names of contributing authors
3. Address of unit/hospital/institution
4. An introduction
5. Sections on methods, materials, results and the purpose of the study
6. A brief conclusion and discussion (where appropriate)

2. SHORT ORAL PRESENTATIONS

If you have been assigned an “SHORT ORAL PRESENTATION” presentation this means that in addition to the poster display we would also like you to present a brief summary of your work in a conference session. This is a 3 min presentation (3 slides approx) with 2 min discussion. The sessions are relaxed and informal and several other presenters will be discussing the key points of their work. We do hope that you will participate.

Language:

Your presentation must be in ENGLISH. Short Oral presentation session is scheduled for Sunday, 7. 9. 2008 in North Hall at 14:00. Please ask a friend or colleague to help you present the work, or to help with translating questions if required.
You will also be required to be in attendance at your poster during one of the breaktime sessions—your letter indicates to which of these sessions your poster has been allocated.

Computer Presentation - Please refer to paragraph 1

Please ensure that you remain strictly to the time allocated without rushing your presentation. Try to speak at a moderate pace so that the audience can understand what you are presenting. Time for questions and discussion will be allowed after your presentation. You only have time to present the key findings of your work. Please concentrate on the implications for practice.

You must be present in the room, and make yourself known to the session chair person, at least 10 minutes before the session begins and remain until the end of the session.

3. POSTER PRESENTATIONS

The Poster Sessions have been organised this year as follows:

Language:

Your poster must be written in ENGLISH. Please be available by your Poster throughout the Poster Session to which you have been assigned (see your confirmation letter).
Consult the Final Programme to confirm which day you should be present next to your Poster. Providing you adhere to the Rules, your Poster will automatically be judged for one of the “Best Poster Scholarship” Awards.

Poster Contents:

Each poster should contain the following elements:

1. A short, descriptive title (no abbreviations in the title)
2. Full names of contributing authors
3. Address of hospital/unit/institution
4. An introduction
5. Sections on methods, materials, results, and the purpose of the study
6. A Conclusion (The conclusion is by far the most important part of the poster – the message should be clear and simple, emphasising implications for practice)
7. The poster must not exceed 97 cm wide and 150 cm high (Portrait)

Text, tables and drawings for figures should be large enough to be seen at a distance of 2 metres. Illustrations should be used to convey important points; diagrams, graphs, bar charts, scatter grams, pie charts and photographs will enhance your presentation.

Make short statements, avoid long explanatory sentences.
Please note that industry or commercial advertising is not allowed on poster presentations, and that posters prominently displaying company logos or trade names will be excluded from the poster scholarship and may be removed from display, or have the company name covered.

Materials:

In order to fit the poster board, your poster should not exceed 97 cm wide and 150 cm high (Portrait). Prepare your material beforehand so that it will fit neatly into the space available and can be easily attached to the board. Suitable fixing materials will be provided by the Conference organisers and assistance will be available on site.
Thin cardboard is more suitable than paper. Use a computer, or enlarge a typed text by photographic methods. If you can have your poster produced by your hospital’s Medical illustration Department, the finished effect is more professional.

Mounting your Poster:

The Poster Area will be open for the mounting of posters on Saturday 6th September 2008 from 15:00. All posters should be set up by 18:00 hours on Saturday, prior to the Conference Opening and MUST remain in place until 14:00 on Tuesday 9th September 2008.

Removing your Poster:

All material must be removed by the owner at the end of the Conference. EDTNA/ERCA and the Conference Organisers cannot accept responsibility for any material left behind.
The organisers are not responsible for loss or damage to those posters which are not removed by authors within the times of dismantling as indicated above. Posters not removed by their authors at the stated time, will be automatically destroyed.