Guidelines for organizing a conference

Long before the conference

0. Layout the program

1. Determine the theme and audience (general – academic – expert)

2. Contact the speakers (stay in contact with them from start to finish)

By email—always use the same title in the subject line, (e.g. “Invitation to Vliebergh-Sencie Teaching Methods”) and put your address on the cc line

3. Reserve the conference site (extracurricular activity)

Your contact person: Britt Weynants (britt.weynants@theo.kuleuven.be)

If possible, organize your activity during a week when classes are not in session. More rooms will be available during this period of time.

More information about prices is available at http://cwisdb.cc.kuleuven.be/formulier-bin/fd-f1-1. Please ask for rooms as soon as possible through Britt Weynants, either through email or personal appointment. Along with your room request, please mention:

• Your name
• Your research entity
• Responsible ZAP-er
• Date, start time and end time of your reservation (you might want to reserve the room for a half-day before your event, so that you can set everything up)
• Desired infrastructure (i.e. microphone, beamer, laptop, etc.)

You may also request any technical support which you will need at the same time that you make your reservation. This may be done through Britt.

Please clearly indicate if you will need Internet access for a specific lecture or workshop, because an Internet connection is not available in every room. Information about our infrastructure can be found at http://cwisdb.cc.kuleuven.be/formulier-bin/fd-f1-1.

A data projector is permanently installed in the following rooms: MTC 00.10 (Grote Aula), MTC 00.15 (Kleine Aula), MTC 00.12, MTC 01.03, MTC 02.07, MTC 02.13.

Contact Cédric Bijloos(cedric.bijloos@dap.kuleuven.be / tel. 016-324473) if you want to reserve a room in the Pope’s College (conference room, lounge, etc.). Please carbon copy this request to Britt Weynants. Reservations for a room at the Holy Spirit College (Louis-Janssens Hall, Museum Hall, etc.) should be made through Pieter De Geyter (Pieter.DeGeyter@abh.kuleuven.be / tel. 016-324500). Please carbon copy requests for Holy Spirit College to Britt Weynants.

4. Income and expenditures

Specify beforehand to which credit number (A…--P3620) the income from registration monies and possible subsidies belong. For financial information in connection with registrations, contact Harlinde Bormans.
In connection with the BTW-exemption, (for registration money) it is important that the conference is registered as a PV-activity via the kuleuven agenda: http://agenda.kuleuven.be.
Note: for all expenditures which require an invoice, ask for an order form in SAP to be made by someone in the secretariat. (On this point, see also point 28. Honoraria.)
If you want to receive registration funds via VISA or Mastercard, please give AMPLE time to request this through Harlinde Bormans.

5. Coffee/Reception

• A place for coffee/reception must be anticipated when requesting a room reservation. For safety reasons such coffee breaks and receptions may not be held in the hallways. Please respect this principle as much as is possible.
• Students may be asked to help during a reception or coffee break. Please contact Harlinde Bormans for help with this.
• If students are not available to help with your event, (e.g. during exam and vacation periods) an appeal may be made to the K.U. Leuven catering service Leuca. You can find more information at http://www.alma.be/kuleuven/default.htm.
  Leuca – tel: 29226 – info.catering@leuca.kuleuven.be
  To pass on an order, contact Jacqueline Van Hal.

6. Make brochures and posters

• Mention the contact person in the brochure and on the poster. This will be the AAP/BAP-staff member who takes on the responsibility for organizing the conference. This person is under the responsibility of the ZAP.
• Britt Weynants can help you design the brochure (Britt.Weynants@theo.kuleuven.be) or a design bureau (i.e. Anke Tacq 016-293067) may also assist you.
• Ask someone in the secretariat to make an order sheet for the copy shop or the design bureau.

7. Distribute brochures and posters

Specify which addresses you initially wish to order. An appeal may be made, if necessary, to use the faculty’s file of religious media contacts (through Evelien Denecker). This file may be used along with address files which the organizer provides him or herself.
Brochures are sent out by the central mailing service. A dispatch note is needed, which indicates which professor or study day should be billed.
Request then a dispatch note (national prior and/or international prior) through Evelien Denecker.
Once you have the dispatch note, the addresses, and the brochures in hand, please contact Emanuelle Philips (Emanuelle.Philips@tech.kuleuven.be) at mailing services.

Draw up an e-mail in which all the address files (Excel) and a possible accompanying letter as attachments. Send this with precise instructions on what you want done (for example 1 poster + 5 brochures per envelope). Then send the boxes of brochures and the accompanying letter via the internal mail service to the mailing service. To do so, bring your boxes to Evelien Denecker. Affix the dispatch note to one of the boxes. Include the total number of boxes being sent in this mailing on the dispatch note. Write simply the reference number (=with cost-code) from the applicable dispatch note on the other boxes, along with the addressee: Verzendingsdienst Heverlee, Emanuelle Philips and the sender: Faculteit Goggeleerdheid, name. If necessary, a sample of the accompanying letter can simply be placed in the box and later copied at the mailing service.

At the mailing service they have an address file for the distribution of posters: a file both for “small circuit” and “large circuit” distributions. With the “small circuit,” the faculties and a few of the other services within K.U. Leuven are ordered. In the “large circuit” this number is filled in with a few important address inside Leuven.

The electronic distribution of brochures within the faculty is done by Evelien Denecker. You can also ask her to make an announcement in the faculty newsletter, which is sent out every other month. Please provide twenty sample copies of the printed brochure to Evelien.Denecker@theo.kuleuven.be.

8. Place brochure on the faculty’s website

Contact person: Stijn Van Baekel – Tel: 28434 – Stijn.VanBaekel@theo.kuleuven.be
Stijn can put the brochure on the website, along with the registration form.

9. Information in the K.U.L.-agenda and E-Newsletter with regard to conferences, readings, … and other press channels

The AAP/BAP-er is responsible him/herself to send along the announcement for the K.U. Leuven-agenda and E-Newsletter.

http://agenda.kuleuven.be/ (Agenda)
http://www.kuleuven.be/nieuwsbrief/ (Newsletter)
http://www.kuleuven.be/ck/index.php (Campus newspaper)
http://www.veto.be/veto/ (Veto)

• In connection with the BTW-exemption, (for registration monies) it is important that the conference is registered as a PV-activity via the kuleuven agenda.
• The responsible AAP/BAP-er can take a look at the address files of the religious media. If there are still other press-contacts which can be ordered, you need to expressly request this through Evelien Denecker.
• If the person responsible want an official press release from K.U. Leuven, s/he should contact Evelien Denecker.

10. Registration

Registrations should be handled by the AAP/BAP staff member whom the organization has chosen or by a designated job student.
You can ask Stijn Van Baekel to place an electronic registration form on the Internet.

11. Hotel reservations

If you have guests for whom you need to find a place to stay, please tie this up as soon as possible. If the charges for your accommodations need to be paid, notify Jacqueline Van Hal, who will prepare an order form in SAP.
Hotels with which we regularly work:

• Gasthof De Pastorij, Sint-Michielsstraat 5, 3000 Leuven – tel. and fax: 016 822109 – email: depastorij@yahoo.com – http://www.depastorij.be
• Hotel New Damshire, Schapenstraat 1 (Damiaanplain), 3000 Leuven – tel. 016 232115 – fax 016 233208 – email: reservations@newdamshire.com – http://www.newdamshire.com

The AAP/BAP-er will do the following things:

• S/he will call the hotel and make a reservation.
• S/he will give to Jacqueline Van Hal a word-document with the following information:

1. 1. Names of the guests + with each person whether he or she wants a single or two person room
   2. Arrival and departure dates
   3. Name of the hotel
   4. Credit number for payment
   5. Estimated price

In agreement with the person responsible from the faculty, the AAP/BAP-er, who is responsible for the organization, will keep up a summary of expenditures. S/he will make in advance an estimate of expected income (registration funds, subsidies, …) and of expenditures (postage, printing, honoraria and travel expenses for speakers, bouquets, receptions, lunches, …) which will be incurred.

12. Request parking for visitors

If you want to reserve parking places for visitors, this can be done via the ‘Aanvraagformulier gebruik universitaire parking voor bezoekers’ on the webpage. (Note: this page is only available in Dutch.) http://www.kuleuven.be/admin/td/niv3p/fm-p01.htm

13. Summary of expenses

In agreement with the person responsible from the faculty, the AAP/BAP-er, who is responsible for the organization of the conference, will keep up a summary of expenditures. S/he will make in advance an estimate of expected income (registration funds, subsidies, …) and of expenditures (postage, printing, honoraria and travel expenses for speakers, bouquets, receptions, lunches, …) which will be incurred.

14. Contact individuals for logistic support during the conference time

There will be people needed to

• make folders, badges.
• place signposts, prepare the reception area, the room cleanup afterwards…
• further prepare the reception area on the day itself, place a bouquet in the room where the keynote address will be given, … and check whether the technical support, the blue screen, the lectern is in place.
• to man the reception area.
• divide up the concrete responsibilities a few days before the conference.
• lead speakers in and take them away

For that purpose, send an e-mail well in advance to the research unit. The secretariat is not available to help you with these tasks.

15. Photographer

If you would like to have a photographer, you should inform this person as soon as possible. It is possible that this person is a BAP/AAP-staff member or a member of the ZAP.

You can possibly make an appeal to the photographer from the Communications Department, who may be able to photograph your event for a fee.
Please find the contact information and the prices here. Give the information to Jacqueline Van Hal for the production of an order form.

AS THE CONFERENCE APPROACHES

16. Signs, panels, tables, chairs

More information about the cost of renting these materials can be found at
http://www.kuleuven.be/admin/td/niv3p/fm-p03.htm#uitleengoederen.
To reserve these items, contact Theo Everaerts – tel. 22853 – Theo.Everaerts@tech.kuleuven.be.
You need to figure on a minimum one-month deadline. Inform Jacqueline Van Hal of the request, with a view toward payment.

The signs are delivered from the janitor’s room to the hall at MTC, unless otherwise specified. They should be returned to that room after the conference has ended.

After payment, Technical Services will set panels out in the room you indicate. You may not set out the panels yourself.

Tip: it is helpful if you prepare a list beforehand of useful telephone and gsm numbers for use on the day of the conference.

17. Order conference materials

A list of conference materials which can be ordered through K.U. Leuven is found on the KULoket.

Orders for folders, badges … can be placed through setting up a shopping list via the KULoket which is sent to Jacqueline Van Hal– at least one month prior to the event. Please inform her  via email and always mention your credit number.

18. Recording conference sessions

If you wish, the study day can be recorded on audio cassette.
Contact person: Erik Luyten of the Audio Visual Department – tel. 28203 – erik.luyten@avd.kuleuven.be. The AV Department will furnish a cassette deck and connect everything to required number of microphones. They will also supply cassettes upon request. If needed, they can also provide assistance throughout the day, but this will naturally bring a price tag with it.

A job student is required if you want to use the production room in the PDS-aula. This student is specifically trained to use this facility.

19. Flower arrangement

To order a bouquet, contact Jacqueline Van Hal for an order form in SAP. Mention clearly your recommended price, your credit number, and when it should be delivered. Let her also know the size and the colors you prefer (or send her the brochure or poster once again).

20. Order sandwiches/alma vouchers/restaurant

Sandwiches can be ordered via Jacqueline. Please clearly indicate your credit number, the number of people, and when the sandwiches should be delivered.

Alma vouchers may be requested for co-workers or participants (i.e. a voucher good for a choice of main dish, dessert, drink, and the soup of the day). Vouchers can be requested through Jacqueline Van Hal for Alma with an indication of:

• the number of people
• the number of meals (how many times are you going to eat at Alma?)
• which Alma
• when (data)
• are there vegetarians? If so, how many?
• are there people who observe religious dietary rules? If so, which rules and how many people?
• credit number

If necessary, you can also reserve spaces. The day after the conference you will need to inform the contact person at Alma of the number of vouchers which were not used. You will not be charged for that number of meals. If you fail to provide this information on time, you will be charged for all the vouchers given to your organization.

If you would like to go out to eat, determine where you would like to go and make reservations. If you are not paying yourself or with a K.U. Leuven-credit card, ask Jacqueline Van Hal to write out an order form. Please mention which credit, date and time, approximate price.

21. Copying of texts

After the texts have been collected, they can be sent to Print Service, Tiensestraat 38, 3000 Leuven – tel. 016 221039 – print.service@skynet.be . For an order form, contact the secretariat.

22. Prepare conference folders and meet with logistical support

(Go one last time over all of the details for the conference with the persons contacted to help with such tasks as those indicated in point 10.)

When the folder are delivered to the secretariat, they will still need to be folded. It is also our practice to stick a label on the folders with the name of the conference. You can ask Britt Weynants to make these labels. Please request this well in advance of the conference.

Thereafter, the folders need to be filled. You can save a lot of time, if you assemble all your texts and have them copied together as a completed pack.

A site-map of MTC can be requested through Harlinde Bormans.

The conference folder usually contains:

• summary of contents
• program
• abstracts
• personal particulars
• publicity for publications
• brochures of coming events (Be sure that you have these in hand on time. Please inform Evelien of the status of these brochures)
• a site-map of the rooms
• a map of Leuven
• proof of participation

23. Set up the agenda

Set up an agenda based on the assignment of tasks during the meeting, and send a copy to everyone who will be assisting.

24. Make name badges

• Slips of paper with the name, applicable position, and university need to be made (on cardstock). You can ask Britt Weynants for a template. The slips of paper then need to be cut to the right size and placed in the badges.
• It’s always a good idea to work out a system to collect badges at the end of the conference. For instance, setting out a box (or boxes) by the exit(s) from the room, with “badges” written in large letters.

25. Make signs

To minimize your cost, most of the time you will want to order blank signs. However, a text must be supplied. An A-4 sheet of paper with the text is then slid into a plastic sheet protector and hung on the blank sign. The plastic sheet protector is needed mainly for outdoor signs, but it also improves the sign’s appearance.

26. Telephone and computer for the welcome center

If you want a telephone in the welcome center, contact the Telephone Service: tel. 22300.
If you want a computer in the welcome center, contact the faculty’s network administrator: Filip Ons – Filip.Ons@theo.kuleuven.be.

27. Request technical support

If you would like to request technical support, (e.g. an extra wireless microphone, overhead projector, or digital projector) please make this request at the same time that you make your reservation for a room. Such requests should be given to Britt Weynants along with your room reservation.

If you would like to borrow a laptop or digital projector from the faculty, please make this request through Jacqueline Van Hal.

Please contact the concierge a few days before the conference (concierge MTC: tel. 0486 619713; concierge University Hall: tel. 0486 619767) to check and make sure that everything you’ll need is available.

If you want to use the blue cloth on the table in the room where the main address will be held or a reading desk, you need to let the concierge know this a few days in advance.

28. Honoraria

It needs to be decided which speakers will receive an honorarium or compensation for travel expenses. Be careful! Changes have been made in the regulations regarding reimbursements for staff members and third parties. You can learn more about this at the KU Leuven webpage regarding professional costs, and financial guidelines are also available at the faculty’s webpage. A form should be given to speakers, either mailed beforehand or provided on the day of the event, so that they can provide you with information regarding payment of the honoraria. Please contact Jacqueline Van Hal beforehand for this form. In order to facilitate the payment, please inform Jacqueline in advance of the amount the speakers can have reimbursed. 

29. Registration funds and change

Having participants pay by bank transfer is the easiest way. Along with the payment they have to mention the structured communication that is linked to you activity. Please contact Harlinde Bormans well in advance (before printing the folder!) in order for her to create it. It is also possible to pay by credit card.

PLEASE NOTE: participants can only use the structured communication after the activity was has been announced in the KULeuven agenda and after the structured communication has been published on the folder or website dedicated to the activity. Together with the structured communication there has to be a link towards the general terms and conditions which you find here:

https://www.dml.kuleuven.be/lll/permanentevorming/Docs/verkoopsvoorwaarden_nl
https://www.dml.kuleuven.be/lll/permanentevorming/Docs/verkoopsvoorwaarden_eng
https://www.dml.kuleuven.be/lll/permanentevorming/Docs/verkoopsvoorwaarden_fr

Using cash money is to be avoided. If there is no other way, make sure to note the name and amount of each participant on a list and contact Harlinde Bormans.

D-Day

30. Welcome

Ideally you will set up the registration area and have everything ready the day before the conference. If this is not possible, you will need to do this on the morning of the day itself, making sure that you give yourself enough time to do so.

You will need to prepare the reception area on this day. The following things will need to be taken care of:

1. list of people who are registered
2. 1 highlighter and 1 ballpoint (persons who attend the conference may be indicated by highlighter, and additional notes may be made on the list with the ballpoint pen)
3. change
4. cash box (one can be borrowed from Harlinde Bormans)
5. if necessary an index file (i.e. to keep identification cards—sometimes the library has a number of index bins which you can use)
6. additional brochures, posters… of the programs—can be requested through Evelien Denecker
7. proof of registration/attestation of participation (ideally these are put into the conference folder. This saves the reception area from a lot of work.)
8. proof of payment

31. Lecture

In the room where the lecture is given the following things need to happen:

1. the bouquet needs to be set in place
2. provide water for the speakers (interpreters, etc.). Please notify Jacqueline Van Hal who is in charge of the stock.
3. technical support is in place (microphone, portable microphone, digital projector, overhead projector, etc.)?
4. are the blue cloth, lectern, hallstand in place?
5. if several lectures will be given in a number of different rooms, someone should be designated as the person who will be responsible for each room.

32. Coffee break/Reception

Space for the coffee break and/or reception needs to be provided. Tables should be set up, and glasses and cups should be placed on them. If necessary, tables should also be set up for percolators, and etc. An extension cord can be requested from the concierge if needed.

Is Leuca’s reception service available?

33. Cleaning up

1. the room should be put back in its original condition after the conference
2. the signposts must be returned to the room concierge (if this doesn’t happen, they will be billed to your research group or to the person responsible for your congress!)

34. Follow up

The AAP-BAP-er who is responsible for the event follows up on the income and expenses.

1. Check payments: check to see who did not paid their registration and if they have subsequently taken care of this. Ask the secretariat for a payment list and contact those persons who have not yet paid.
2. Reimburse speakers for their expenses. Reimbursement for foreign speakers can only be made after their travel documents are received from outside of Belgium. All the original travel documents and an email with this information should be given to Jacqueline Van Hal.
3. Write a report: provide a short report about the study day or conference for Aeropaag (Wim François: Wim.François@theo.kuleuven.be) and Tijdschrift voor Theology (Hanneke Reuling: JGMReuling@tiscali.nl)
4. Meet to plan a study day for next year: choose a date and room, establish an agenda and circulate it. (To find a room—especially for a conference where many people are expected to attend—make an appointment with Evelien as soon as possible. Go over which rooms are still available and suitable for the conference, so that they can be requested as soon as possible).
5. Improve the script: review the conference and make improvements for future conferences (what went wrong, what did we forget, what can be improved, etc.)

A few additional tips to consider after the AAP/BAP meeting:

• the important role of the concierge: eric.bruggeman@tech.kuleuven.be . Anything concerning technical support must be arranged through him. He also knows all the other people to which possibly might refer (audio visual service, dispatch, etc.)
• if “important” people are coming, (e.g. a rector or a cardinal) Katrijn Demin needs to be warned, so that the proper protocol can be followed. She will make sure that they are “warmly received.”
• To rent a laptop see Jacqueline Van Hal, not Filip Ons. Filip is needed only when a printer needs to be connected (you will need to provide your own printer since we do not have any extra printers).
• someone should also be designated to see that a link is placed on web pages so that possible subsidies can be collected for organizing conferences
• list of restaurants
• double-check everything beforehand!

Useful documents

You can save these documents on your computer. Right click on each link and select “Save As.”

• Conference index card
• Sample poster
• Sample badges
• Sample letter (edit footnotes!)
• Sample label for conference folders
• Sample brochure
• Sample name tags
• Sample speaker’s namebadge
• Sample program – abstract – biography – introduction
• Sample sign to reserve a chair
• Sample signpost (left)
• Sample signpost (right)
• Logo of K.U. Leuven association
• Logo of Sedes K.U. Leuven
• Street map for Maria Theresia
• Street map
• Request for reimbursement