Panels, Symposia and Pre-Organised Sessions on Ex Ordo

Some conferences need to collect submissions that are pre-organised, meaning they will be presented together in the conference if accepted. These submissions need to be grouped together at the submissions stage and reviewed as one collective unit. They will then be scheduled in the same session. These are usually referred panels, symposia or pre-organised sessions.

There are four ways to collect content for a pre-organised session in Ex Ordo.

Using the panels feature
Using a naming convention to link individual submissions together, then using review groups to ensure the same reviewers get assigned all of the submissions associated with a pre-organised session
Collecting all content associated with a pre-organised session on a single submission
Using tracks to first accept panel overviews, then collect submissions that are associated with accepted panels

This article explains both methods. Please reach out to support@exordo.com with any further questions!

Please contact support@exordo.com if you would like us to enable the panels feature for you. It is not enabled by default.

Panels feature:

Check out our dedicated panels knowledge base section here for more information. The panels feature was specially designed to:

Allow panel organisers to submit a panel overview. Panel overviews can be public (everyone can see them) or private (only people with a special link can see them).
Have panels be open (anyone can submit a contribution to a panel) or closed (only people with a special link can submit to a specific panel).
Allow authors to submit their contribution to a specific panel, or allow panel organisers to submit all contributions to their own panel. This means that all panel pieces are associated with each from the beginning.

At the review, the panel and panel contributions are already associated with each other so you can easily review the panel contributions together as one group. There are 3 review options for panel reviews:

convenor review: panel organisers review the content inside of their panel
same reviewers: reviewers are assigned to panel contributions if they share topics, but the system ensures the same reviewers get all of the panel contributions to ensure they have the complete picture
different reviewers: reviewers are assigned based on topic match only, different people may be assigned different contributions

The reviewers job is to review the panel contributions and recommend they be accepted (or not). They do not technically review the panel overview, but they can see the panel overview. Admins can assign decisions to the panel contributions and then accept or reject the panel. It is possible to accept some panel contributions in one panel, but reject others.

Benefits:

panel content is linked from the very beginning. This simplifies work for submitters.
Admin work is also simplified at the review and scheduling stage.

Things to be aware of:

You cannot use the RSVP feature if you use the panels feature. If you really need the RSVP feature, please use one of the methods below or reach out to support@exordo.com with any questions.
You cannot use the programme hub with panels. You must use the the Virtual Builder. There are features in the Virtual Builder that are not available in the programme, but there are 2 features that do not currently exist in the Virtual builder. If you need either of the features below, you should not use panels.
- Presentation times: You can show specific start/end times of presentation in a session in the programme hub. You can only show the session times in the Virtual Hub.
  - Oral Session 1 runs from 9 - 10 am. The session time is visible in both the Programme and Virtual hub)
  - Oral Session 1 has 4 presentations. The first is from 9 - 9:15, the second is 9:15 - 9:30, the third is 9:30 - 9: 45 and the fourth is from 9:45 to 10. These specific presentations times are only visible in the programme.
- The [[PresentationTimes]] macro is only available in the programme.

Naming Convention and Review Groups:

This method does not require the panels feature.

In this approach, each symposia/panel submission is submitted separately. One person can submit each part separately; or each individual person can submit their own panel/symposia contribution.

Admins should explain that authors must use a naming convention that will make it easy to group submissions together. Please do not make the naming convention a number. The naming convention must be words, not numbers.

The naming convention for pre-organised sessions might be something like:

(Panel Name) + (Panel Contribution Title)
(Panel Organiser Name) + (Panel Contribution Title)
(Panel Organiser Name) + (Panel Contribution Title) + (Running order)

The end result will allow you to search by the panel name and easily identify what belongs together.

Benefits:

All abstracts are submitted individually and can be assigned as individual contributions into the programme, listing every contribution with its title, authors and their own presenting time slot.

Things to be aware of:

Authors may not follow the naming conventions. This can make it confusing for admins to sort submissions correctly at the review stage.
This approach is more work for admins because you will need to ensure authors follow the naming convention, create review groups for all panels, and scheduling takes more time than with the other 2 options because all submissions are separate.

Collecting all content associated with a pre-organised session on a single submission:

This method does not require the panels feature. Essentially, one person will submit one submission on behalf of the group. They should add everyone on the submission as an author. You may need to advise them to make each part of the pre-organised session clear. This might include actions like adding a section name, authors associated with specific sections and an explanation of what the section will include in the abstract box or in a uploaded file.

Benefits:

One person submits everything on one single submission. This simplifies the submission and review process.

This to be aware of:

All panel organisers and authors are listed as 'authors' in the schedule. You can see more specific information on which author contributed which section in the abstract or file upload, but the panels feature has better visibility.

Using tracks to first accept panel overviews, then collect submissions that are associated with accepted panels:

Some conferences need to first review and accept panel overviews that are submitted by panel organisers. They then collect, review and accept contributions associated with that panel. This can be done by:

Enabling tracks in the Conference hub (must be enabled before your Call for Papers)
Collecting panel overviews in initial submissions
Reviewing panel overviews
Accepting/rejecting panel overviews
Adding a new track in the Conference hub for panel contributions
Navigating to the initial submissions hub, editing the initial submissions workflow by:
1. adding all accepted panel titles on the Topics step for the new panel contribution track
2. ensuring tracks can have different deadlines, and that the panel contribution track is open
Letting everyone know they can now submit panel contributions and associate them with a panel.
Carrying out a review of the panel contributions. The reviewers can be the panel organisers, the admin team, or any person you feel is qualified.
Accept and reject the panel contributions.

Benefits:

Allows you to review panel descriptions before accepting panel contributions.
Simple process.

This to be aware of:

Technically, anyone can submit to a panel with this method. There is no way to use an 'invite only' process.
If you allow authors to select more than one topic on the other tracks, they may select more than one panel topic. You can rename the topic group to explain that only one panel can be selected.