2016 Call For PresentationsSubmission Guide

Not-For-Profit Leadership Conference

presented byKawkab Jamal & Associates

Insurance Agencies Ltd.

Thank you for your interest in presenting at BOSS 2016. In this guide you will find helpful information on how to build a powerful proposal.

TABLE OF CONTENTSBOSS 2016 2

Audience Overview 2

Schedule At A Glance 3

Session Tracks 4

Session Types 5

Preparing your Proposal 7

How Presenters Are Selected 7

What We Look For 8

What We Avoid 8

How to Submit 8

Submission Checklist 10

Helpful Tips 10

Presenter FAQs 11

BOSS: Building Organizational &

Sector Sustainability

BC’s Not-For-Profit Leadership ConferenceOctober 27, 2016 | Marriott Pinnacle Hotel, Vancouver BC

2016 Theme: Abundance (by design)

BOSS is back for its second year... bigger, better, BOSS-IER!

Vantage Point’s innovative one-day leadership conference will once again convene seasoned and emerging leaders, board members and volunteers in a shared space to develop competencies, skills and tools.

BOSS 2016 is a space for dialogue and game-changing tactics on how not-for-profits approach leadership. Over 200 sector leaders will connect and tackle sector challenges like shared-leadership and communicating impact while equipping themselves with skills ranging from designing better meetings to building your organizational culture.

Together we are building a network of generative leaders and transforming not-for-profit leadership.

AUDIENCE OVERVIEWBOSS 2016 is targeted to new and seasoned leaders, board members and volunteers from BC’s not-for-profit sector.

2015 Audience Breakdown

• 46% of participants were Executive Directors (or equivalent position); 24% senior leaders; 24% emerging leaders; and 6% board members

• 85% of participants were from Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley; 9% were from the Thompson Okanagan Region

• 32% of participants came from the social services sub-sector; 26% health; 9% community development & housing; 8% arts & culture

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CONFERENCE SCHEDULE AT A GLANCE

Registration (7:30am - 8:30am)

Opening & Keynote Address(8:30am - 9:30am)

Breakout Sessions I(9:45am - 10:45am)

Breakout Sessions II(11:00am - 12:00pm)

Lunch(12:00pm - 1:00pm)

Breakout Sessions III(1:00pm - 2:00pm)

Breakout Sessions IV(2:15pm - 3:15pm)

Closing & Panel(3:30pm - 4:00pm)

Networking (4:00pm - 5:30pm)

• Appreciative Inquiry• Assertiveness in a Gentle Way• Better Together: From Surviving to Thriving• Building an Authentic Personal Brand• Catalyzing Generative Conversations with

Your Team, Colleagues, and Board Members• Collective Leadership: The Value of

Collaboration and Common Outcomes

• Evaluation Frameworks for Quality Improvement and Strategic Monitoring

• Ladder of Inference• Leading Without Authority• Personal Ecology• Systems Mapping• Telling Your Organization’s Story

PAST TOPICS

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2016 SESSION TRACKSPlanning

From strategic to operational and succession to program, the Planning track tackles the design and implementation of planning processes across organizations.

Sample Topics:

• Innovations In Strategic Planning Approaches

• How Values Drive Operational Plans

Leading

A strong not-for-profit leader drives a sense of mission down through the organization, upward into the board and outward in to the community. The Leading track shares competencies and tactics leaders can implement in their roles no-matter their position title.

Sample Topics

• Building An Engaged Board

• Leading Teams

Engaging

From storytelling to volunteer recruitment, the Engaging track provides learning on how leaders can better communicate with and inspire their communities

Sample Topics

• Skilled Volunteering Throughout Your Organization

• Impact Storytelling

Executing

The Executing track provides specific resources and tools leaders can implement immediately in their organizations to better impact areas from meetings to measurement.

Sample Topics

• Decision Making With Data

• Meeting Makeovers

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SESSION TYPESThe conference recommends two session types:

Education Sessions

To inform and educate your audience, proposals will include a 60-minute session in which you share information related to one of the conference session tracks or topics. Each presentation should include at least 10-15 minutes for questions, answers, and discussion with the audience within the 60-minute education session.

• GUIDELINES ON EDUCATION SESSIONS: (What to cover; how to engage) Sessions should be designed with specific, identifiable learning outcomes for participants and provide participants with tangible “take-away” information. Presenters must consider how participant engagement will be used to achieve participant learning outcomes.

• TIME & LENGTH OF SESSIONS: Education Sessions will be held throughout the conference, each are 60-minute breakout sessions. There is a 15-minute break between each breakout session. We recommend that you arrive 15 minutes early to prepare and set up any necessary configurations needed for your session.

• PARTICIPATION BY ATTENDEES: Attendees are free to select any session to attend during a particular time slot; there is no advance registration for sessions. Depending on the interest level for your session and other sessions during your time slot, you may have anywhere from 10-100+ people in your session.

• EDUCATION SESSION ROOM LAYOUT: The room will be set in theatre seating. There will be a table for presenters in the front of each room.

• PRESENTATION TECHNOLOGY: Each room is equipped with an LCD projector, laptop, wireless presenter remote, and a screen. Rooms are not equipped with speakers; presenters must provide their own. Microphones will be set-up in the larger rooms. Mics may need to be shared if there are numerous co-presenters. Technicians will be roaming the rooms to assist if needed. You will also have a room ambassador who can secure assistance for you as needed.

• PRIOR TO THE CONFERENCE: We ask that all presenters submit their presentation and any support materials (including handouts) to the BOSSwebsite prior to the conference. Since there are a large number of sessions occurring throughout the day, attendees will want to view in advance the conference session and print and/or prepare session materials. Participants can also gain access to materials for those they will miss.

• HANDOUTS/DOCUMENTS FOR PARTICIPANTS: Handouts should be submitted to the BOSS team by October 6, 2016. If you wish to use hard-copy handouts during your session, please print them in advance and bring them with you. We are unable to print on-site.

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Workshops

Design an interactive 60-minute workshop to engage a group of participants, in relation to one of the session tracks. Workshops should be designed with specific, identifiable learning outcomes with in-class opportunities to support collaborative and/or interactive group activities. Presenters must provide an opportunity for questions, answers, and/or whole group discussion within the course of the workshop and must describe how this element will be used to best engage participants. Workshops should provide participants with tangible “take-away” information, tools, and/or models. Please develop a minimum of 2-4 learning objectives for your participants. These should be clear and measurable outcomes for the 60-minute workshop learning experience.

• WORKSHOP SET UP: The Interactive Workshops will be held throughout the conference during each 60-minute breakout session. There is a 15-minute break between each breakout session. We recommend that you arrive 15 minutes early to prepare and set up any necessary configurations needed for your session.

• PARTICIPATION BY ATTENDEES: Attendees are free to select any workshop during a particular time slot. Workshops could be as small as 25 people and as large as 60 people. Be prepared for both extremes.

• ROOM LAYOUT: Workshop rooms hold anywhere from 80 to 120 people, with round seating for 8-10 people per table. There will be a head table for presenters in the front of the room.

• PRESENTATION TECHNOLOGY: Each room is equipped with an LCD projector, laptop, wireless presenter remote, and a screen. Rooms are not equipped with speakers; presenters must provide their own. Microphones will be set in the larger rooms. Mics may need to be shared if there are numerous co-presenters. Technicians will be roaming the rooms to assist if needed. You will also have a room ambassador who can secure assistance for you as needed

• PRIOR TO THE CONFERENCE: We ask that all Interactive Workshops presenters submit their presentation and any support materials (including handouts) for the conference website prior to the conference. Since there are a large number of sessions occurring throughout the conference, attendees will want to view in advance the conference session and print and/or prepare session materials. Participants can also gain access to materials for those they will miss.

• HANDOUTS/DOCUMENTS FOR PARTICIPANTS: Handouts should be submitted to the BOSS team by October 6, 2016. If you wish to use hard-copy handouts during your session, please print them in advance and bring them with you. We are unable to print on-site.

• FINAL INSTRUCTIONS: If you must have a flip chart for your session, please notify us immediately at info@thevantagepoint.ca. We do not provide flip charts on a standard basis.

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PREPARING YOUR PROPOSALHow Presenters Are Selected

Vantage Point and the BOSS organization team work together to select presenters that advance the educational objectives of BOSS.

With a commitment to continuous learning and development, BOSS will:

• develop knowledge, competencies and skills that will assist leaders both in their current roles and their careers

• encourage the translation of knowledge gained at the conference into their organizations

• increase awareness of challenges faced by (and solutions to) BC’s not-for-profit leaders

• build a network of generative leaders working towards the betterment of BC’s not-for-profit community

After submitting, you will receive an email confirming receipt of your speaker proposal. A BOSS team member will contact you after this confirmation message only if you are accepted to speak at the event.

If you are selected, Vantage Point will notify you and send a presenter agreement to be signed and returned within two weeks of receipt, as well as request any other materials necessary at that time.

Whether or not you are selected to present, your proposal may be shared with Vantage Point’s Director of Learning if you may be a strong fit for other opportunities we offer.

The following rubric will be used to evaluate all proposals in the refereed proposal review process

• Does the title and abstract clearly describe the session?

• Is the proposed topic timely and/or appropriate?

• Is the content suitable for Executive Directors/Senior Leaders, Board Members, Emerging Leaders or all? Does the session appeal to all or two of our target audience groups (EDs/Senior Leaders, Board members, Emerging Leaders)

• What are the session outcomes? Are they leadership focused?

• Will this session positively contribute to the conference and to leadership in BC’s not-for-profit sector?

• Are the format and session type selected for the presentation the most appropriate to the topic and format of the presentation?

• Is the session designed to be interactive and engage the audience?

Note: the conference has limited presenter complimentary registrations (only one complimentary registration per session). Any co-presenter will be required to pay the conference registration fee.

Please refer to the next two sections, “What We Look For” and “What We Avoid,” for further information on our selection criteria.

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What We Look For

The BOSS organization team is eager to hear from presenters who are making an impact on leadership in BC’s not-for-profit sector. To fulfil their expectations, these are the kind of things we seek out when considering proposals:

• Education + Entertainment Write a compelling session description that tells a story. Demonstrate that your proposed topic will connect with the audience by being engaging, innovative, and informative. Prove that you will captivate your listeners.

• Focus on the Positive So often not-for-profit presentations focus on what is not available: time, people, money… scarcity. BOSS highlights the abundance of talent, assets and resources already at hand to our sector. We’re confident that focusing on the positive opportunities in front of us, combined with the application of these resources, can solve our most challenging issues.

• Details, details, details. Outline the “how” Participants want you to reveal insider information and the step-by-step of the journey in achieving the results, not just the results themselves. They want to put into practice what you did to accomplish your goal—and they can only do that if you show them how you did it. Teach the participants how to be great, just like you.

• Be specific and be different Show that you alone are the authority to present on your proposed topic.

• Relevance and accessibility Read up on the conference tracks and target audience profiles. Sessions addressing the expectations of two or more audience profiles will be weighted higher.

What We Avoid

• Selling from the stage Participants attend BOSS to learn rather than be pitched a product or service. If you are a vendor/agency, you may want to instead present a case study on a client/customer that highlights successful application of a product or service, or opt to demonstrate your expertise in a subject area.

• Generic session titles/descriptions If we can’t surmise what exactly you want to speak about from your write-up, people thinking about attending the event who read such a description probably will not be able to, either. Be specific. Give us a precise play-by-play of what you would like to present.

How to Apply

To submit a presenter proposal, complete the online form. Do not submit PDFs or any format other than the online form. Incomplete submissions will be disqualified and not considered.

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Acceptance

If your proposal is accepted, you will be asked to:

• Edit all materials used in your session

• Email your PowerPoint Slides, Handout (PDF files), data charts, or other presentation materials to the BOSS Team by the deadline of October 6, 2016

Timeline

• Proposals due by July 4, 2016

• Notification of acceptance by July 18, 2016

• Deadline for presenters to accept is July 29, 2016

• Final date for presenters to edit abstracts is July 29, 2016

• Final presentation email date is October 6, 2016

AV & Media

The following standard audiovisual equipment will be provided in each room:

• Projector

• PC laptop running Windows (Mac computers will not be supplied)

• Microphones will be supplied as needed in larger rooms

• Wireless presenter remote

• Screen

(Note: Presenters should plan to provide their own specialized equipment e.g. speakers)

Presentation Repository

If your presentation is accepted, your presentation will be available publicly as a pdf or PowerPoint file on bossvancouver.com. The contributions will remain online as part of the conference materials after the conference. Session abstracts and information about the presenters also will be included on the site.

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BOSS 2016 SUBMISSION CHECKLISTPlease compile all of the following information listed below before submitting your proposal:

(Be advised that the Program Committee will allow only one (1) submissions per presenter)

• Title of presentation

• Presentation Teaser / Abstract (10-25 words) for inclusion in the conference schedule at a glance publication

• Presentation Description and Goals (up to 500 words for inclusion on bossvancouver.com and in the conference program).

• Workshops should be designed with specific, identifiable learning outcomes with in-class opportunities to support collaborative and/or interactive group activities.

• Program track to which topic relates

• Who might benefit from the presentation? (i.e. main target audiences for attendees–Executive Directors/CEOs, Board Members, Senior Leaders or Emerging Leaders. Proposal targeting multiple audiences are given preference)

• Session Type: Education Session or Workshop

• Presenter Biography (A short (60 words) & long (250 words) biography for inclusion on bossvancouver.com and in the conference program)

Helpful Tips

When developing your Presentation Abstract, Description and Goals, keep in mind they should:

• Be concisely written, accurate, self-contained, and coherent

• Use a clear and direct writing style with active voice rather than passive

• Give a clear statement of what participants will learn from this presentation

• List what materials—slides, web links—will be provided during the presentation, posted on the conference web site, or submitted to the conference proceedings

• Give participants a good idea of the content and format of your presentation

• Persuade the proposal reviewers and conference attendees that you are going to present something unique, valuable and engaging

Please make sure you check your work for grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Keep the abstract short and to the point. Since a broad audience will view your abstract you should spell out all acronyms. Please make sure that your information is accurate and carefully edited. This includes information about you.

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PRESENTER FAQ1. As a presenter, do I need to register for the conference?

No, all presenters are granted complimentary registration. Co-presenters will be required to pay the conference registration fee.

2. Will the BOSS Team cover any other conference-related expenses for presenters? No, the BOSS Team does not cover any other conference-related expenses for presenters. As a not-for-profit, Vantage Point is unable to provide assistance for travel or lodging including taxes and fees on all travel expenses to presenters. Presenters are responsible for their own travel and lodging expenses.

3. Can I invite a co-presenter to my session? Yes, however, the conference has limited complimentary registrations (only one complimentary registration per session). Any co-presenter will be required to pay the conference registration fee.

4. When is the last possible date I can submit changes to my presentation information? The final date presenters can submit edits to their abstracts or submit co-presenter information is July 29, 2016. Any changes submitted after that date will not be included in the printed “Schedule at a Glance” and may or may not be updated on the website.

5. Does Vantage Point & the BOSS Team require a final paper submission? No, the BOSS Team do not require a final paper submission. Your presentation is your final product. However, we require presenters to submit a final presentation by October 6, 2016 so that it is available to conference attendees. This material, along with the full abstract and information about the presenters, becomes part of the conference materials that remain on the website.

6. Does the BOSS Team provide laptops for presenters to use? Yes, each room is equipped with a projector, PC laptop running Windows, microphones will be supplied as needed in larger rooms, wireless presenter remote and a screen. Presenters should plan to provide their own additional specialized equipment (e.g. speakers) at a personal cost.

7. Who would I ask if I needed technical help during my presentation? Each session will have a room ambassador who will introduce themselves to you before your session. They will report technical issues to the AV manager and clean the room at the end of the session.

8. May I bring hand-outs for my presentation? Due to the number of presentations, we are unable to make photocopies of any presentation materials, either on-site or prior to the conference. We encourage you to submit your presentation and any support materials to post on bossvancouver.com. If you feel you must provide handouts during your presentation, we recommend bringing at least 60 copies. If there are extra handouts, you may bring them to the Registration Desk and they will be displayed for others to pick-up.

9. Do you provide flip charts in the presentation rooms? A limited number of flipcharts are available for workshop presenters on request only; otherwise they will not be provided with all presentation rooms.

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10. May I promote my session on Twitter? Yes! Let’s work together to create some buzz about your participation in this conference! Please promote your own presentation as well as the conference in general to your colleagues and social networks. The Vantage Point’s twitter handle is @vantagepnt; the hashtag for this conference is #BOSS2016. Feel free to create hashtags for your own presentation as well. We also suggest you post hashtags at the start of your session and encourage attendees to use them.

11. What should I do when I arrive at the conference? Check in and pick-up your name badge at the conference registration desk.

12. How can I share my conference materials and be social (media) with my presentation? It is becoming increasingly common for conference participants to document and disseminate the information shared in conference sessions through social media. We are requesting that you help them (and us) capture, credit, and amplify your message more effectively and accurately. Here are some best practices and ideas for your consideration:

Include your Twitter handle and conference hashtag on each slide. If you do not have a Twitter handle, consider including an affiliated program or organization. Doing so benefits you in several ways. First, it provides session attendees with an easy way to give you credit for your ideas. Second, it allows you to monitor what attendees are tweeting about in your session.

Be explicit (in advance) about things you don’t want shared beyond the room. If there are a few ideas within your talk that are sensitive in nature, make that clear to your audience.

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1183 Melville StreetVancouver BC V6E 2X5

t. 604 875 9144f. 604 875 0710e. info@thevantagepoint.caw. thevantagepoint.ca

Convene, Connect & Equip

Not-For-Profit LeadersAt Vantage Point, we deliver foundational, advanced and custom learning opportunities focused on governance,

leadership, planning and people engagement for new and seasoned sector leaders, board directors and managers.

We lead by example, growing Vantage Point as a living laboratory that shares and practices a spirit of

abundance. Focusing on strengths and opportunities, we’re lifting the capacity of our clients, building a

network of generative leaders, and Transforming Not-For-Profit

Leadership.