The British Biophysical Society

Notes to Meetings Organisers

Last revised 17 May 2006

Organising the meetings

Specimen Speaker Invitation

Dates and Advertising

Suggested Timetable

Finances

Bursaries

VAT

At the Meeting Venue

Advertising via the BBS

The British Biophysical Society actively encourages scientists to organise scientific meetings. Meetings are low cost to encourage wide participation; students and postdocs are helped by low fees and bursaries. BBS members benefit from a reduced registration fee. Two main meetings are sponsored by the BBS each year, as well as a number of smaller discussion meetings. The main meetings habitually take place during the Christmas and Easter holidays and last 2/3 days. Discussion meetings last one day and may take place at any time.

The Meeting Organiser: The Meeting Organiser(s) is approached by, or approaches the BBS with the suggestion for a meeting. Once the subject matter, dates and location have been discussed and approved by the BBS Committee, the Meeting Organiser is encouraged to proceed. The BBS Meetings Secretary provides help and a communication Channel between the Meetings Organiser and the BBS. The Meeting Organiser who is responsible for the programme, invitations, registrations will be expected to attend BBS committee meetings to present the meeting program and budget for approval. Committee meetings usually take place at the end of December/beginning of January, in May and in October. The AGM takes place during the Winter Meetings. The BBS usually promises to underwrite the meetings by £2000 for 2 days and £750 for a 1 day meeting, but the organisers are asked to break even without using these amounts if possible.

 

Organising the Meetings

A provisional list of speakers should be made up at least 1 year in advance. When speakers are invited, it is most important to clearly state the maximum travelling expense which will be reimbursed. It is often helpful to invite speakers who are known to be in the UK at the time of the meeting. Overseas speakers may require extra nights to fit their travel plans and to avail themselves of Apex flights. A specimen letter format is attached.

Useful addresses:

BBS Meetings Secretary
Dr. Guy Grant
Unilever Centre for Molecular Informatics
The University Chemical Laboratory
Lensfield Road
Cambridge CB2 1EW

ghg24@cam.ac.uk

BBS Publicity
Dr Sarah Tilley
bbs@britishbiophysics.org.uk

 

Specimen 1st Approach Letter to Speakers

Dr. J. Bloggs
Anywhere University
Anywhere

Dear Joe

This is a note to ask if you would be interested in giving a talk on the theme of "Problems at high concentrations" at the BBS Meeting "NMR characterisation of Bioparticles" to be held between (DATES) and (VENUE).

We will cover your accommodation costs for the duration of the meeting (estimated at £230), waive the registration fee and can offer you a fixed grant of (say £400 for USA, £150 for Europe, nothing for UK) towards your travel costs.

If you are able to participate we will let you know shortly the time allowed for your talk and the time you should allow for discussion.

A provisional outline programme is enclosed. Although there will be no proceedings as such, you will be requested to supply by September 30th a one page (A4) abstract.

With best regards

A.N. Other (for the organisers)

 

Dates and Advertising

1. Your proposed dates for the meeting should be checked for any overlapping topics at various web sites e.g.
a) The Royal Society of Chemistry (UK)
b) The American Chemical Society
c) The Biosciences Foundation

2. The UK Biochemical Society and The Biosciences Foundation. The latter has a "meetings arm", the Inter Society Liaison Group (ISLG) which coordinates the activities of the following societies and has as its members their Meetings Secretaries through which you should discuss dates and they will then enter them in the provisional meetings database.

British Society for Cell Biology

Society for General Microbiology

British Biophysical Society

British Pharmacological Society

British Society for Cell Biology

Society for General Microbiology

British Electrophoresis Society

Anatomical Society

Physiological Society

Nutrition Society

Genetical Society

British Society for Immunology

Biochemical Society

British Nutrition Society

3. Include on the registration form information on a) bursaries and b) BBS member discounts (particularly if it is a joint form these are not always built in early enough).

4. Advertising in the form of posters, on the WWW, via Newsgroups and mailing lists needs to be coordinated with co-organisers.

5. The BBS Newsletter: Attached are some notes about advertising Meetings in the BBS Newsletter drawn up by the Publicity Officer who coordinates this and the BBS web page. Organisers of BBS Meetings will of course not have to pay, but should contact the Publicity Officer as soon as details are known.

6. A reminder about publicity for joint meetings to try to ensure that we have as high a profile as the the coorganising society.

7. Organisers to have promotional material about the BBS available at the meeting (available from the Publicity Officer) and Membership/Direct Debit forms to enrol new members.

 

Suggested Time-table

This is important. The organisation of the meeting involves the following steps:

Tasks List and Timetable

1 Reservation of lecture theatre, rooms and accommodation
Is a University conference organiser company involved?

24-12 months in advance

2 Preparation of provisional list of speakers.

24-12 months in advance

3 Discussions with BBS Committee concerning scientific contents, speakers and budget outline.

24-12 months in advance

4 Preparation of speakers list and of provisional budget.

12 months in advance

5 Approval of provisional budget by BBS Committee.

12 months in advance

6 Formal invitation of speakers (Key speakers first).

12-6 months in advance

7 Fund-raising by writing to sponsoring organisations.

12 months in advance

8 Detailed preparation of programme, advertising material, talk titles, catering, poster sessions, transport. Setting of registration fee, of `late-registration 'fee*.

12 months in advance

10 Announcement of meeting in BBS Newsletter and elsewhere.

12 months in advance

11 Approval of budget, agreement of Treasurer, evaluation of fund-raising and liabilities

6 months in advance

MEETING

12 Presentation of final accounts to committee

Within financial year

13 Meeting Report to Publicity Officer

A S A P

 

Suggested registration rates to illustrate disparities

Student/retired BBS members £30

(Student/retired membership is £10)

Standard BBS member £60

(Standard membership is £15)

Standard BBS non member £90

Student/retired BBS non-member £50

 

Finances

1. Remember to include in your calculations speakers travel, board and lodging, theatre hire, local transport, audiovisual hire, local administration, publicity and printing, exhibition space.

2. To re-iterate, the most important thing is to state right at the outset when you invite people what you are going to pay in the way of travel etc (otherwise believe me they come by Business Class using the mobile phone all the way). Most people will usually find their flight from their own grants, if you say something like "up to [£ X pounds] will be reimbursed for travel only if this cannot be met from your own budgets". [Choose the amount you think you can afford depending on the number of overseas speakers]. It is normal then to stump up for their accommodation, meals and conference dinner, adjusting the registration fee for the paying participants accordingly and depending on the amount of industrial sponsorship you can raise. It should be attempted to make the meeting break even (with BBS only underwriting any unforeseen loss), but with the lowest registration possible.

3. Sponsorship: Companies can be very generous (£100-£500 the norm) or expenses for a named lecture. Obtain a list from the BBS Treasurer.

4. Expenditure and Income of BBS Meetings are expected to balance or to produce a small profit. When meetings are organised by, and within educational institutions, it may be possible to avoid VAT payments. Attached are more details on VAT implications.

5. Bursaries: BBS will give an agreed amount in bursaries to help young scientists to attend.This is the standard form.

N B: The present organisation for these is that the Meeting Organiser mentions them within their circulated advertising and on the registration form, and alerts people to the possibility via the meeting web site. Bursary application forms are available either from the Meeting Organiser, the BBS website or from the BBS Meetings Secretary (address given on the Bursary form), to whom the forms are returned. Membership Application forms are available from the BBS website or from the Membership Secretary. The Meetings Secretary then passes any New Membership forms and cheques (people obtaining a bursary require to be a member of the BBS on payment of the £10 student fee) to the BBS Treasurer and a note of the agreed bursary sum to the Meetings Organiser who then checks at the meeting that the student has attended and informs the BBS Treasurer, who sends the applicant the agreed money and reimburses the Meetings financial statement for any registration fees not paid.

V A T

Certain supplies are exempt from VAT, particularly education (conferences, courses etc) if it is supplied by an eligible body and run without intending to make a profit. Generally, a charity fits this bill. So if a society runs a conference to make a profit, it must charge VAT on registration and accommodation fees and pay this to HMC & E, deducting the VAT on any costs it bears in running the conference. Scientists attending cannot recover the VAT if they pay personally. A company or university in some cases may be able to recover the VAT if it pays the fees direct.

If a society bears the costs of the conference and does not intend to make a profit it must treat the income it receives from scientists attending as exempt and may then NOT recover the VAT on its costs. (There is a complicated partial exemption system, which affects smaller societies mainly, and which means some VAT may be reclaimable). If a profit is made, the profit must be retained and used for future educational courses.

To be able to recover the VAT on costs, a society may contract with its trading company to run the conference. The company is NOT an eligible body and must therefore charge VAT on its fees, but then can recover all the VAT on its costs. Clearly this is beneficial if costs exceed income.

Commercial venues usually make all their supplies standard-rated, whereas universities are specifically exempt from charging VAT. This means that if a society runs a conference at a university, the whole thing is exempt from VAT, regardless of profitability. (Associated costs are included as exempted, such as accommodation and food, but no social costs, which can be treated as separate standard-rated items).

To complicate matters further, some universities have established their own trading or management companies and let facilities through that company. The quirk here is that the supply of educational facilities is made by the company and is therefore standard-rated for VAT. The society however must make the supply to its members exempt from VAT and can therefore not recover the company's VAT - unless it uses its own trading company, in which it must charge VAT to members. In a further quirk, transactions between the university and its management company are specifically allowed to be exempt from VAT. A way round this is to ensure contracts are made between the society and the university, if at all possible.

The implication of this is that a society should not run university-based conferences through its trading subsidiary, since, although there is no VAT to pay or charge, the company would then have exempt supplies and might not be able to recover all its standard-rated VAT.

In general, societies should follow ask the following questions:

a) Is the society VAT-registered?

b) Does the society have a trading subsidiary?

c) Are courses run at universities?

d) Are courses run at commercial venues?

(e) Are courses run for a profit?

f) If profits are made by a society on its courses, are they used for future courses?

 

At the Meeting Venue

If possible recruit local help of students. Most universities now have a conference organiser, but these may be expensive. And will have been part of the original package negotiated. Depending on how much local help you have it is still important to take personal responsibility. Some ideas follow:

Verify a least a quarter of an hour in advance of each session that the building and the lecture theatre are unlocked, and that the necessary equipment is in place and works.

Where there is any organised transport, telephone the bus company at the start of each day, and go through the detailed schedule for the day ahead. A 24-hr emergency number should also be available, so that any non-appearance of buses can be promptly (and confidently!) dealt with.

Check at least quarter of an hour in advance of each refreshment break that there are at least signs of the imminent appearance of coffee. Similar checks should be made in respect of lunches and any other social function, such as a reception.

Check with the Registration Desk at the start of each session that all the speakers and the chairpersons for the session have arrived, so that if not, contingency plans can be prepared.

Know where to refer any medical emergency.

Take care to ensure appropriate fixing materials are readily available to put up posters, and if at all possible, try to arrange manpower to assist.

Know what to do when non pre-booked accommodation is sought at the start of the meeting.

 

BBS Advertising for Meeting Organisers.

Advertising is the responsibility of meeting organisers; the BBS is an important form of distribution but there may well be others.

Design of Advertising/Registration Material:

Apart from simply producing the program, list of speakers, etc, meeting publicity is also an opportunity to advertise BBS. In the case of joint meetings it is important to make sure the BBS has as much coverage as possible in the material that is sent out. This can be difficult with some of the larger Societies, who have very fixed ways of proceeding. If there is a meeting booklet with space in it for a paragraph or two about BBS, a draft version is available.

The BBS logo is available in electronic form from the Publicity Officer if required; if there is anything else you think would be helpful, please ask. The registration form should mention BBS Bursaries where applicable, and the discounts available to BBS members.

 

1. Advertising in BBS Newsletter (edited by the Publicity Officer)

BBS Newsletter, published 2-3 times/year (approx. dates Feb/Mar, June/July, Oct/Nov), reaches approximately 600 scientists, mainly in the UK, but about a fifth in other parts of the world. It reaches individuals at all levels working in a variety of bioscience environments, such as X-ray crystallography, nmr, physiology, spectroscopy, microscopy, computational simulation, preparation and purification of proteins, nucleic acids, carbohydrates, lipids. The format is electronic or on A4, monochrome printed.

Advertising leaflets can be mailed with an issue of BBS News. They should be A5 or A4 ready folded. What has worked well in the past is to include the meeting program in the body of the Newsletter, and to include a registration form loose with the Newsletter. However, an A4 flyer e.g. a small poster, (folded in half) can also be enclosed with the Newsletter if there is one available, and if you prefer the program to be included loose, that is OK (in fact anything that is already folded to fit an A5 envelope).

N.B. Please allow plenty of time between the Newsletter publication date and any meeting deadlines.

2. Advertising on WWW (www.britishbiophysics.org.uk; webmaster Publicity Officer).

Meeting details should be included on the BBS WWW site as soon as they are available. Where possible they should include a hyperlink to a site setup by the organiser, but if help is required in placing all the details on the BBS pages, this can be done. However, the BBS does not handle such things as online registration for you. Again, please try to make sure that BBS is represented on whatever WWW material is on other sites. Material accepted in Word, rtf, html or plain text quite easily; for other formats, please ask.

3. Mailing list.

We do not supply our list of members in electronic form to other organisations, but if you wish to have a set of labels ready-printed this can be done (16 labels/sheets, not sorted by geography, or indeed anything else).

Text by Elizabeth Hounsell, notes on BBS advertising by Judith Murray-Rust and edited by Sarah Tilley.