What does each person do?
The Chair and Vice-chair share responsibility for the conference. They lead the team during meetings and are the faces of the event on the day.
In the event the Chair is unable to attend a meeting or even the event, the Vice-Chair should be willing and able to step up.
The Treasurer will handle your budget and work with the GSA Business Office to make sure everything is paid for. Importantly they should work closely or oversee your Sponsorship Team and make sure sponsors get the public recognition they deserve.
Your Secretary will handle all communications to and from the Committee. This really means minutes and agendas (Here’s a great article about minutes) but should be a port of call for the Division Committee or Governing Council contact, and delegates. This role requires good organisation, so those with messy desks need not apply.
Two charismatic people will be the boots on the ground for Sponsorship. This dynamic duo will work to attract and commit sponsors from all possible sectors. They will also work with the Treasurer to develop sponsorship packages (please see our sponsorship page) to ensure you have a range of options for the really big sponsors but also those who want to support you but can’t commit a lot. All sponsors are valuable so this role requires the ability to address concerns in a manner which builds the sponsor-conference relationship.
Programs and abstracts are the two people who will ensure your abstracts go from random submissions to an amazing on the day program. These legends will ensure the abstracts are of a high quality and decide who does a poster and who gets the coveted oral presentations slots. No need to reinvent the wheel GESSS Committee of years gone by have you covered on layouts and all the tricks you’ll need to succeed.
Your Logistics team will be focused on preparing the day itself. They should be working under the guidance of one of your Executive to ensure that a venue is secured, catering is ordered, AV systems work and that delegates have everything they needs (lanyards, name tags, gift bags etc.).
Promotion is a fine art and goes beyond the realm of social media. The promotion team will have a flair for creation of flyers, brochures, online content and any other media (e.g. social media) you think is needed to promote your event (like these). These Committee Members will have to reach out to universities, businesses and government agencies to get people excited about your event. The social media, websites and emails have already been set up so there is no need to change them, just get the login and passwords from last year’s Committee.
The Promotion person or people will have a certain style and finesse for attracting people with their daily posts on social media. Social media is really important for engaging with your potential delegates. Most GESSS events have websites and social media followings so some of the work is done – your job is to get them re-engaged after the last event. In this role it is important to advertise important dates and registration or sponsorship so being creative can help entice people to register or sponsor your event.
All Committee members have to be members of the GSA to fulfil insurance requirements and protect the other committee members.