Thank you for agreeing to be a moderator at WATERCON.  Moderators at WATERCON play a critical key role in the overall success of the conference. It is the Moderator's responsibility to professionally represent ISAWWA, and optimize the value of the session to those that have chosen to attend it over other conference options. 

The overall goals of the Moderator include:

• Preparing in advance by touching base with presenters and getting familiar with their presentations
• Introducing session speakers and presentations in an engaging manner
• Moderating the session, strictly adhering to the conference timelines
• Prompting and facilitating questions and discussion for meaningful interaction
• Ensuring a professional and comfortable atmosphere for all session participants
• Ensuring that all attendees can hear the presenter well throughout the room

Thank you for your participation!  Your successful moderation will make a big difference in the session.

Instructions and Guidelines

1.            Pre-conference Preparation

• Review abstracts selected for the session
• Reach out to speakers and introduce yourself as the Moderator.  Give the speaker feedback on his presentation - both positive (and negative, if need be)
• Review powerpoints. If an abstract appears to lean towards a sales pitch, you may want to suggest to the presenter to revise it to be less sales and more technical.
  
• Review biographies – condense to approximately three sentences focused on personal education and experience relevant to the topic being presented.
• Most sessions are limited to 30 minutes, including the Q&A portion.  If the powerpoint has a large amount of slides, you may want to suggest to the presenter that they condense the presentation.

2.            At the Session

• Room Set Up

i.             Arrive early to the session room to check the room set up

ii.            Confirm functionality of lighting and audio visual equipment

iii.           Check in with ISAWWA staff in the Speakers Lounge. 

iv.           Each computer has the laser pointer in the room already

v.            Please leave all of the equipment in the rooms as you found it

• Organizing the Speakers and Presentations

i.             Look for each presenter and seat them close or convenient to the podium

ii.            Ensure each presentation is preloaded and ready to present

• Introducing the Session

i.             Welcome participants and share any updates.

iv.           Operator renewal training credit is automatically recorded in our app – and then recorded in their ISAWWA training record

v.            Point out any other relevant room / session logistics

• Introducing the Speakers

i.             Each speaker has put a lot of time into their presentation and is volunteering their time to present at WATERCON. Introduce the presentation titles and present the speaker bios in a professional, welcoming, and promotional manner.

ii.            Be sure the speaker is speaking into the microphone.   

• Keeping the Session on Time

i.             Watch the time closely to keep presenters on schedule

ii.            Provide a “5 minutes left”  and “1 minute – wrap up” signal to the presenter using the flash cards that will be in your moderator package onsite

iii.           Stand near the presenter or front of the room when time is up to begin questions and discussion facilitation

iv.           If a speaker ends early – create a question and answer dialogue to fill the rest of the time.  If a speaker is no show- take a break – do not start the next presenter early.  Keep on time.

• Facilitating Questions and Discussion

i.             Sometimes the most meaningful part of a presentation to the participants is the questions and discussion portion that follows it. From your pre-conference review and correspondence with the presenters, have two open-ended questions ready to spark conversation and provide additional understanding of the presentation. It is acceptable and encouraged to coordinate the questions in advance with the presenters.

ii.            Address audience questions in the order that you see hands go up

iii.           Repeat or paraphrase each question if it is difficult to hear in the room

iv.           End the questions and discussion on time to introduce the next presentation.  Announce that the presenters will be around to answer more questions after the session (if they will be)

• Session Closing

i.             Thank everyone for attending the session

ii.            Thank the presenter  (Speaker gifts are in the Speaker Lounge)

iii.           Mention what’s next on the program (if appropriate)

• Things to Watch Out For

i.             We will have internet access on each computer via browser. Presenters are not to load anything on the computer at any time. PowerPoints will be on the desktop sorted by day and by session.

ii.            Overloading the system.  DO NOT OPEN EACH OF THE POWERPOINTS IN ADVANCE.  Open just the presentation that you need.  Close the one that just finished before you open the next one. 

iii.           Passwords on the computers.  All passwords have been removed from the computers.  If you happen to get a password login screen – try hitting enter.  If there was a password in the past, that password is taped to the key pad of the computer.

iv.           Watch for presenters not using or speaking into the microphone. 

v.            For technical issues – find ISAWWA staff in the Speaker Lounge.  Be sure and tell us what room you are in and if you can, what is the issue.

Thank you very much for your time and efforts to contribute to a successful WATERCON.  Your participation as a moderator makes a huge difference in the technical session experience for the attendees.  Thank You!