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Organizing Committee

Scientific Committee

Location and Venue

The symposium will be held at Regal Sun Resort in the Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida Downtown Disney ("the metropolis of fun") is located 5 minutes walking distance from hotel (Regal Sun Resort). There are plenty of dining, shopping and entertainment options.

Thanks to an agreement between the University of Florida and Walt Disney World, meeting attendees can buy tickets to Disney theme parks at a discounted price. For advance purchase of specially priced Disney Meeting/Convention Theme Park tickets, CLICK HERE. Please note that access to this web link requires the installation of Macromedia Flash Player.

Airport info: Orlando International Airport (MCO)

Follow this link for suggested transportation from the Airport to the Regal Sun Resort. (Mears Shuttle cost approx 19 USD /person/one way, available on Level 1 on the A and B sides of the terminal at the Airport.)

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Hotel Reservation

IMPORTANT NOTE: The deadline to make your hotel reservation and still receive the discounted group rate is October 4, 2008. After this date, guest rooms and the group rate may no longer be available.

Room Rates: The Regal Sun Resort is offering symposium participants a special room rate of $125.00 (single occupancy) or $140.00 (double occupancy) a night plus 11.5 percent tax (tax subject to change without notice).  Please do not pay resort fee. It is not in our contract with the hotel.


  Regal Sun Resort               Room rate includes the followings:

    - Two complimentary breakfasts daily per room
    - Complimentary one hour networking-reception (drinks and cheese) daily
    - Complimentary self parking at the hotel

To Make Your Hotel Reservation: Individual reservations should be made by calling the Regal Sun Resort by telephone at 1-800-624-4109 in the US and Canada.
Under this group name: University of Florida Biocontrol

Hotel Reservation by Fax: International hotel reservation requests can be faxed directly to 407-827-6314 (USA).

Should you decide to incorporate a family vacation into your trip, the group rate will be honored three days prior and three days following the Symposium, based on availability.

A first night’s room deposit must be made with a credit card, within 7 days of placing your reservation.  Credit cards will be charged a first night's room and tax deposit at that time. For any reservations that "no show" or, are canceled within 5 days of arrival, the deposit will not be refunded.

Check-in time is after 3 pm and check-out time is prior to 11am. Should you arrive early or depart after these times, baggage storage areas are available for early arrivals and late departures.  For other details about hotel please visit this web site: 

Registration Information

Abstract and Presentation Guidelines

Abstract Guidelines

Oral Presentation Guidelines

CONTENT

• Prepare all the material for publication first, and then arrange the outline for your talk from the manuscript.
• Define the problems and give brief background information.
• Describe methods only briefly. Summarize results, avoiding excessive technical details. Conclude by emphasizing your major discoveries and their importance.
• Select and arrange the major points in logical order. The audience will probably be more diverse than the readers of the published paper, so avoid excessive technical details and extensive literature citations.
• Practice your delivery, first alone, then before colleagues. Ask for suggestions on improving organization, slides, and delivery. Stay within allotted time. Leave at least 5 minutes for discussion.

AUDIOVISUAL ( Oral sessions are allotted an LCD projector)

• Please note: 35-mm slide projectors are not available at this meeting!
• You must provide your PowerPoint presentation on a CD or a memory stick (no zip drive). 
• It is preferable to use only one idea per slide or, at most, three or four supporting points. If several points are noted, consider making successive slides. The first slide within the group would have the first point highlighted. In the next slide, the first point would be subdued and the second point would be highlighted, etc.
• Keep messages simple; clear messages do not obscure the main idea.
• Design slides specifically for an oral presentation. Slides that are prepared for journal or book publication are seldom effective and often not legible.
• Prepare horizontally oriented slides-wide rather than high. Most conference rooms and screen dimensions are too low to accept vertical format.
• For typed material, use an area no larger than 4.33 x 2.95 in. (11 x 7.5 cm). Minimum lettering height is 9/16 in. (40 point or 1.42 cm). Use a maximum of 15-25 words per slide (six words per row, six rows per slide).
• Check for clarity of lettering. Do not use a slide unless you can read everything on it, without enlargement, at your normal reading distance.
• Keep contrast in mind. For best visibility, use black lettering on a light background or white lettering on a dark background.
• When using the laser pointer, don't hold the button down and don't read with the pointer. Because the laser pointer is a sensitive tool, be sure to hold as steady as possible.

Poster Guidelines

CONTENT

• Poster sessions offer a mechanism for data to be presented in a more leisurely manner as well as an opportunity for direct, one-to-one dialogue. The results include more time devoted to each paper, fewer conflicts with other presentations, more opportunity to study the information presented, and a real chance to ask questions and obtain details. Your poster should concisely communicate the objectives of the research and the materials used, and should include clearly understandable results and a brief discussion.
• State the purpose of the project clearly.
• Write the methodology section in a few sentences, unless the subject of your presentation is a description of a method.
• Use the largest part of the poster area for the Results section of your material.
• Keep the discussion brief or even omit it; you will be discussing your work with meeting attendees.
• Keep literature citations to a minimum.
• Write the sentence for each conclusion to be drawn from the work and number the list of sentences.

AUTHOR GUIDELINES

• Include a title as part of your poster. To make the poster easily readable from about 2 m, lettering for the title should be approximately 75 point and lettering for the subheading in 30-35 point.
• Lettering for the text should be in 25-30 point in capital and lowercase letters; all lettering should be in black so that it is easily readable.
• Put your artistic talents to work. Use colored borders, photographs, and visual aids; the advantage of a poster session is that viewers can take time to look at graphic information.
• The minimum size for photographs should be 8 inches (20 cm) x 10 inches (25 cm) and for illustrations, 9 inches (22 cm) x 12 inches (30 cm). Photographs should have good contrast and sharp focus, with magnification scales, if appropriate. Computer graphics programs can produce quality final graphic materials.
• Prepare graphs, photos, captions, and text in advance so that at the meeting all you need to do is attach the materials to the poster board.
• Each illustration should be kept simple; include a caption.
• Lay out your poster well before the meeting to check its size and plan its organization. Have others critique the poster. In planning the layout of text and graphics, remember that although you know your way through the material, a viewer may not. To clarify the sequence of text and graphics, consider the use of numbers or arrows and simple but prominent subheadings. Use white space in the poster area to display your material attractively. Some use of color may be used for emphasis.
• Those who are not artists are encouraged to get help in preparing the final graphic material.
• You may prepare handout material with more detailed information, such as a reduced photocopy of the poster materials, selected data/conclusions, or other relevant material.
• Let your enthusiasm about your work show, but do not be so aggressive that you overwhelm people who would like to discuss your work with you.

MATERIALS INFORMATION

• We will provide a poster board panel measuring 46 inches wide (117 cm) x 46 inches (117 cm) high. The area for poster presentation (including title) is 46 inches (117 cm) wide x 42 inches (107 cm) high. The area for the title and author names and affiliations is 40 inches (101 cm) wide x 4 inches (10 cm) high.
• The poster number will be located in the upper left corner of the poster board.
• Bring your own supply of Velcro for affixing your material to the poster board.

POSTER BOARD INSTRUCTIONS

• Prepare the title, author name(s) and affiliation(s), and text on paper or other material that is light enough in weight to be held by Velcro on the fabric-covered poster panels. The materials can be on one sheet so that it can be rolled up for easy transport to the meeting or can be on separate panels for individual mounting.
• DO NOT write on the poster panels or using pins to affix materials to the panels.
• Include the title (75 point)
• Subheading size (30-35 point)
• Text lettering (25-30 point)