2021 Conference Speaker Information
Click here for a printable PDF version of this information
Welcome and thank you for agreeing to teach and share your wisdom at the 19th Annual North American Kavod v’Nichum Chevrah Kadisha and Jewish Cemetery Conference, June 13-16, 2021, to be held online.
Conference Session Structure and Nature
To give you a sense of the landscape, here is an overview of the nature and flow of our past in-person conferences. In-person conference programs usually include pre-conference events, a post-conference Day of Learning, and the conference sessions themselves, which include plenary sessions and workshops. You can see past year’s programs here. In 2020 we held our first online conference, which did not include the pre- and post-conference events.
This year’s program will be similar to the 2020 conference, but we believe more streamlined and better organized. We’re using a professional conference-hosting tool, and this year we will be including a wider range of topics. Click here to see the preliminary online conference program.
Plenary Sessions have historically been an hour to an hour and a half in length (including Q&A). Plenary speakers are introduced prior to speaking. The 2021 plenaries will be 75-minute sessions (including Q&A).
Workshops make up the bulk of the conference experience. Not all workshops in a track are limited to the track topic – this work is simply too complex, and many sessions overlap multiple track arenas. This year each workshop will be 75 minutes in length.
Poster Sessions, are opportunities for presenters to share innovations, new books, new artwork, project ideas, and research with attendees. If you would like to present an online poster session, please fill out the “I would like to present a Poster Session” section of the registration form.
Entering Your Session Information
The supportive information we need for conference sessions is comprised of two main parts:
- A 1-minute video of you summarizing your session topic and content
- The written information (entered through the process described below) we will show on the website about this session
Please follow the steps below to enter the written information and enter yourself as a speaker for the conference. Please do this before April 20th. Once you have done that, we will be in touch to arrange a Zoom session in which we will record you speaking for 60-90 seconds to give an enthusiastic summary of your session. This video will then be uploaded and available for attendees to quickly see what each session is about. Note: it is very hard to limit ourselves to 60 seconds for these videos! The first paragraph is a quick intro of yourself and the title of your workshop. Then you only have a couple of short paragraphs to describe your session topic. The last paragraph summarizes what the workshop entails and ends with something like, “Thanks for listening, I look forward to learning with you at this session in the conference!” Please carefully write your script and time yourself so you can fit into the 90-second window for these videos. Thanks!
Thanks for helping to make this a fabulous event.
Please follow these steps to provide us with the information we need for the conference program.
Step 1: Click here to start the process
This link takes you to the EventSquid platform hosting our conference.
Step 2: Click on the blue box that says, “Click Here to Continue”
Step 3: Complete the form with your contact information, then click “Yes” to the query at the bottom.
Step 4: Click the Continue button to enter the next section that allows you to upload files such as your photograph and session handouts.
A popup window appears entitled “Upload your Avatar” – a place for you to upload a head-shot photo of you to go with your biography in the program. You can upload your photo at this time by clicking on the orange Upload button at the bottom of the popup, or skip it now and email your photo to rlight@Jewish-Funerals.org.
Once you upload your image (or skip it by clicking the X in the upper right corner of the popup), you can upload session handouts or go to the next section by clicking the Continue button.
You upload files by clicking the +Add File button. When ready, click the Continue button to enter your session information.
Step 5: Enter your session information
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- Session title
- Session description – a short overview of what you will cover in the session (100-200 words)
- Speaker biography (100-200 words)
After entering your biography, you get the opportunity to donate or receive your speaker honorarium. All speakers are offered a nominal payment in appreciation for sharing wisdom with us at the conference.
Step 6: Select if you are attending only the session you are teaching or if you are attending other sessions at the conference.
If you are only attending your session, the conference registration fee is waived completely. If you are attending the rest of the conference, your registration fee is discounted 25% because you are a speaker. You must select one of these choices to receive the appropriate discount.
Step 7: If you would like to also present a Poster Session (book talk, artwork presentation, research ideas, etc.), fill in that portion of the form.
Step 8: Click the Continue button to finalize payment and complete your registration.
Once you have registered, you can always come back to edit what you have entered, or you can send us an email and we will edit your information appropriately.
We would appreciate your completing the above steps as soon as possible.
Speaker registration must be completed no later than 5:00pm EDT April 20th, 2021.
Updating Your Session Information
After you have entered your personal and session information through the process described above, you can come back any time to modify or update it. The process is simple:
Step 1: Click here to start the process
This link takes you to the EventSquid platform hosting our conference.
Step 2: Click “Modify My Registration” at the bottom of the gray box.
Step 3: Click “Change My Personal Information”
This takes you to your personal profile page with a popup window that allows easy editing of your entered information. Your profile is displayed first. To modify other information, click “Your Responses” in the vertical menu on the left.
Step 4: Click X in upper right corner to close the popup.
You can return to the conference webpage by clicking “View Event Website” in the list of items shown.
Questions or Concerns
Please contact us if you have any questions, concerns, or additional information to provide us about your session or the conference in general.
Rick Light, Program Coordinator
rlight@Jewish-Funerals.org
505-412-3976