Guidelines for the Organization of an IMC

Guidelines which should be given to potential organizers of the IMO's
International Meteor Conference (IMC), compiled by Paul Roggemans
with additions from other IMO Council members.

Proposing a site and date for an IMC:
Any candidate agrees that IMO maintains supervision over the IMC
happening and accepts all IMO regulations decided by the IMO Council. 
The basic conditions are:
               each IMC is announced as an IMO conference
               the official language is English
               the IMC program must be approved by IMO
               the Proceedings are published and printed as an IMO edition
               the program must mention the IMO General Assembly
               all interested persons must be admitted
               the IMO will not cover IMC deficits, i.e. the IMC must be self-supporting
               
Candidate organizers should propose a site and date with details such as:
               maximum price in EUR or USD
               maximum/minimum number of participants
               travelling possibilities (trains, airport, roads)
               administrative limitations (visa, invitations, ...)
               possibilities for sponsorship, subventions, reduced fees
               conference facilities, equipment, video, PC, ...
               lodging and lunch facilities
               possibilities to stay longer/arrive earlier
               the environment, excursion possibilities
               expected weather conditions

Details per aspect:
First the possible accomodations will be checked, looking at the following 
criteria:
   - The total price for the 3-day IMC (usually Thursday afternoon to 
     Sunday noon) per person incl. lodging, full board, excursion, and the 
     Proceedings (see below) should be based on student's budgets. The 
     organizers should bear in mind that the IMC is an amateur conference
     and that there may be requests for reduced registration fees.
   - All meals should be available in the vicinity of the meeting room(s).
     Lodging and conference facilities should be in walking distance
     from each other, unless transport can be easiliy organized.
   - A bar or drink facility should be available.
   - Overnight capacity may be in typical youth hostel rooms, shared by 
     several persons. Single rooms may be offered at a supplement in price. 
     Bathrooms, shower and other washing facilities must be available.
   - Conference location should be suitable for projection of slides, 
     films, videos and computer presentations also during the day.
   - There must be sufficient space for poster exposition during the entire IMC. 
   - The conference room has to give seats to all participants and the acoustics
     must allow the speakers to be understood by all participants.
   - The IMC should not be disturbed by other manifestations going on at the
     same time in the same building. 
   - There must be enough toilets.
   - All rooms must have the possibility for ventilation and heating 
     devices must work.
   - Accessability should be checked: by car, by train, by public transport.
   - Parking place must be available in a secure place.
   - The site must have an international telephone available.

With all this verified information the candidate organizer presents a report 
about the proposed site for the IMC, at least one year in advance. The IMO 
Council will compare the proposals and select the most suitable possibility.

Some general aspects may play an important role:

Geographical place: an IMC should be at a central place easy to reach for a 
large number of meteor observers. This means places too far away from most 
observing groups should be avoided, as well as unsafe or difficult to reach 
areas.

Administration: when too many people need visa, invitations etc the country in 
question should be avoided.

Once the IMO Council approved the site and date of the next IMC, the following 
calendar should be followed:

Immediately the final, total price is decided:
    the full board price per person (as describe above) includes 
    5 EUR for the Proceedings and administration which have to be 
    passed to the IMO.
    The remainder goes completely to the local organizing committee to
    cover the costs as described above.

One year in advance the IMC should be announced in various Journals, 
   the IMO Journal WGN, through letters/mails, on the Internet 
   through WWW pages etc.
Registration forms should be provided by both the IMO and the local organizer. 
The deadline for registration should be taken some months before the IMC.
   There should be an early registration rate and a (more expensive) late 
   registration rate.
Registration forms and the prepayment (at least 50 EUR) must be sent and paid 
   to the IMO treasurer. 
The local organizer should give all additional information that might be asked. 
The local organizer is strongly recommended to make publicity and to 
   invite people and should assist participants who need special documents.
The assocation of an IMC with local events bears the problem of different
   references. Two participants might refer to the same conference with two
   different titles causing some irritation. However, an IMC should be only
   referred to as "IMC , organized by " to draw the attention of 
   its own members to the conference.

4 to 3 months before the IMC a detailed information circular has to be sent 
to all participants by the IMO.

1 month before the IMC a last info may be sent to the participants by the local 
organizer. The program will be made by IMO based upon the registrations and the 
information of the local organizer. Session chairmen are invited by the IMO. 
The final program has to be distributed at the IMC.


At the IMC itself:

The local organizer and IMO officials will coordinate the IMC together, 
   modify the program where necessary, etc. 
Name badges should be prepared, mentioning the name and home country
   of the participant. No affilations are printed on the badges.
The time schedule has to be kept by the session chairman. 
Each lecturer must deliver a written article (ASCII text) for the 
   Proceedings. Posters may also be included in the Proceedings. 
Questions and comments are noted on forms for use in the Proceedings. 
A special desk will be installed where IMO publications can be purchased 
   or ordered, membership fees paid etc.

The Proceedings will be edited and published by IMO.

Official announcements must be done by IMO officials.

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